THE SUMMER OF 2009
This summer brought a bumper crop of groups and in their wake - loads of emails!!
The vast majority of the emails … far too many to reprint in this column – have focused on the fact that the seminar participants learned so much in such a short time – and that time was too short.
For some, this was most disturbing as felt they did not have sufficient time to absorb, assess and formulate important questions and were left often quite frustrated.
This is often our feeling as well – not enough time and the feeling of so much more could be achieved if only …
However, as I need to explain to so many, we – The International Department – are not the ones that determine the length of a seminar program. This is done by the educational tour operator here in Israel on behalf of the groups coming from abroad, or the organization overseas books that length of time themselves.
In general we try to encourage more time be given but most study tours are on a breakneck schedule and we understand that there is little that can be done when people want to see, hear and discuss the maximum of important places, issues and people in a week or ten days that they are due to be in the country.
On the other hand … and there is always, after all, another side to the story … as one sixteen-year-old from England emailed …
"When I was told that we would be coming to a Peace Education Center for a seminar I sort of groaned thinking it would be a boring day of lectures and discussions. I really feel embarrassed now as the seminar at Givat Haviva was one of the highlights of my month program in Israel and for sure next year when I am coming for a family occasion, I will make a return visit to find out more and get my parents to come with me," wrote Colin from Manchester, England.
Colin was one of the hundreds of teenagers from Britain, Holland, Germany and America who spent a day participating in workshops and touring the Wadi Ara region, visiting the local village of Barta'a and chatting with locals, under the guidance of experienced International Department staff.
Scott, a professional from America who was one of the 187 lawyers, doctors, financiers and such who came to Israel though a well-known and highly respected educational foundation in America wrote:
"Thanks for a most informative day! It really opened our eyes to these two worlds living side by side – and once again shows how much more we need to learn to be able to understand the complexities of the Middle East situation and be well enough equipped to explain to others."
German educator Kurt came to Israel as part of a group of his peers undertaking a Holocaust Study Course at Yad Vashem. The group, as have many others doing such study courses at the Jerusalem institute, archives and museum, spent a day at Givat Haviva on an International Department organized seminar dealing with Jewish-Arab relations and the area known as Wadi Ara.
Visitors from abroad chatting with local Palestinians from the village of Anin
"This was my fifth visit to your country and I cannot believe that up until now I have never been offered the opportunity to do something like the experience we were given by you at Givat Haviva.
To have detailed explanations like we received gave a better understanding of what was already known and created a strong basis for paying attention with all that was new.
"To be able to walk around a village, some in Israel and some under the Palestinians, was almost unreal. To talk to people in the street, to stand on a roof and see for ourselves the general situation was an experience I will never forgot – or those in my group.
"Thank you for this day and hope to come back again for more," wrote Kurt who lives in a city in the former East Germany and made comparisons between the Green Line running through the village of Barta'a and the divide between East and West Germany before 1989.
Adrian, a pathologist from Britain, wrote:
"The tour and the visit to Barta'a made a strong impression on us and certainly broadened our horizons. Seeing and meeting the people who are directly affected by the political situation in Israel and the West Bank helped to understand the complexities of the situation."
The emails reprinted here represent the thoughts and comments of the majority of those who have written the last few months, and we hope to continue to give thought provoking seminars and tour experiences to our seminar participants – and entice them as some have already mentioned – back again for a longer and more in-depth visit to our campus and region of Israel.
Photos & Text: Lydia Aisenberg
August, 2009
