Intensive Arabic Semester

Photos & Text: Lydia Aisenberg

LEFT: Dudu Amitai, Givat Haviva spokesperson and director of the Yad Yaari Research and Documentation Center showing Barcelona journalist Ofer Laszewicki and photojournalist colleague Oliver de Ros newspapers from the unique Givat Haviva collection of Arabic language newspapers

Ofer Laszewicki and Oliver de Ros grew up in the same neighborhood and have been friends since the age of four.

The friends from Barcelona chose the same profession, journalism. Oliver, a photojournalist was born in Spain ‐ his mother is originally from Britain and teaches English whilst writer Ofer was born in Israel but moved with his parents to Spain when he was a toddler.

The childhood friends recently took a 2‐month sojourn with a joint professional eye through Israel and

Palestinian areas to try and better understand the Palestinian‐Israeli conflict and to also focus on organizations

concentrating on peace education and Jewish‐Arab shared society projects such as those found in Givat Haviva.

“Although I was born in Haifa but raised in Barcelona, Oliver and I realized that in order to cover different social and political issues on our own – and particularly to focus more on dialogue and reconciliation histories between the people – it would need a few months of research work. Reading about Givat Haviva on the internet propelled us to want to know more about all the special projects here,” explained Ofer.

The eager pair of young journalists met with Etti Amram, director of the Givat Haviva Arts Center and Peace Gallery. Naturally Oliver showed particular interest in the Through Others’ Eyes photography and video project and how photography had been the tool to successfully bring Jewish and Arab youth together for over 12 years in the much in demand project.

Following their visit to the Art Center the Spanish duo had the opportunity to generally soak up the atmosphere on campus together with International Department’s Lydia Aisenberg who also guided them on an in‐depth tour of the region. The tour dealt with the 1949 Armistice Line in the area, the security fence and checkpoints, Jewish settlements, the ‘Seven Stars of Sharon’ such as Katzir ‐ and much more ‐ before tackling the complicated history and present day situation of East and West Barta’a, divided to this day by that very Armistice Line of ’49.

During a second visit to the Wadi Ara campus the following week, Ofer and Oliver were invited to view the unique Givat Haviva collection of Arabic language newspapers and to receive an explanation from Dudu Amitai, the Givat Haviva spokesperson and director of the Yad Yaari Research and Documentation Center, of how the collection not only became recognized by UNESCO but that funding from that organization has enabled thousands of pages of 1930s and 1940s editions of the newspapers to be digitized and made available on the internet.

The Barcelonans were also joined in the library by Galit Kellner, director of the Givat Haviva School of Arabic Language & Middle East Studies who spoke with them about the many long and short term courses offered both Israelis and overseas students who speak Hebrew – as does Ofer who has a large family in Israel. Oliver, who is not Jewish, has no knowledge of Hebrew or Arabic but has picked up a small vocabulary in both languages in the two months he has been in the region.

Galit Kellner translates a few lines of an Arabic language newspaper, circa 1940s.

“Hebrew and Arabic are very similar, in fact there are no two languages that are as similar to each other as that of Hebrew and Arabic,” explained Galit, whose parents originate from the Yemen and Egypt. She holds a B.A. in Arabic and Education from Haifa University and M.A. in Arabic from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and impressed upon the visitors the importance of the Arabic language newspaper collection – for both the Palestinians and Israelis – and how she incorporates articles from those newspapers in her teaching and also to assist researchers such as one young man, a former Arabic language student of hers, who is nowadays undertaking research in Israel toward a degree at Cambridge University.

“Through teaching the language to Jewish Israelis and those from abroad I feel I have an extra purpose above and beyond just language as through the language tuition one can create more understanding. The similarities are not only in the language but these similarities only recognized positively when speaking the language of the other. The languages are more than cousins! The Arabs in Israel speak Hebrew, know us well but only a small percentage of the Jewish population speak Arabic,” she said. “My friend Anhar in the next office to me here in Givat Haviva is like me, just she is a Muslim and I am Jewish. We have and share a great deal in common.”

“I have discovered that once Israeli Jews learn the Arabic language much of the hostility and fear falls by the wayside and they are no longer uncomfortable when they hear Arabic being spoken, so my objective is to teach the Arabic language to as many people as possible,” she declared, with a broad smile and wave of a hand in the direction of the fray edged, yellowing newspaper pages stored in the cardboard box on the table in front of Ofer and Oliver.

“Many of those that attend the long term or adult evening classes choose the Arabic language studies as a means of understanding the language and culture of their neighbors, that they recognize Arabic as the language of the neighbor and not just of the enemy,” emphasized Galit. She also told the journalists about being one of a group of Arabic language teachers who worked together on creating a new set of Arabic language textbooks.

“We changed the books as we decided a different approach was necessary. Again there is more of an emphasis on ‘language explaining a culture’ and we use this method for high‐school students coming here for Arabic language enrichment programs that help break down stereotypes, basically bringing them to a point where they can understand that Jewish and Arab teens have the same dreams, needs and goals in life.”

Galit also pointed out to the Barcelonans that in the last decade the Arab population in Israel go out and about from their villages far more with family outings to other areas of the country, mooch around shopping malls in the towns and cities ‐ therefore exposing more Jewish Israelis to hearing Arabic spoken in their public places and spaces than in the past.

“The Arabic language has been taught at Givat Haviva since 1949 and in recent years our teachers have also been running courses off campus for large organizations. We have run courses for social workers, government employees and recently ran a course for Protection of Nature Society rangers so that they could explain in Arabic to Arab visitors why it is forbidden to collect za’ata (hyssop) from the wild, how to approach women in a different way to the men and so on.”

Teachers involved in coexistence projects, local municipality workers, university graduates, lawyers and folks who have graduated university studies in International Relations and Politics have all sat on the learning benches of the Givat Haviva Arabic Language School.

“After the Arab Spring broke out in Egypt, many of the foreign students studying Arabic at the university in Cairo had to leave and transferred to Israeli universities and also to Givat Haviva – two of whom joined the Intensive Arabic Semester of the International Department for instance,” explained Galit who then with a broad smile and much to the amusement of Ofer and Oliver said:

“You see, Israel is the safest place to learn Arabic!”

In and outside the Peace Library: Galit writes Oliver’s name in Arabic for him and right: standing by the Peace Pole in the library forecourt. On the pole is inscribed in Arabic, Hebrew, Japanese and English the slogan: May Peace Prevail on Earth.

The young journalists also joined a German group of university students to hear a talk by Riad Kabaha, director of the Givat Haviva Jewish‐Arab Center for Peace and also accompany MASA‐Givat Haviva Intensive Arabic Semester students for a few hours during their weekly visit to the Baka al‐Gharbiya high‐school where they teach English, the work in the community component of their 5‐month program organized by the International Department. At the end of the visit and speaking with some of the overseas students from France, Russia, Norway and North America, Ofer and Oliver said they would both love to do the program!

Ofer and Oliver meet with Etti Amram, director of the Arts Center and Peace Gallery and ceramics teacher Avner Singer and right: Etti presenting the Spaniards with a copy of CHILDREN WRITE for PEACE

During their visit to the Givat Haviva Arts Center and Peace Gallery, Ofer and Oliver were presented with a copy of CHILDREN WRITE for PEACE, a book of poems and prose written by young children and teens – an Art Center project with funding from the Friends of Givat Haviva, Switzerland.

Already back in Barcelona, the two young journalists are now working hard to write, sift through thousands of photographs and publish articles and photos of their extensive travels, interviews and personal thoughts about the regions people, places and on‐going conflict as well as write about the organizations and individuals who are attempting to combat the divide between Arabs and Jews, Palestinians and Israelis.

Ofer and Oliver emailed their thanks for the 2‐days spent with Givat Haviva staff members and also a few thoughts with regard CHILDREN WRITE for PEACE, their copy now sitting on a Barcelona bookshelf.

“While I was reading most of the poems it was difficult to accept that they were written by kids. All of them are clear, simple and really powerful and show the desperate shouts of a generation that wants to definitely stop this endless conflict. Probably they don’t know all the details, but they feel inside their souls the pain and suffering and they express themselves perfectly. I think that this book needs to be distributed to adults both sides of the conflict. It shows that the work you are doing in Givat Haviva really has good results and so don’t give up and continue with your educational projects.

Best wishes, Ofer Laszewicki

A second email from Oliver reads as follows: “When I was a 10 year old kid I wasn’t worried about peace. In these poems the main thing that the reader first notices is how much these kids care about peace, and how they have had preoccupied with worries for peace since being just small children. They have grown up looking at the same sky and I can appreciate those lines and how they care about peace. They are not talking about their personal stories but about the most important thing, being a human being. Through this very emotional book, we can truly understand what it is that Givat Haviva tries to show and another important component of what we have learned in Israel and the region during our stay.

Peace,
Oliver de Ros.”

War and Peace: Ofer and Oliver visiting the Salem checkpoint (middle) Ofer standing at the spot where the Green Line and electronic security fence parts company at Mei Ami‐umm al‐Fahm and (far right) they both look back over the area from the Border Police Educational Center and Museum in Wadi Ara, a short drive from Givat Haviva

Even after a few hours of walking around the Givat Haviva campus, Intensive Arabic Semester students still did not get to see a great deal of what can be found in the various departments, exhibition halls and archives of the 1949 founded institute in Wadi Ara.

Although the IAS program is under the joint auspices of MASA and Givat Haviva, students are based in the nearby Hashomer Hatzair kibbutz of Barkai where they reside and attend classes in spoken Arabic, Arab history, Middle Eastern studies, Israel studies in the context of Arab relations, Hebrew and much more.

During the recent visit to the campus students learned about the story of Haviva Reik – after whom the campus is named – whilst sitting around the memorial unveiled in her honor in November, 2009 – the 65th anniversary since her death.  They also visited the Art Center and Peace Gallery, viewed the Peace Tree project of 2003 on the main lawn as well as the Peace Pole situated between the old and new buildings of the Peace Library, and were taken around one of the main exhibitions of Moreshet, The Mordechai Anielewicz Holocaust Study and Research Center situated on campus.

Last year when he was visiting Israel Professor Jonathan Golden paid a quick call to Givat Haviva and made a repeat visit recently accompanied by Yehezkel Landau from the Hartford Seminary.

“When I came to visit last year there was a group from an American synagogue participating in a seminar and I sat in on their program and was really disappointed not to have had time to join them afterwards on the tour of the region that was part of their day at Givat Haviva,” reminisced Golden, Assistant Professor, Departments of Religion and Anthropology; Associate Director, Center on Religion, Culture and Conflict and also Director of Hillel at Drew University.

Next year Professor Jonathan Golden and another faculty member will be leading a group of 20 students from Drew University on an in-depth study tour of Israel.  Professor Golden came to discuss International Department input to such a program and a seminar will be built together in the interim period.During the visit both Professor Golden and Yehezkel Landau were extremely impressed with the Intensive Arabic Semester program – a new term of which started the same day they visited campus – and expressed not only their interest in the program but also a willingness to share those impressions with others when they return to their respective campuses in the States shortly.

“This is a really exciting program and definitely could be attractive to some of our students,” said Professor Golden as he and Yehezkel Landau collected up pamphlets to take back to the States.Yahezkel Landau is also the co-director of the Open House Center for Jewish-Arab Coexistence in Ramle and a much respected commentator on interfaith and Middle East topics.

“This was an important visit for us here at the International Department,” said Intensive Arabic Semester director Hilit Ben Zvi.  “We have a great deal of faith in our program and it is very uplifting indeed to have academic guests like Jonathan Golden and Yehezkel Landau give us such encouraging feedback.”

Jonathan Golden (Ph.D. in Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania, 1998) teaches at Drew University, where he is Associate Director of the Caspersen Centers, working closely with Drew’s Center for Civic Engagement, while serving as Assoc. Director for the Center on Religion, Culture and Conflict.  Golden teaches in the Department of Religious Studies, the Caspersen School of Graduate Studies and the Theology School, specializing in the areas of Religion, Anthropology, and the Middle East - ancient and modern.  He is the author of Ancient Canaan and Israel: New Perspectives and the forthcoming Dawn of the Metal Age.  Golden offers courses and has written on such topics as religious conflict and terrorism, world archaeology, Jewish diaspora communities, ethnography of the Middle East and Latin America, and human evolution, with a special focus on the inter-face between science and religion.  Golden is also Faculty Advisor to Drew Hillel and S.T.A.N.D. and is an active member of the Drew Disaster Relief Project; he also serves on the Religious Life Council and Diversity Committee.  Golden lives in Florham Park, NJ, where he also enjoys playing soccer and performing/writing music.

For the last 2 months San Franciscan Seth Norman has been studying Arabic, Hebrew and general Middle East studies with the Givat Haviva-MASA Intensive Arabic Semester in Wadi Ara, Israel.

When asked to meet recently with a Jewish Community Federation delegation from San Francisco on a five day visit to projects the Federation supports in Israel, Seth was more than delighted to have the opportunity to meet folks from back home – but did not anticipate that among the 15 visitors would be a number of sets of parents of former peers from his high-school days!

On their way to the Kfar Kara Bridge Over the Wadi Jewish-Arab school, and having met with Israel Minister for Minority Affairs Professor Avishay Braverman in Tel Aviv before setting out for Wadi Ara, the Federation tour organizers had requested a representative of Givat Haviva meet the group en-route in order to explain about Givat Haviva and also give an explanation about the region from the Katzir observation platform on the Amir Mountain range overlooking Wadi Ara and the Dotan Valley area of the West Bank below.

Chatting with the group, Seth quickly discovered the family connections. "It was a pleasant surprise to see people that I knew from home, particularly when considering I grew up in a tiny town called Hillsborough about 20 minutes south of San Francisco.  I had not realized that I had family friends who were so involved in understanding life in Israel and working to keep the link between American and Israeli Jews strong.  I was raised with the full understanding that I was Jewish, but with none of the religious or cultural foundations.

"Coming to Israel to learn about my heritage became much more real when I saw people from home here and learned of the very close ties between Israel and the Jewish community of San Francisco," explained Seth, a 1999 graduate of San Mateo High School and who graduated the University of California at Berkeley in 2003.

"The parents of some of my school friends - Joel Abelson and twin sisters Dena and Rebecca Salamin – were with the San Francisco group and that was a real surprise, especially as although my family were not members of a synagogue nor did I attend any Jewish youth group, I did have a bar-mitzvah together with the Salamin twins," said 28 year-old Seth, who served in the United States Army from June 2004-October 2009, stationed in Germany, Kuwait and Iraq.

"My parents, Kim Norman and Kimberlie Cerrone, are very liberal thinking but I guess it wasn’t easy for them to accept my decision to serve in the Armed Forces – I just felt I wanted to serve my country in a time of need," explained Seth.

Asked why he had chosen to study Arabic and Middle East Studies with the Givat Haviva-MASA Intensive Arabic Semester program, Seth  explained that when his unit returned from Iraq to their base in Frankfurt he was given two weeks of leave and he decided "on a whim" to spend them in Tel Aviv.

"I came alone because I was looking for a little peace after spending 15 months with 80 men in a 60-man tent," he said with a laugh.  "I ended up meeting tons of people, canceling my hotel room and staying with my new friends – and had a great time. Basically my decision to learn Arabic began as a search to find a reason to spend more time in Israel.  I was always fascinated by the Arabic script I would see in the streets when I served in Iraq and many a time thought how I would love to be able to read Arabic," said Seth who was always accompanied by a translator during his service in Iraq.

During the course of the Givat Haviva-MASA Intensive Arabic Semester program, Seth and his fellow students live in the Wadi Ara kibbutz of Barkai and undertake community work in the nearby Arab Muslim village of Arara where they tutor high-school students and visit local families.