Day Three and Journey’s End

We have arrived at the Hand in Hand school in Jaffa.

This is a bilingual school Hebrew and Arabic (they also introduce the English alphabet at grade 8)

Hand in hand school Launched in 1997 with 50 children,.  The school was founded grassroots with a small group of parents,  There are now over 2,000 students enrolled in six Hand in Hand schools from Jerusalem to the Galilee.

Hand in Hand was established to combat one of Israel’s greatest existential threats: the growing social alienation and lack of trust between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. They believe that education is key in changing this.

 

The back story to this school was that it developed from grassroots. by a group of Israeli Arabs And Jewish Israelis who had children that attended together at preschool at the local YMCA.

When it came time to enrol at primary school they realised that now the children must split.

In Israel there are two basic educational tracks:
Jewish and Arab. The former is subdivided further in secular, national religious and ultra orthodox tracks. The latter Arab track is state aided but runs in Arabic.

The parents were unhappy with this arrangement. They thought why can’t our children continue to study together? Why should we be divided?
And so Hand in Hand School was founded. It runs as bilingual with extra training for teachers. Practically most of the lessons are still in Hebrew as Arab (Muslim and Christian ) Israelis speak and understand Hebrew more than Israelis speak and understand Arabic. But parents are offered courses in Arabic and the parents and children learn to understand and know each other through educational and social interaction. The majority of Jewish children are from secular backgrounds.

Director of education at the Hand in Hand school together with an Arab teacher at the school.

The school closes for all religious holidays for Judaism Christianity and Islam which must create a logistical challenge for admin staff who must work around three calendars that change every year !
We heard how during heightened tensions like in May 2021 when riots by Israeli Arabs engulfed numerous cities the school still continued to function.
The normalisation of personal everyday relationships between different segments of Israeli society prepares the parents and children to have resilience to hold onto coexistence. Of course this model is filled with challenges but we were inspired by the fact that people on the ground who realise that the fact big solutions ( political peace etc) seem far away at present, they can still work on local small solutions to the tension and conflict and work towards a society where Arabs and Jews can live together.

School Kids Artwork at Hand in Hand School

As we left the school the sight of children happily playing together waving at us and blowing kisses will remain an enduring image in my mind and a symbol of hope.

 

 

 

This is Haviv Rettig Gur.

Haviv Rettig Gur is an Israeli journalist who serves as the political correspondent and analyst for The Times of Israel.
From 2010 to 2012, Rettig Gur served as the Director of Communications for the Jewish Agency. Before that, he was the Jewish world correspondent for the Israeli English-language daily The Jerusalem Post between June 2005 and July 2010.
In the past he has covered “organised Jewish communities worldwide on issues including demographics, identity, anti-Semitism, education and communal politics… dealt with Israel’s contentious education budget and Israel-NATO relations. He was the Post’s chief correspondent to the [annual Israeli security-related] Herzliya Conference.” Gur’s reporting focused on trends in Jewish identity, especially in the United States and Israel.

He spoke to us about the Palestinian Israeli conflict from the Israeli perspective for over two hours so I will try to summarise his main points
1) up until 2001 the voter turnout at Israeli elections had always been high in the high 80 percentage points and the lowest in the 70’s and yet in 2001 it radically dropped into the low 60s a 16 point drop. And has thus far never recovered.

Voter turnout reflects societies faith in their voice being heard. What happened to such a large number of voters. Not only that but voter turnout prior to 2001 was so high despite major issues like the 6 day war, Yom Kippur war, the fall of the lira and shekel and so on? Why now ?
2) a full analysis of the conflict shows that what changed was the second intifada which came despite the Israeli policy to withdraw from the West Bank. In the Israeli mind (the consensus ) peace was around the corner and yet the offer was met with a wave of violence that surpassed the first intifada. Whereas the first intifada was grassroots and made a moral case for the removal of military occupation/control, the second intifada had serious terrorist infrastructure that facilitated suicide attacks (140 carried out and 1000 planned )
He spoke in great detail about the multiple attacks and how they traumatised Israelis.

Later the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza was met with a further wave of violence (tunnel attacks and after waves of rockets ).

Effectively since 2001 the political left in Israel has disappeared as a result of this violence.

I have simplified in this blog as this is not a political piece. We were trying to understand the deep scar on the Israeli psyche – the fear that Palestinian politics was not ready to work with Israel on a peace agreement.

Haviv was candid about Israeli mistakes and even crime. He spoke about the concept of “shrinking the occupation” being discussed by politicians to make life easier for Palestinians.

But at present Israel can not risk the West Bank turning into another Gaza becoming a launch pad of rockets and Terrie attacks ( polling of Palestinians shows time and again a victory in the West Bank for Hamas. Which explains why the current PLO President is avoiding elections ( he is in year 17 of a 4 year term)
The West Bank at points borders with Israel as close as 9 miles and has highlands that look over most of Israel to the coastal planes.

I felt he gave a good analysis with intellectual honesty of where the Israeli consensus lies on this issue.
On my trip thus far I had opened myself up to hearing the Palestinian narrative that is so different and in many ways opposed to my self understanding and of Israel.

I have felt moments of hope and sadness as well as a deeper understanding for people not like me.

In my previous blogs I had noted how I was left with questions about Israeli policy on this crucial issue.

Haviv gave us the context to better understand the Israeli psyche and why this conflict continues to fester.

He acknowledged that Israel can not sustain this situation forever but spoke about the equal need for a paradigm shift in Palestinian politics that can look beyond violence which given the power differential is self destructive.
He was keen to note he was speaking from a political perspective and not moralising the issue.
He also made comparisons of this conflict with others showing the differences.

We ended the day in Yaffo at a lovely restaurant reflecting on the day and all the many ideas and stories we heard.

We took a taxis (groups of 4) to the restaurant and so on the way I did my usual thing trying out my rusty Ivrit with the driver! And of course I tested Havivs analysis by having a good chit chat about Politics.

 

No surprise the drivers views fitted what Haviv had taught us.

The consensus on the Israeli side is about 80 per cent.

 

Jaffa Beach at night

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Final Day

This morning we met two parents from the parents circle – an Israeli and a Palestinian.

The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF) https://www.theparentscircle.org/en/pcff-home-page-en/

The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF) is a joint Israeli-Palestinian organization of over 600 families, all of whom have lost an immediate family member to the ongoing conflict. Moreover, the PCFF has concluded that the process of reconciliation between nations is a prerequisite to achieving a sustainable peace. The organization thus utilizes all resources available in education, public meetings and the media, to spread these ideas.
The Parents Circle-Families Forum was created in 1995 by Mr. Yitzhak Frankenthal and a few Israeli families. The first meeting between bereaved Palestinians from Gaza and Israeli families took place in 1998. These families identified with a call to prevent bereavement , to promote dialogue, tolerance, reconciliation and peace. The contact with these Palestinian families came to an end with the second “Intifada” uprising. At the same time, that is in the year 2,000 contact was established with Palestinians from the West Bank and East Jerusalem, who in turn joined in with the activities of the Parents Circle – Families Forum. This group together with their Israeli partners, established the essence of the work of the Parents Circle today.

We heard the heart rending stories of Basaam (Palestinian) and Rami (Israeli)

Rami a son of a Holocaust survivor who was born in Jerusalem. His mother a 7th generation Jerusalemite. He fought in the Yom Kippur war losing close friends and came home bitterly disappointed and disengaged from Israeli politics. He became a graphic designer and lived an idyllic life in Jerusalem with his three sons and daughter Smada (meaning opening of a flower). A beautiful bright girl he called his princess. As far as Rami was concerned life was perfect. In 1997 this came to a shattering end when Smada was killed by a suicide bomber on Ben Yehudah street. His daughter had literally disappeared. That day he had to shlep from police station to polo ice station and hospital to hospital where eventually he discovered the tragic fate of his precious daughter.
He spoke of how thousands came to then shiva to pay condolences and he praised the wisdom of shiva in helping the bereaved transition into their “new world” that they had not chosen. But then the deafening silence the day after shiva ended.
He described how he dug deep at times with excruciating internal pain, grappling with how he would now respond. Even more hate or perhaps peace ?

Rami chose peace over hate. Over more than 20 years Rami has spoken to literally thousands of groups of Israelis and Arabs as well as groups from around the world.

He described Basaam as his closest friend because of the special bond created through their shared pain.

Basaam’s story begins in the West Bank growing up with intense frustration at the daily disruptions and injustice he felt perpetrated against him and his people.
By his late teens he was already protesting against the IDF which led to him throwing grenades they somehow got their hands on at the IDF. No one was killed that day. He emphasised his group of friends we’re not part of the professionalised armed struggle. They were disenfranchised youth living in an areas where violence seemed the only tool available to register their voices.
Eventually Basaam was arrested and spent 7 years in an Israeli military jail which of course brought him into contact with hardened terrorists.

But then a transformation occurred of the most unlikely source. Whilst in prison he viewed documentaries about the Holocaust. In his education the Holocaust had been denied but seeing these images revolted him. How could humans treat others in such a way?
It sowed a seed.
Ten years after the death of Smada, Basaam’s young daughter was killed by an Israeli soldier. She was only a short distance away.
Basaam’s world fell apart. He attempted to challenge the military courts but (as he expected) the case file was delayed and eventually closed for lack of evidence.
Basaam too faced a crossroads. Would his tragic loss fuel a conflagration of hate and bitterness?
In short he choose the path of peace. He would not be defined as a victim. Anger yes but now he would channel it into seeing the face of his enemy.

The camaraderie between these two men was inspiring and profound and the depth of connection and shared purpose in pursuing peaceful coexistence transcends words and cannot be articulated.

We asked Rami how he manages to keep opening up his pain and vulnerability time and again especially when years have past and the situation has not seemingly moved forward. His reply “it is groups like yours that keep me alive”

Rami spoke of his politics and how strongly (probably too weak a word) felt that Israelis had gotten into an inertia on the Palestinian issues. He was visibly pained that todays elections are focussing on other issues.

Rami is the contrasting voice to the Israeli consensus we analysed yesterday with The Times of Israel journalist Haviv.

I am very conscious that Israel has enemies around the world that seek to undermine Its legitimacy and very right to exist.
Language is weaponised in conflict. This means that highlighting Israeli issues must be dealt with extremely sensitively.

I have lived in Israel for nearly 4 years and spent many school holidays visiting family as a child. I have been on educational trips as a leader numerous times and still I did not know all of Israel

People are living apart from each other and don’t know each other. I have seen different projects that are successfully bridging the gap which brings a sense of hope.
But equally I understand the need for all Israeli citizens ( Whatever their religion or ethnicity) to live in security and safety. And this is currently not possible without military control.

I have tried on this trip to switch off my “solution focussed brain” and open my heart to hear the human stories of others and to hold the “space of the other”

The trip has concluded.
I am pleased I blogged but must confess it has been a hard task to know how to unpick the entangled narratives and feelings that have been swimming around my mind these past few days.

Thank you for reading and I wish to thank :
1) St Anne’s Synagogue for sponsoring me to go on the trip
2) The council of Christians and Jews for inviting me on the trip as well as for their incredible organisation.
3) The Jewish and Christian organisations who subsidised the costs of the trip which were substantial.
4) The special group of Jews Christians and Muslims from the UK who joined me on the trip.
5) Thank you to the centre for experiential learning CIEL for working in partnership with CCJ. Your expert knowledge and empathic understanding throughout this trip have been immense.

This trip was as much about us as an interfaith group as it was about the people we met.
As one participant put it “it was the diversity in the group that enabled us to process the many challenging ideas and content in a much more rounded and balanced way”

It will now take me quite a few weeks to unpack what I have learnt on this trip and hopefully share with others.

Thank you. Over and hopefully not out !

Lehitraot

Postscript. Back in Jerusalem and close to sunset looking for a minyan when I heard a man crying out “mincha mincha “ and so I found myself in an interesting make-shift shul – his courtyard converted into a shul and presumably used a very large sukkah too !