Holy Land Uncovered An Interview with Dr Peri Sinclair
Dialogue and Identity, in partnership with the Rossing Center for Education and Dialogue, brings together Jewish and Arab schoolchildren and educators from all over Israel. Jewish and Arab schools are paired, and two classes of 30 children from each school engage in meetings facilitated by their teachers. The program offers the first peek into the life of a religious and ethnic community other than their own. It removes fear and prejudice that is pervasive among Israelis growing up separately in a land of ethnic and religious conflict.
The model trains Jewish and Arab teachers to implement a curriculum stressing “three religions in the Holy Land,” and to jointly facilitate a series of encounters in which their pupils meet and present their religions and culture to each other. TALI initiated the project as part of its goal of strengthening the Jewish knowledge and identity of TALI pupils in the secular public school system. Over the course of the year children spend five days together, hosting each other twice and learning about each other’s way of life.
In 2018-2019, 720 children and 72 educators from 24 schools participated. Over 5,000 students have participated since the program’s founding in 2007. In addition, hundreds of Jewish and Arab schoolteachers and principals have built lasting personal and professional relationships through the program.
