Print
this page
Email
this page Newsletters - Families at the Frontiers of Faiths
Jerusalem
My family and I live in Jerusalem, a city that is central for three main monotheistic religions, and home to people of many cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Our lives and work, our children's studies and play, takes place in a multi-cultural and multi-faith context. I am a Palestinian Arab Christian citizen of Israel. Living as a Palestinian Christian in Israel means that I am a minority twice over, once as an Arab among Israeli Jews, and second as an Arab Christian among Arab Muslims. We are a small community (2% of the population) with a long history in this land. Our schooling was in Arabic and Hebrew. Seventeen years ago I married Kay, a British citizen who had come to Israel as a Christian worker and we now have four boys.
Nearly every aspect of our lives includes different cultures. Our children are British and Israeli citizens. They are Palestinian Arab Christians and attend a local Israeli school in Hebrew. My work is divided between being the academic dean at the Bethlehem Bible College in the Palestinian Authority (which means travelling across checkpoints every day) and at Musalaha, a non-profit organisation that promotes reconciliation initiatives between Israelis and Palestinians. Our close friends and neighbours represent many communities: secular Israelis, international ex-patriots, Messianic Jews, Palestinian Christians and Muslims from Israel and from Palestinian areas.
One of the greatest challenges we have faced is where and how to educate our children - a complex decision that could determine their future and affect their sense of identity and belonging. One option was international schools that used English or French and cater mainly for the foreign community. Another alternative was the Arab, church-run schools in East Jerusalem. These schools follow the Jordanian system of education and students do not complete the matriculation certificate required for Israeli universities. Another option was the Israeli public school system, taught in Hebrew. However, the chances of facing intolerance and prejudice were high. We have several friends whose children were bullied. In our search we found an experimental school that has a unique philosophy of education, and teaches acceptance of others. In every class there is a number of non-Jewish pupils. The school and the teacher make a special effort to include those students and their background and traditions. For example, at Christmas, my son's class came to our house to learn about Christmas and to celebrate his holiday with him.
The challenges we face educating our children in a setting where they are a minority are probably shared with minorities around the world, although some issues are unique to us being Christians in the Middle Eastern context. For example, what you might think of in the UK as a religious school curriculum, here in Israel is the average secular school. My children attend a school that is considered to be very secular and open-minded towards others. The children learn about all major Jewish holidays according to a standard government curriculum. In general, no other religion's holidays are explained to the students, unless there is a student of another faith in the class. Every year they study the Old Testament, mainly according to Jewish interpretation.
Historical education mainly focuses on the mistreatment of Jews through history, and does not often include other, positive aspects of Jewish/non-Jewish interaction. From a very early age, schools begin teaching the Holocaust. The methods and age-appropriateness of Holocaust education is a debate among parents and educators. At times, parents complain that the children have nightmares. These are challenges that educators face in the Israeli school system, especially as they attempt to integrate children from non-Jewish backgrounds.
On the Palestinian side, history is taught beginning in the 7th century with the rise of Islam. Very few curriculums include Ancient Near Eastern history or other societies and cultures. History is interpreted from an Islamic point of view. If you are not Jewish or Muslim, you learn very little about your history. Christians are often portrayed as the villain, as regards anti-semitism, the Crusades and the Holocaust. As a result, Christians are put in a defensive position, and perceived by the other students in a negative light. Students do not gain tools to defend themselves, and to learn that the history of Christianity is not only anti-semitism and Crusades. There is also a failure to teach about historical offences against Christians or other groups. There is a burden on Christian parents to impart to their children a bigger picture of history, and to give them the ability to acknowledge the shortcomings of their own heritage, but also the contributions that they gave to the world.
In other areas of life, our children do come together successfully in a multi faith environment. Our boys are members of the YMCA swim team, where there are children from many backgrounds swimming together. There are very good relationships between kids. They are a very supportive and tight group. In order to attain this there has to be a conscious effort from the leadership. The YMCA leaders have communicated to the children and their parents that people leave their religious and national arguments outside and may not bring prejudice into the activities. There have at times been confrontations, especially in the heated conflict that has been going on for the past four years. From time to time expressions are used between the kids, such as 'terrorist' or 'occupier'. In this case, the coaches interfere immediately, deal with these attitudes and reinforce the policy that such sentiments are not allowed. As parents we learnt that when children make a prejudiced remark and it is not dealt with immediately, this is taken as approval for that remark. In that sense, YMCA Jerusalem is seen as an oasis for people to come and be with each other.
Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam (NSWaS)
“My people shall dwell in an oasis of peace” said the Prophet Isaiah
Peace Work at the best of times is hard. Particularly so right now at Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam/Oasis of Peace - a small village in Israel half way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. Here forty families - half Israeli Jews and half Israeli Arab Muslims and Christians - live side by side voluntarily as neighbours. And here despite the relentless cycle of violence and counter-violence, the educational work of the village continues.
The founder of Neve Shalom~Wahat-al-Salam, Father Bruno Hussar (1911-1996) built the House of Silence (Beth Doumia/Bayt Sakina) over thirty years ago. He built it as a place for reflection, meditation and prayer for people of all religions and no religion. Father Bruno would not even describe himself as a religious man but as a man of faith - faith in the possibility that peace between peoples can be achieved. Now there is a new building next to the House of Silence where many peace-building activities take place, including studying texts from the three religious traditions and exploring the narratives surrounding national holidays and memorial days.
A second educational institution is the children's school. Approximately 300 children, mostly coming from the surrounding villages and towns, attend the nursery, kindergarten and primary school. A new junior high school is currently being built and the first and second year students are already in attendance. The children are taught in both Hebrew and Arabic and learn to respect each other for their individual character and not their ethnicity. In this school, violence and hatred seem a long way away.
The reality of the complex political conditions outside the village really hits home when you visit the third educational institution - the School for Peace. This has trained over 25,000 Israeli Arab and Jewish students, teachers and professionals, in techniques of conflict resolution and co-existence. Its main work is the Youth Encounter Programme. Students in their penultimate year of high school come to the village for a three-day residential course, during which they get to know a bit about each other. They find they have common interests: clothes and music for example; they all wear jeans and often like the same music. They have similar problems at school and at home. But there are also much more difficult issues to face: military service, checkpoints, the holocaust, refugees and settlers.
Recently, I visited the School for Peace and observed a session of the Youth Encounter Programme. Each young person was asked to choose one from the many emotive photographs of violence and terror laid out on the floor. Then each was asked to talk about how they felt about the present conflict when looking at the photograph. Not an easy task for those young Arabs and Jews. But just to see them sitting in a circle in the same room was something special. Many with their heads hanging down - depressed and angry, yes - but still there together sometimes raising their eyes to look at each other, sometimes talking and learning to empathise with each other's problems, to hate a little less and love a little more.
Of course, education isn't a quick fix and it's sometimes difficult to measure its impact. But I believe education is the only way of making a lasting impression. The reality is that this community exists and is growing. There are more families who want to live and send their children to school here. But for this vital peace work to continue support is needed.
Top
