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Message: <br /><br /> If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/13661/full/13661/bilingual-school-in-israel-offers-pathway-to-peaceful-coexistence/ <br /><br /> <b>Bilingual school in Israel offers pathway to peaceful coexistence</b> <br /> Friday, July 21, 2000 | by <p>RONNIE CAPLANE </p> <br /><br /><p>CENTRAL GALILEE, Israel—The bilingual school in Israel's Misgav region doesn't look like the kind of place that's going to change the world. It occupies one of the small, drab, single-story buildings on the region's "campus," which also serves as the Jewish school and government offices. It looks ordinary, unimpressive. Even the school grounds are devoid of all but the most rudimentary play equipment. But within the walls of the bilingual school, dynamic things are taking place.<br /><br /> Children are getting an Arabic and Hebrew bilingual, bicultural education. And by Israeli standards, that's revolutionary.<br /><br /> The curriculum is fully integrated, with all courses taught in both Arabic and Hebrew. Two teachers—one Arab and one Jewish—are assigned to each class. The school has two principals, Arab and Jewish, to make policy decisions and the school's 54 students are equally divided between the two groups. The students also study each other's holidays, culture and history, and their school calendar allows time off for both Arab and Jewish holidays, a distinct departure from that of neighboring schools.<br /><br /> In the regular Israeli educational system, Jewish and Arab children don't even go school together let alone celebrate each other's holidays. Although Arabs speak Hebrew, few Jews are literate in Arabic. Bridging that gap is not an educational priority. Israel has only one other bilingual school.<br /><br /> But in Misgav, bilingual education is about more than just mastering two languages. It's about commitment to a new order, a new domestic peace, to diversity, tolerance and acceptance.<br /><br /> "If we really want a coexistence we have to start with our children," said Erez Kreitler, the region's mayor. It's not surprising that such an innovative idea should emerge from the Misgav region. The area has an unusually diverse population that includes Arabs, Bedouins and Jews of all streams from secular to Orthodox. Presently the region's Arabs outnumber the Jews. Although each segment of the population lives in its own settlement, they work together and share governmental responsibility.<br /><br /> "Children should grow up together," says Tami Duhmai, the school's Jewish principal. If children get to know each other, they "don't have stereotypes or prejudices."<br /><br /> To Eldad Garfunkel, a Jew whose son attends the school, it's the beginning of peaceful coexistence between Arabs and Jews.<br /><br /> "We should live together as one people. We are all Israelis," said Garfunkel. "The only thing that strange is that we're talking about it. The day will come that it will not be discussed."<br /><br /> Only 2 years old, the bilingual school is already recognized for excellence in education and is serving as the model for a similar school that will open in Jerusalem. It has a first and second grade, with plans to add a third grade in the fall. Although the bilingual school receives funding from the state, it relies heavily on private grants such as the one it received from the S.F.-based Jewish Community Federation. Student applications for the fall have skyrocketed, with many more applying than can be accommodated. The school hopes to move to its own site in the future where the school can be enlarged and serve more students.<br /><br /> But most importantly, it's making inroads into the way children and their parents think about those in their surrounding community.<br /><br /> "I knew about the world," said Garfunkel, referring to how well he is connected to the rest of the world through television, periodicals and the Internet. "But I didn't know anything about the people behind the wall."<br /><br /> The wall to which he refers divides the Jewish from the Arab population. The wall is not only a geographic barrier, but it also marks a cultural division and can also mean the difference in quality of life. A middle-class Jew enjoys a much better lifestyle then his or her Arab counterpart.<br /><br /> Even though the education is considered superior to that in both Jewish and Arab schools, putting a child in the bilingual school poses problems for parents.<br /><br /> "I had problems with other people in my village," said one of the Arab parents. Her friends were opposed to the idea, saying that her son would come out "half and half" and lose his Arab identity.<br /><br /> Because of those concerns, parents are interviewed before children are enrolled in the school and required to make two commitments. One is to the school's pluralistic philosophy and another is to volunteer their time at the school.<br /><br /> Although parents may have a political commitment to tolerance and acceptance, most have had little if any social contact with those on the other side of the wall. But as they work together and their children take them into the other community for play dates, attitudes are beginning to change and social relationships are slowly developing. And the more they learn about each other, the more common ground they're finding.<br /><br /> "We are all parents," said Garfunkel, observing that when it comes to their children, Arabs and Jews have the same concerns: education, safety, the future and a drive to succeed. "The Arab mother is a Jewish mother, sometimes a little more."</p> <p> </p>

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