British Habonim-Dror mazkir Yaniv Cohen recently visited Israel with a delegation of young adults from the Council of Christians and Jews. The 16 member delegation were predominantly Christian, in fact only the tour leader and one other participant were Jewish apart from Yaniv. "This is the first time that I have been to Christian sites such as the churches in Jerusalem and those around the Kinneret," said Yaniv, the non-accidental tourist in the land where he was actually born. The holder of an Israeli passport as well as British, Yaniv was unable to accompany the rest of the group when they visited Bethlehem. "It is stated on my British passport that I was born in Israel so that didn't help either," Yaniv told the Jewish Telegraph. Yaniv's British born mother met his father, who made aliya from Romania as a child, in Israel and they have been living in Manchester for the last 20 years. "I must say that it was very interesting to see the Christian sites and also be visiting the Jewish sites that I already know but doing so with Christian people. "The interaction and discussions around faith and religion were very educational indeed," said Yaniv, a former King David High School pupil and graduate of Nottingham University where he studied politics. During the one week tour the CCJ Young Adults delegation also visited the Jewish-Arab Centre for Peace at Givat Haviva where they met with Orit Meoded, a facilitator of meetings between Israeli Arab and Jewish youth, as well as with Amir Gara a young Israeli Arab lawyer who studied at Leicester University. "Dealing with issues surrounding what it means to be an Arab citizen in Israel and the day to day dilemmas faced by staff in a nearby Jewish-Arab primary school were an important part of the visit," explained Yaniv. Whilst the rest of his group were in Bethlehem, Yaniv joined representatives of the Rabbis for Human Rights organisation on a journey in to the West Bank where they went to help 3 Palestinian brothers plough their fields. "This was the first time I had ever been in the West Bank and we basically just stood by in order to protect the farmers working their land and when soldiers came to move them on we just explained who they were and what they were doing and they left them alone. "It was a real eye opener," said Yaniv, obviously already planning educational activities for his British fellow movement members for when he gets back. "I have never been to Givat Haviva in past visits to Israel and it has been a very interesting experience and will definitely be back again in the not too distant future," Yaniv promised the staff members. The Jewish Telegraph of Britain January 2006 |
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