With Peace on Their Minds By Lydia Eisenberg Students from Leeds University touring Israel and the Palestinian areas to learn first hand more about the people and politics of the region recently spent a day with Givat Haviva's International Department staffer Lydia Aisenberg. Following a more than full day hearing about the Arab citizens of Israel, the Wadi Ara region in particular and touring the Amir Mountain range, Green Line and new security fence around the Jewish settlements of Shaked, Reichan, Hananit and Tal Menashe the students emailed from their next port of call, Ramallah: "We've arrived in Ramallah safely and are settling in well – everyone seems very friendly and things are pretty calm, touch wood. "Thank you so much for a great day, we are still talking about our visit and will be for a very long time that's for certain. Your approach to the situation and work with the communities around you is a source of inspiration for us all and now that we are in the West Bank we need to try to remain as objective and also positive as possible and you have helped equip the group to take a more measured and considered view of what we will see," wrote the British students. The brainchild of James Johnson, the outgoing Finance and Services Officer and his colleague Samantha Keyes – both graduates of Leeds University – the trip was open to all students at the university. "Applicants were required to write 250 words on why they wanted to attend and how they would share their experiences with students and the wider community upon their return," explained Johnson to Givat Haviva staff. "At Leeds University Union there very active Jewish and Islamic Societies and the Israel/Palestine debate is therefore extremely relevant to students and this trip will be one way of increasing understanding and educating our students about highly complex issues," said James Johnson who has visited Israel before. Johnson and Keyes also planned the itinerary. They however turned to Phillip Margolis of the Israel Information Centre in Leeds - who has visited Givat Haviva with British policy makers in the past - and Dan Shacham of the Israeli Embassy for assistance in contacting individuals and organisations both in Israel and the Palestinian areas. The ten students and graduates are from a variety of backgrounds and disciplines. All are British apart from Melewosi Adissem from the Republic of Togo in West Africa. "The trip has two aims," explained Samantha Keyes, "The first aim is to help the participating students gain a greater understanding of the politics and social fabric of the region and the second, we are aiming to initiate an exchange programme with students from Birzeit University and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. "This will hopefully bring students from the Middle East back to Leeds for the biennial 'Together for Peace Festival' in November," she said. The Peace Festival is designed to promote dialogue and a greater understanding and compassion between different communities and therefore hearing about Givat Haviva's many co-existence projects was of great interest to the students. "With recent events in Britain that unfortunately have put Leeds in a rather negative light, to the extend that some students due to start studies this coming academic year have transferred to other universities, Sam and I hope that by bringing a group of students to Israel and the Palestinian areas and trying to take as balanced as an approach as possible they will be able to take their experiences back to Leeds and help inform and further the debate there," said Johnson. The students will be participating in community work amongst the Palestinian population in Hebron as well as a stint with Israeli social workers caring for deprived children in the Lower Galilee during their packed programme which also includes speaking with Mordechai Vanunu and refuseniks as well as the party spokesperson of the Likud, as well as visiting with Palestinian personalities in the Palestinian areas. Before starting out for Ramallah the students summed up their Givat Haviva experience thus. "The Givat Haviva approach to the situation and work with the Jewish and Arab communities has been a source of inspiration for us all," they reported. Last Update: