Growing Up in an Oasis

Growing up in an oasis
Joel Magalnick
Editor, JTNews

You can tell that these two women - one Jewish, one Palestinian - have spent
much of their lives together. The way they spout out in unison the American
cities they have visited over their three-week visit or giggle at what one
another says shows the closeness of Adi Frish, 21, and Laila Najjar, 20.

The two grew up in a small enclave midway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem
called Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam - Oasis of Peace. The town, which consists
of 50 families, half of them Jewish and half of them Palestinian (though
Israeli citizens), was begun as a conscious effort to have Jews and Israeli
Arabs live together peacefully.

Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam was founded in 1972 by Father Bruno Hussar, a
Catholic priest who was born Jewish, and envisioned an open community based
on the Biblical passage of Isaiah 32:18: "My people shall dwell in an oasis
of peace."

Though people of any faith are welcome to live in the village, the focus is
on building relationships between Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Both Adi’s and Laila’s parents helped establish the village in 1978, and now
the children of those first pioneers are traveling the world and explaining
the environment in which they grew up.

"We are teaching both languages [Hebrew and Arabic] - and English as a third
language - and we are actually learning about each other’s holidays, each
other’s cultures," says Laila. "We are celebrating our holidays with each
other, and they teach us in the schools to want to respect and to hear each
other’s opinions."

"We know communication is the only way that we can cooperate," says Adi, who
said that the 3-1/2-year-old intifada has not put strains on the
relationships between the two peoples, like it has in many villages where
Jews and Israeli Arabs lived in harmony for generations.

"Of course, both sides lost a lot of people from violence," she adds. On
"both sides, we feel pain no matter who is killed - Arabs or Jews."

The two women came to Seattle in May, at the end of an eight-city tour
through the U.S., representing American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat
al-Salam, which raises funds for the village. They have also traveled to
Italy and Switzerland to talk about and help bring in money for the village
as it attempts to expand to 65 families over the next year.

The ultimate goal is to grow to a maximum 150 families in the next several
years. Currently, 300 families are on a waiting list to move in.

Adi and Laila grew up attending the community’s bilingual, bicultural
primary school. The school educates 300 children from both the village and
surrounding towns, and splits classes in half between Arabs and Jews - each
with a Jewish and Palestinian teacher. The school is the only
bilingual/bicultural school recognized by the Israeli Ministry of Education.

In addition to the primary school, the School for Peace brings in more than
1,000 people each year to participate in workshops and sessions that help
one side understand the viewpoints of the other. Starting at the high school
level, students come to listen to each other’s perspectives in a program
that has expanded to university-level Women’s Studies courses as well as
other adult learning. The School for Peace also collaborates with four
Israeli universities in programs ranging from weekend retreats to
semester-long courses.

When Laila, herself a student at the Jerusalem Academy for Art and Design,
presents Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam to other Palestinians, "most of the
reaction is very positive. When I talk about the village, I’m showing [it]
as Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam - both languages," she says, "they see that
this is not just important for me to say my language or the other language.

"Actually, I think that the most important thing, the best way they can know
about or understand about the village, is that they come to seeŠmy way of
living and my relationship with the others who are Jewish, or how we
celebrate the holidays. They also tell me that it’s so sad that they don’t
have this opportunity to live like me."

Adi, who works as a manager for a health club company, says that
understanding of what her village is like has mostly drawn positive
reactions.

"Most of my friends are very positive, they want to know more about the
village. They’re curious to see the village, to meet my friends," she says.
"Sometimes they say that we’re living in a dream or asking the question ŒHow
can I not be afraid?’"

On their trip, the two women spoke about how though they now study and work
outside of their "oasis," it is where they want to spend their lives, a
sentiment different from the many young Israelis leaving the country to try
to find a better life elsewhere.

"I want to stay in the village and not just in the country," says Adi. "I
can’t see myself living in Jerusalem or Tel Aviv, because I believe that the
village is the way that my parents raised me. I want to continue with this
kind of education and I want it to continue with my children."