I just got back from a field trip with my Pardes class (Social Justice) which was to the Bilingual School in Jerusalem, one of only 4 in the country (one in the Galil, one in Be'er Sheva, and the other in an Arab Village in the north) which is a public school run by the Ministry of Education. So it is certainly a special school but not a private school. It is by no means perfect with regard to language or conflict resolution or peace or coexistence, but at this point in my being in Israel, it is perhaps the most optimistic look at all of these topics.
(The sign out front at the school, explaining in three languages, about the school.)
In a 2nd grade classroom, a music teacher instructs in Arabic. We observed this classroom for a few minutes. I was amazed!
Yaffa Shira, one of the 2nd grade teachers there (who is American and made aliyah many years ago) has been at the school for 9 years. Her background is very much in the field of education, and she received her Masters degree from Columbia University for Special Education. When she moved here, she went to the Ministry of Education to get a job and they placed her originally in a secular school but one that still teaches Judaics. She was coming back from maternity leave and therefore looking for a new position, and ended up at this school.
The school started in 1998 with only a few younger grades (Kindergarten and 1st grade I believe) and now the school has classes in Pre-K all the way up to 12th grade. This year is the first year they have a 12th grade class. Every year they kept adding a new class/grade of students, so much so that most if not all grades now have 2 classes of 24-30 students each. The school does its best to include 50% Jewish children and 50% Arab children (of which approximately 1/3 are Christian), and also 50% male and 50% female.
Each classroom has 2 teachers - one that teaches in Hebrew, and one that teaches in Arabic. This includes special programs like art, music, and library (sounds like the same "specials" we had in school in NY). In Kindergarten, 1st, and 2nd grade, the children can respond in class in either language (usually whichever is their 1st and that their parents speak), and as the children get older, they are expected to respond in the language they were asked. Around 3rd or 4th grade, the children are also taught English (as most public schools in Israel do, to my knowledge). I think it's beautiful that these children are taught each other's languages because it is such a primal form of communication - to share happiness and joy, and also sadness and grief or frustration. The school also seems to teach about lots of different culture, including all three major religions' holidays. Will these kids grow up more tolerant of different people, because of their education and exposure? Will they be more educated and worldly wise as a result? I'd say very strongly that this is the case, and they are so lucky to have parents who believe in this type of system (some who are even trying to learn the other language to help their children in school, and to help themselves, hey why not?). It's so few parents in this country that would look toward this type of system as successful. I have found so much racism and discrimination here, not necessarily among individuals, but certainly as a country. Yaffa Shira said it too - legally, there is no difference between Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis (same rights, same privileges), but in reality, the differences are huge. Arabs are oftentimes doing the dirty work, in jobs that Jews "wouldn't ever have" and I'm sure they are discriminated against in other workplaces or businesses or shopping malls and the like. Some of the Israelis I've spoken to seem to have a deep seeded negative feeling toward all Arabs because of the conflict that is ubiquitous in this place. I can't say I blame them for feeling this way; I certainly don't know what it's like to grow up in a place that for many years had bombings day after day, and even still gets rockets tossed up in the air and land down on the ground on Israeli soil. But hatred cannot be combated with more hatred; it doesn't solve anything. Bringing Jewish Israelis and Arab Israelis together on as equal footing as possible, in a school, from such a young age, has got to be hopeful for the future of peace in the Middle East.
Needless to say, I'm feeling a bit refreshed with the idea of coexistence compared to the last few weeks that I've been struggling with this idea. It's so nice!
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