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You Can’t Ignore it – Working Together to Break Down Walls

You Cannot Ignore it:

By Yedidya Hazani, General Manager and member Educational Staff

Can hummus and soccer bridge rivalry?  Can joyful music and dancing overpower political differences?  Can acceptance of shared values rise out of contradictions in religion, culture, or upbringing?  And, is it possible to maintain civic life, apart from political life?

All these questions arise, both formally and informally, as part of the “You Can’t Ignore It” series of meetings and encounters between Hannaton Mechina participants and their peers from the local villages of Kfar Manda (Muslim), Bir El Maksur (Bedouin), and Zarzir (Bedouin). The event is organized and coordinated by a team of leaders from the Mechina, with staff input. The program is in its third year.

Why ask these questions, at all?  We believe the simple asking of the questions, as well as the discussion around our answers, leads to a space of compassion, from which friendship and understanding may evolve. This year, “You Can’t Ignore It” kicked off on Hannaton on January 28 with a meeting of 200 Bedouin, Jewish, Muslim and Druze youth from the Galilee, including Mechina participants, national service volunteers and high school students.

The focus of the first meeting is always to highlight what all young adults in Israel – regardless of race or religion — have in common. Music and dance are great tools for experiencing this commonality firsthand.

 

Watch a number of the participants join together inside the kibbutz community center to dance to the music of Taha Yasin, a musician from Kfar Manda.

 

 

 

In subsequent sessions, after people have gotten to know one another better, there is room for deeper discussions about politics and ethics. In these more heated discussions, neutrality is central. We assign a moderator to keep the group on track and to mind the emotional atmosphere. While the first meeting takes place at Hannaton; later meetings are hosted by one of the other groups in one of the neighboring villages, at a school or community center. No matter where we meet, we’ve learned that everyone must be made to feel at home before they’re willing to be vulnerable in front of a group they may previously perceive as threatening.  We create that home-like environment with get-to-know-you ice breakers that promote laughter and general ease.

But what about language? In Israel, language can be an insurmountable barrier in casual settings even when there is a desire for connection. To avoid the potential obstacle of misunderstandings, all our sessions are conducted in two languages, Arabic and Hebrew. There are translators to assist facilitation of every session. Certainly, language barriers still stymy the participants’ free expression, but this way seems to create sympathy and trust among group.

Why is coexistence so important to us? On a programmatic level, it offers us leadership-in-action opportunities for our program participants; ways for them to take what they learn in the classroom and apply it to the greater community. For instance, as a result of the success of last year’s “You Cannot Ignore It” program, our Mechina participants were invited to volunteer in Zarzir, a Bedouin village, to help in an afterschool program.  Once a week, they travel to local schools to help with homework and assist with a sports program.

To anyone living in the Galilee, though, coexistence programming provides an avenue of hope, a glimpse at a possible future other than the one we’re constantly exposed to. The media often only shows us the ugly side of our shared reality here – with an emphasis on conflict and violence. Indeed, as the title of this coexistence program implies, we cannot ignore what is happening in our country – and, certainly, not in a pre-army mechina which is preparing its participants for meaningful military service. But, in order to truly promote a democratic Israel – part of the educational center’s core mission — we feel it’s essential to counter the images our young people see on TV or on the internet with real-life positive interactions. What should guide us, and hopefully, inspire us, are real-life positive encounters, combined with our shared values ​​of humanity and inclusion. As Jamal Tarar, school principal from Kfar Manda, declared at our Hannaton session last month, “We won’t allow the media to determine our outcome. We won’t let those images of hatred control us.”

 

Working Together to Break Down Walls:

With a focus on volunteerism and coexistence, it’s only natural that almost everyone coming through the Hannaton Educational Center will spend time in one of the neighboring villages.  Whether it’s during a scheduled service visit in a school or at a community center, or at an organized event arranged to help us get to know each other better, our students find themselves at least once a week out of Hannaton and in the heart of one of the neighboring villages.

This year, students are spending time in three different villages.  In Bir El Maksur, our Mitzpeh BaGalil gap year students volunteered during the first semester teaching children in the local elementary school.  There they had a chance to help advance the students’ English, as well as engage the kids in informal play activities.   But the connection the gap year students have made with the adults in the community has been equally important.  The Mitzpeh students noted how meaningful it was for them to meet people closer to their own age – including teachers and young women doing national service in the village – as a way of gaining new insights about the village’s population and culture.

Just a mile down the road, in the Arab village of Kfar Manda, Mechina participants are teaching Hebrew to teenagers at the community center and working with children at a local school.  Ilan, Michal, Roi and Dana spend an afternoon a week at the Achva school for children with developmental and physical disabilities.   The ten children – some in wheelchairs, others with communication difficulties, one who is blind – spend time singing, playing and getting to know their neighbors.

Mechina participants also value their interactions with the adults in Kfar Manda – both the aides who help the children and the local residents who live and work near the school.  “When we open ourselves up to them, this makes the difference” says Ilan.  “We tried to learn some Arabic from the aides, and they were really excited by this. One day when we started to play music, they brought out a loudspeaker and everyone started dancing – kids, Mechina students, aides – everyone.  It was great.  They show us pictures of their children.  Pride in family is common to every culture.”

Michal finds that some of the people are a bit skeptical about the Mechina participants, at least first.  “We need to make the first move,” says Michael.  “For example, we regularly buy baklava, a honey pastry, from a local bakery.  One day, I asked the owner his name.  He immediately smiled and welcomed us in.  Now he brings us special cookies whenever we come by.  Opposite the school there is an organic farm, and when we introduced ourselves to the owner he offered to teach a cooking class at the mechina.”

“Everything is open,” says Ilan.  “We want to hold a special end of year program for the whole Mechina, the children and all of the parents at the school.  There is an empty greenhouse waiting to be filled.  We want to all come together and plant and make it green.  This is something everyone can share and appreciate.”

In Zarzir, a nearby Bedouin town, students in our Mechina program are helping out in an after school program for at-risk youth.  “Shaar Shivyon” (“The Equalizer“)  offers tutoring services, a soccer program and a supportive place to spend time in after school.  This year, Hannaton mechina students joined as volunteers for the first time after our staff heard about the program during a previous “You Cannot Ignore It” exchange (see other article).

Five Mechina students volunteer with the soccer team, teach Hebrew and serve as big brothers and sisters to 15 children in the 5^th and 6^th grades.  Daniel, Maor and Keren help out with homework, play games with the children and teach Hebrew through music and sports.   Ori and Meitar run a soccer program for the children, who have tournaments with other teams from around the country.

“It’s not just about helping these kids succeed,” says Daniel.  “It’s also about negating stigmas, between Jews and Arabs. The first question they asked me when we came to volunteer was ‘are you a Jew?’  This was the first time anyone asked me that question. I wasn’t insulted.  They just don’t have any interactions with Jews.  And it’s not just about Jews teaching Arabs.  The children are familiar with Israeli music, but they are equally excited to share their culture with us.  One day they brought in Arabic music and taught us how to do the debka, an Arab dance.  We’re breaking down barriers here.”

For more information go to Hannaton Educational Center