The Peace Walker Society led a group of Vancouver-area walkers on a Peace Walk through Israel in November. The beginning of this walk is a Trappist Monastery near Latrun, the walking path goes through the Israeli-Arab village of Abu Ghosh, into beautiful Ein Kerem and the ever-expanding suburbs of West Jerusalem. The eighty kilometer route takes eight days to walk.
Like last year, the participants learned to "love the land through their feet". The scenic beauty of the country, and the stories and experiences of people we met along the walking route made for a deep, powerful experience.
Our first destination was at Neve Shalom/Wahat al Salaam (NSWAS) known as "The Oasis of Peace". NSWAS was founded in 1977 by an Egyptian Jew who had immigrated to France, converted to Catholicism and became a priest before settling in Israel.
While serving in the Latrun monastery in Israel, he had a vision of a community where Jews and Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship are creating a community based on mutual acceptance, respect and cooperation. The monastery eventually pledged 400 dunums of land for the establishment of the village. After a slow start, the village now has more than 50 families, with an equal number of Arabs and Jews.
NSWAS pioneered the idea of "bilingual, binational schooling" in Israel. After more than 20 years of continuous operation, the NSWAS primary school and kindergarten has 300 children currently enrolled, 90% of which come by bus from surrounding Arab and Jewish communities. The Jewish and Palestinian teachers speak exclusively in their own languages to all the children. From an early age, children are encouraged to be aware of their own identity, culture and traditions. There is an atmosphere of openness and tolerance that encourages the children to understand, accept and appreciate each other.
The walkers met with Nava Sonnenschein, director of the School for Peace. The School for Peace focuses on conflict resolution processes for adults. In dialogue groups and workshops, participants acknowledge both sides of the conflict, and are asked to recognize and take responsibility for the roles that their own national identities have in it. Powerful stuff! The School for Peace has facilitated conflict resolution sessions in Kosovo and Cypress and recently, traveled to Los Angeles for listening between blacks, whites and hispanic peoples. Our conversation with Nava gave me hope that despite the discouraging state of dialogue between Jews and Arabs at the political level, there is genuine progress being made at the grassroots level to promote understanding and tolerance. To find out more about the work of NSWAS see: http://nswas.org
There are many other stories. We walked with an American Jew who made Aliyah in 1988 and is raising his two children in Ra'annana. We stayed in an Arab home in Abu Ghosh and enjoyed the spartan hospitality of Ramadan. We passed Shabbat in a seaside kibbutz and Derek shared stories from his 17 years of walking for peace. We met with the director of the controversial film "Jenin, Jenin" and heard his story. We toured the Old City of Jerusalem with an Israeli-born veteran of the wars in 1967 and 1973 and heard his story. We walked at Yad Va-Shem. We walked along the frontier where Qualquilia is separated from Beitc Hefer by the newly-constructed security wall. The Hadassa Hospital in Jerusalem has a beautiful synagogue inside it. Light pours in through Marc Chagall's windows. Each of these experiences is a story unto itself.
For more information on our next, as yet unscheduled, walking trip to Israel, please send me an email at alan@peacewalker.com
Alan Woodland