vacillation

POLAND, Słubice High School,ProjectCoordinator, Dorota Rutka, dorutka@wp.pl

2008-2009

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The encounter between students and adults that came from diverse cultural frames both from the Israeli-Palestinian and German society, brings up central issues about the trilateral exchanges.

We found out that there are visible and hidden reasons which motivates the different sides to take part on such an encounter-exchange.

Visible reasons:

For most of the Jewish groups, the visit to Germany summarizes some main topics learnt in high school in the frame of history lessons. These topics are the Holocaust and the development of Anti-Semitism. 
For the Educational Israeli system, Germany is considered to be a crucial page in the book of Jewish history relating to the roots of anti-Semitism and the eruption of the Holocaust.
The visit to Germany is considered to be an opportunity to see the place, to go to the museums and the memorials and to give a deeper dimension to the students upon this historical chapter.

Usually in the beginning, the encounter with the German society is taken in a doubtfulness basis from the Jewish side.
There's always a deep concern from the educators (both Israelis and Germans) of getting into perplexed situations between the students, during groups discussions, meetings with the families, in the memorials and as well in unexpected situations.
Surprisingly, these kinds of situations barely happen, and if they do, they only contribute to build a stronger relationship between the students and between the adults.
 I believe that the maturity which both societies reached during the years, dealing about mutual past issues, feasible an open dialog between the students.

From another angle, Arab students, both from the West Bank and Israeli-Arabs with Palestinian roots, seek to tell their stories of the conflict... during discussions events.
They usually don’t see Germany as a land with a charged history for the Jewish side, and when they realize it, they start comparing their own suffer to the suffer of the Jewish victims.
This situation brings a huge frustration for both sides (the Arab and the Jewish) leaving an impression that both narratives, the Palestinian and the Jewish, don't get enough stage. Sometimes it is clearly seen that both sides competes upon the affection of the German group towards them.
If the groups are well prepared, or if the groups (the Arab and Jewish) come already in a frame of another meeting program (like Givat Haviva), the confrontation with these topics can be dealt before the meeting with the German side.
Another important reason to come to Germany for the Israeli group is the chance to meet other youth from the "free world" who don't experience the Middle East reality.
To dream, even though for a short period, to be a young person who's future is not being planned yet (no Army and no oppressive society)  makes the encounter in Germany a valuable gift in the life of a young who comes from a conflict area like Israel is.
The students, from the three groups, seek as well for the multicultural meeting.
Europe for the Israeli group, especially for the Arabs on the group, is a chance to break the suffocate hug of the traditional Arab society… even though it is usually realized as an hidden experience in their minds.
  
Other reasons, below the surface:

Before the group's meetings, between the Jewish-Israelis and the Germans, there always those open questions of prejudice in the Jewish group, the “why” questions:
"What was so wrong about the Jewish people that during WarII that made Jewish be transported like lambs to their dead? (A known expression in the Israeli society through many years) 
Why the Germans did hate us so much?  What do the German students and their society today think about Jews? What do they think about anti-Semitism?  About Israel? 
Do they hate us? Still? "

The host experience and the meeting with the families in Germany, make a real impact on these questions. Barely any explanation is given about the “Why”, but the meeting, the open doors and the warm and sincere welcome of the families bracing the students with so much love, makes the “Why” question irrelevant. Also the meeting with the German group, in their own land, that land that in past time expelled and clean every memory of living Jews, and then, being the Israeli group so welcome in the same place… originate an important curing circle on prejudice thoughts.

Concerning the Arab group, there's always a common expectation from the Jewish group, that the journey to Germany will open a door to the Palestinian to understand the holocaust as seeing from the Israeli eyes.

What eventually happens is that the confrontation with the Jewish history topic cages the feelings of the Arab students.
There's a general tendency, from the Arab group, to lead the discussions to topics like discrimination toward the Arab minority in Israel, the Palestinian suffer and the Israeli occupation. Shortening, the Arab students seeks as well, for their own public platform.
The Arab group found it hard to give space to another kind of memorized historical traumas, like the Jewish holocaust. In the Arab opinion, the Israelis are those who produce the Arab traumatic narrative, so it's impossible to find compassion for those who are responsible for their own suffer. 
As an Arab educator asked a Holocaust survivor:" What do you think should feel the victims of the victims"?

No doubt that despites these described difficulties, the trilateral encounters create an exceptional meeting junction among an entire generation of Jewish, Arab and German youth .

There's a whole history to be learn, but before, there are three humanistic narratives to understand.
We, the mature generation, have to embrace heartily our duty to teach our students the lessons of Life. Sometimes these lessons are sad, sometimes terrible but we should remember that there have always been people who have struggled for good and these people have moved the world foreword.

This is our special mission and maybe our chance, as educators, to be part of those people who have struggled for good.