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REPORT FOR THE WASNS EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS March - June 2020
Wednesday 15 July 2020
A Few Words from Samah, Director of Communications and Development
It is with a certain heaviness that I haven’t experienced before that I am sharing with you the news from the different village institutions during this last quarter. I have also included a general update on the guesthouse.
Without a doubt these have been three very difficult months that we have lived through in the shadow of Corona. We have experienced lock-down, financial insecurity as have other communities in the world. The model of shared living we have created between Arabs and Jews based on peace, and mutual respect has helped us deal with this new second wave of Corona in the last weeks.
Together with the world global crisis, we also had to deal with the threatened annexation of the Jordan valley and the Palestinian Territories.
Residents, graduates, friends and partners of the Village are all deeply involved in protests to stop this from happening! On June 30th I was invited to speak at a protest outside the Knesset. The protest was attended by hundreds of activists of the left, peace organizations such as Peace Now, young people of Meretz, Standing Together and representatives from the Knesset.
I would like to thank the Directors of the Educational Institutions, The Board and The Community Management for their collaborative efforts during this intensely difficult time.
To you, our loyal and supportive friends, I would like to thank you once again for being with us.
Your help strengthens us and enables us to continue to fight for justice and peace in this region.
My sincerest best wishes,
Samah
The Primary School: A Challenging End to the Year
Wow… it was a challenging year at the school and the last months were no different. From March until the end of the school year, most of our students learned via Zoom. Along with the rest of the country the children studied from home during the Coronavirus lock-down and only returned to school in May. Unfortunately, a member of the kindergarten team tested positive for Corona and the school was forced to close again for another two weeks. It re-opened with just under a week of the school year left. Despite the disruption and sadness caused by the closure of the school, the children returned and their spirits rose as they were greeted by the most fantastic sight - new playground equipment. The new playground is dedicated in loving memory of Lori, we give special thanks to Barbara Meislin and The American Friends Association for enabling this incredible project to go ahead. We are truly grateful to all of our friends who were able to support this project and give our children a special place to play. We look forward to reaching our target to enable us to add more equipment during the course of the year and updating you with more pictures.
Bright happy moments….
During the last three months we completed registration for the new school year with 85 children wanting to register for the kindergarten. This is great news for our growth, however we were only able to accept 34 children into the kindergarten and 45 into our first grade. This means that we will have accomplished our goal of growing to two classes in each grade level. This will allow us to plan to continue to grow into a middle school.
With the good news there were also difficulties as many families who were furloughed from work faced problems paying for the tuition and transportation costs. One mother whose daughter is in the first grade had planned on sending her second child to the kindergarten. She called the school and explained she was going to take her child out of the school and would not be sending her other child either. Luckily, we were able to help her. We are aiming to raise a scholarship fund to help 50 families who are facing financial difficulties to help pay for their school tuition and transportation costs. We encourage you to help us in order that the school can continue to flourish.
Beekeeping
This year the fifth and sixth grades were able to choose among various special yearlong elective subjects: the Honey Path Project (beekeeping), music and arts. The Honey Path Project was one of the more popular learning programs where the children were taught responsibility and about the environment through beekeeping. This was a pilot project for the school which was organized by two School for Peace graduates, one Jewish and one Palestinian. The weekly program focused on caring for the bees. Seven hives were brought for the children to care for and protective clothing purchased.
Children learned not to fear the bees and to exercise self-control, patience and understanding. During the weekly class the children observed the bees and their environment. One student said that this was one of the most interesting ways she learned during this year. During the Corona lock-down they followed the bees online but were very happy to see them in real time when they returned to school.
The Last Days of School
The last days of school were so very different from the usual celebrations and excitement that mark the end of the school year. After the two-week enforced closure, there were only four days left before the summer vacation began. Parties and ceremonies were very low-key. The graduating class was able to practice their performance just once. Only their parents were allowed to attend their graduation, with social distancing being observed amongst the families. Each grade had a small party with their homeroom teachers. The staff had a small gathering at the end of the last day. We hope next year the school year will begin as planned.
Plans for the Next School Year
– Holding a national conference to formally introduce the new curriculum to educators from other schools and universities.
– Adding additional playground equipment to the school playground.
– Developing a special program for teaching Arabic and Hebrew as a second language.
– Developing a plan for growing into middle and high school.
The School for Peace
The SFP team decided programs would continue despite the Coronavirus outbreak. The decision was made with full awareness that the strategy for working against injustices, the Occupation and the looming annexation, would have to adjust to the new reality. As such SFP activities were conducted online.
During the nationwide lockdown we continued running change agents’ courses for lawyers and environmental justice via Zoom, however we postponed a new course for leaders of mixed cities with participants from Ramle, Lydda, Jaffa and Beer Sheba until the summer. The course started on June 19th (not virtual), in the Fred Segal Peace Library following the government’s guidelines for public gatherings.
We are extremely grateful to Uri Rop, who lives in Israel and is a board member of the Dutch Friends of Wahat al Salam - Neve Shalom, he has been editing and adding English subtitles to some of our online sessions and has created a new YouTube channel for the School for Peace. All links to programs and lectures in this report have English subtitles. Special thanks also to the Communications and Development Department for updating the new School for Peace website with all of the latest news.
Building A Community of SFP Graduates
For many years the SFP has been developing a program for the thousands of graduates who have taken part in our programs. Realizing the impact our graduates have when given an opportunity to work together, we are now raising funds for the graduate program. We currently have forums for SFP graduates including urban planners; mental health professionals and facilitators; and leaders from mixed cities. In order to ensure SFP graduates receive the best support for their projects, senior staff from the SFP and leading activists participated in two online training sessions on mentoring given by Shaira Shalabi. Shaira is the Deputy Mayor of Haifa and an advisor to non-profit organizations.
Urban Planners
There are currently 105 urban planners that are active in this group. This forum is being led by Dr. Nava Sonnenschein together with Samer Swaid from the Arab Center for Alternative Planning. Zoom became the vehicle which enabled graduates to continue with projects that they had begun developing. Ayman Odeh, MK, Head of the Joint List Party gave an inspiring talk to participants during the first Zoom meeting in April.
Emergency Conference Against Annexation
In June, the SFP with the Arab Center for Alternative Planning held an emergency conference on the annexation plan of the West Bank. Yotam Ben Yaakov and Hiba Bawadi, graduates from the Urban Planners Change Agents Course are active in the graduate’s forum and initiated the conference.
The number of interested participants exceeded the number that were able to register. One hundred people attended the online conference. The conference allowed us to reach out to larger national and international audiences getting more people involved in our work. Click here for a recording with subtitles in English.
Petition to End the Occupation - Arab and Jewish planners, graduates of the SFP program for Architects, Planners and Engineers, with Finger on the Pulse initiated a petition against the annexation which was signed by more than 300 planners. We are asking the Friends Associations to reach out to professionals working in the field of planning in their home countries to sign the petition in order to increase international pressure on the government.
https://sfpeace.org/against-the-annexation/
Jewish and Arab graduates are working together on a new project in Acre called, “Place Making”. They have begun the process of identifying and transforming derelict public areas into places which can be enjoyed by Jewish and Arab residents of the city. The purpose of this project is to create spaces for shared relaxation and recreation.
Mental Health Professionals
This graduate community forum is made up of graduates of the facilitators training courses and members of Psychoactive. We began networking with former graduates just before the corona outbreak and 360 former graduates expressed interest in joining this new graduate community. In preliminary meetings of mental health professionals, ideas for community initiatives included: online meetings with youth at risk in the Arab community; developing a hotline in the Bedouin community in the south; training Arab college students to teach Arabic to Jewish students, and working with parents whose children are imprisoned promoting the rights of Palestinian children and youth in the occupied territories. The graduate community is being led by Harb Amara, Tova Buksbaum and Dr. Nava Sonnenschein.
On April 10th, Dov Khenin, former MK for the Joint List and activist, gave a lecture online to 60 SFP graduates about how to advocate social change in the time of Corona. During the discussion graduates shared the different projects they are working on.
Click here for full report and lecture
Hotline for Bedouin Communities in Response to Corona
Jamal Al Karnawi who has participated in two SFP courses (facilitators course and leaders from the mixed cities) is working with a Jewish clinical psychologist from the mental health graduate community. They have successfully set up and are overseeing a hotline for Bedouin communities to help them through the Corona Crisis. The hotline provides advice to Bedouins who have lost their jobs and need medical care.
Graduates from the Leaders of Mixed Cities
Twenty graduates from the Leaders of the Mixed Cities program met at the beginning of the year. They chose to focus on developing ways to raise funds for disadvantaged youth without computers so they can take part in the on-line classes; developing an on-line “internet café” for Jews and Arabs living in the mixed city of Nof Hagalil (Nazareth Illit); and developing ways to coordinate volunteers to provide medical and food supplies to the needy.
In a Zoom meeting, MK Aida Touma Sliman from the Joint List spoke to the group about how to be active and promote change in mixed cities. One graduate from the mixed cities change agents course, Dan Segal is leading a group of young Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel in a new project called Bustan Hagalil, a new community of Jews and Arabs in the Galilee based on shared living.
The SFP Research Center
On March 25-26, 2019, The School for Peace in conjunction with the Israel Institute for Advanced Studies, the Walter Lebach Institute for Jewish-Arab Coexistence through Education at Tel Aviv University, and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, conducted an international conference on "Constitutionalism, Constitution-Making and Sovereignty – A Theoretical and Comparative Perspective". The conference was held following the passing of Israel’s "nation state law" specifying the nature of the State of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people.
Pluralistic Spiritual Community Center
In March, before the Coronavirus closedown hit, the PSCC held its annual ceremony honoring rescuers who risked their lives to save others during times of conflict. The event took place in the Garden of the Rescuers on the European Day of the Righteous and is part of the Gariwo (Gardens of the Righteous Worldwide) network. The PSCC honored the Latrun Monastery, the Cordia family from Hebron / Al-Khalil and Mrs. Bella Freund from Jerusalem; Israeli and Palestinian rescuers who saved people during years of the conflict. At the end of March, the Center’s operations were almost frozen as gatherings were not allowed. However, by using Zoom, a number of events were shared with the community and friends, bringing everyone together during the hard days of lockdown.
Events at the PSCC held via Zoom
– Meeting with Rosita Poloni, of the Italian Friends of Neve Shalom - Wahat al-Salam, where she shared the difficult situation in her hometown which was the hardest hit by Corona.
– Meeting with Noam Shuster Eliasi, a resident of the village, talking about how she coped with Corona locked in at the former Hyatt Hotel in Jerusalem, with Jews and Arabs recuperating from the virus. She caught the disease on her return to Israel from Harvard University.
– Meeting with Professor Abdel Rauf Hijazi from Hadassah Hospital, resident of the village, talking about Corona and his research in the field.
– Meeting with Umar al-Ghubari, resident of the village and director of "Zochrot", talking about the 48 Massacre of Deir Yassin.
Cinema in the Community
Cinema in the Community took place online with 25 people watching and discussing two films: "Leah Tsemel, Lawyer" followed by a discussion with Leah Tsemel and director Rachel Jones. Leah Tsemel is an Israeli lawyer representing Palestinians in Israel for five decades. The film tracks the actions of a photographer from several of her cases. The second film, "Working Woman" deals with sexual harassment and sexual assault at work.
On the eve of Nakba Day, a short film called "The Mirror" was screened, and a discussion took place with directors, Daniel Schwartz and Abir Zaibak Hadad. The film is about an Israeli granddaughter challenging her grandparents to compose for the first time an agreed-upon version of the unspoken story of a large crystal mirror taken from a house in the Palestinian village of Zaranoga that was conquered and destroyed in 1948.
Other Activities and Programs
In the last weeks of June, groups have returned to the PSCC for yoga, meditation, and mindfulness workshops. Two more screenings are planned for "Cinema in the Community. ’’ The PSCC is currently developing a new program a "Bilingual Reading Club", which will be held once a month, facilitated by two writers: Sheikh Khaliwa and Rachel Peretz. Recruitment began for the mixed religious leaders program the PSCC is running in conjunction with Rabbis for Human Rights.
We look forward to healthier days.
The Gallery
Unfortunately two meetings of artists which were planned for March and May were canceled due to the Coronavirus crisis. However, we were able to harness the creative talents of the community to create a beautiful new exhibition for the Gallery. Every family of WASNS contributed in some way by painting, photography, writing, or sharing their opinions, personal stories and achievements.
The exhibition opened on June 27th and was a very special community event, enabling us to come together, enjoy each other and appreciate the different art on display.
“The opening of this special exhibition was an occasion for joy and pride for all - we proved that we are truly a creative community. As the museum curator, I am both happy and full of gratitude and appreciation." - Dyana.
The exhibition is open to visitors from September.
We continue to reach out to artists and schools from all over the country and involve them in workshops and activities of The Gallery.
Visitor’s Center
The Spring period is usually one of our busiest times of year for visiting groups. Needless to say, the pandemic prevented almost all groups from visiting, in fact even during periods of warfare we had more visitors. For the first time, the hotel completely closed and Rita Boulos, our visitors center director was engaged in other tasks. Despite the challenges, we were delighted to receive two important groups. One, a student group, mainly from France, which came to Israel prior to the virus. They chose to complete their time rather than return home. They visited us on June 3, receiving a full explanation and tour of the village. They left excellent feedback. One of them showed a strong interest in participating in the village internship program, and another inquired how she could spread word of the village in Mexico.
A second group visited on June 22. This was a group of 40 medical personnel from the Reuth Rehabilitation Hospital, Tel Aviv. Every so often, the staff enjoy a recreation day, and this time they decided to use the opportunity to visit our unique binational village. The hospital staff, like all medical professionals in this period, have been engaged in the enormous effort to overcome the virus, so we were thrilled to receive them. Boaz Kitain, a veteran Jewish member of the village and Rita Boulos received them. They gave a full presentation, answered many questions, and took them on a tour of the village. The group was quite heterogeneous in their political views. Some loved the village, expressing appreciation and support; others voiced doubts or a strong resistance to the village and its ideas.
It’s the mission of our visitors center to expose the ideas and reality of the village to people of all political persuasions. We are eager for the current crisis to end so that we can once again receive a steady stream of visitors. The period is providing us the time and opportunity to consider how to strengthen and improve our visitors programs as soon as things return to normal.
The Hotel
As everywhere in the world, the village has not escaped from the effects of the Coronavirus. The biggest casualty has been the hotel which is usually fully booked during the summer months mostly from people outside of the country. As cancelations came in the hotel re- focused its efforts on developing local tourism and was coming alive again until the government closed all swimming pools resulting in another wave of cancelations.
Today, sadly, the hotel has closed and all the workers furloughed. Naief and Ruthi have stayed on half time temporarily trying to insure future reservations. As the future is uncertain, we are also feeling concern for the hotel and when and how we can ’restart’, what has been built over so many years.
