Spotlight on teachers: Nadwa

Just after her graduation at the David Yellin College of Education, she saw an advertisement for a teacher position in the Primary School and applied. At that time, she didn’t know it was a bilingual, binational school. The beginning was very difficult for her: she felt like a pupil herself – learning and continuously discovering the system of this special school. Although Nadwa studied together with Jewish students in the David Yellin College – her practical experiences were in Arab Schools. It took Nadwa some time, but she mastered it well and turned the challenges into chances to discover a new reality. “I felt like I was a fish that was taken from the sea and dropped in another place. It was totally new and I needed to cope with it.”

The school for her is like “living a dream - a beautiful dream, which doesn’t exist outside the borders of this school”. Her dream for the future is that the school will grow and develop, and that more schools in the country will follow the model. One of her daughters is studying at the bilingual Hand in Hand School in Jerusalem.

Nadwa is a constant voice for peace: last week she was invited to a Knesset (Israeli Parliament) panel, where she spoke out against racism and hatred. As previously reported, Nadwa was attacked by a group of football fans because she was an Arab. In the panel Nadwa appealed to leaders of the country to do something so that we can all live in security. This message is what she wants to transmit to her children and the next generation "We must be ambassadors of peace. We can live together and do a lot to change this reality!"