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Friendship Village
International Center for Education for Peace and Human Rights in a Multi-Cultural Society
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Nemashim
(Youth Play Peace)
The "Nemashim" project provides a framework for Israeli Jewish and Arab high school graduates to devote one year of their lives to promote the Jewish-Arab dialogue in Israel. Through educational programs and theatrical productions, the group helps to develop the hidden creative potentials among young people in underprivileged, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic neighborhoods throughout Haifa. The group dedicates its efforts to building mutual respect and understanding between young Arabs and Jews through the partnership projects.
All volunteers are graduates of theatre-oriented high schools, and have completed Friendship Village’s mandatory preparation program of weekend workshops extending over six months.
Though living together in the midst of a destructive conflict, Israeli Jewish and Arab youth continue to be estranged from each other. This terrain of unfamiliarity is a breeding ground for suspicion and distrust, which inevitably perpetuates the history of violence between the two nationalities. “Nemashim” works towards developing peaceful resistance to violence by imparting the ideals of equality and mutual respect through the cooperative efforts of a mixed group.
The group is made up of six young people sharing an apartment (Kommuna) in Halisa, one of Haifa’s underprivileged Arab neighborhoods. Project participants devote their main efforts to building bridges between the local residents and those in the nearby Jewish neighborhood, "Newe Yosef." In addition to their educational activity, the group also uses as an amateur theater group that performes 3 theater plays every year.
The volunteers work additional part time jobs to cover part of their living cost.
Since its inception in 2005, a new group of volunteers joins the project annually. The 2009-10 will be the fifth completed year.
Background
When seeking out the source of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, it becomes apparent that the current crisis is actually part of a much broader, deeper problem: That which inheres in the complicated relationships between the Jewish and Arab people of the Middle East. Deep hostility, mistrust and most of all, ignorance, characterize this problem. While most of the Jews living in the region look upon their Arab neighbors as inferior, most Arabs perceive Israeli Jews as unwanted intruders. Clearly, no real or lasting peace can be established within this context.
The current situation
The two main national communities who live in the state of Israel have always carried antagonism and hostility towards each other. For decades – and particularly since October 2000 - increased segregation, discrimination and isolation has marked Jewish-Arab relations in Israel. The October 2000 events in which the Israeli police killed 13 Arabs have also severely affected relationships between the Jewish majority and the large Arab minority (who constitute approximately 20% of the population). Arab-Jewish cooperation in any social, communal or civil area is virtually non-existent, and among the young population, racism and violence are all too common. The Arab population, which is the largest weakened sector, is neglected and discriminated against by the state and by local authorities - a fact that obviously poses a tremendous obstacle to peaceful co-existence.
More on the Nemashim project
Friendship Village projects are based on a firm belief in the possibility of peaceful coexistence and cooperation. Creating a context in which mutual respect and equality can be realized is vital for a flourishing future. "NEMASHIM" is a unique and extraordinary program aimed at the most fundamental level of the conflict. It enables Jewish and Arab high school graduates to dedicate a year of life to communal living and artistic-educational work. The program allows its participants to have a personal understanding of cooperation through the experiences of every day living; i.e., sharing an apartment, eating, working, spending leisure time together, etc. The program also provides a means for transmitting these ideas to young people and to prepare them for a future society based on equality and mutual respect. The annual “graduates” of the program will be in a better position to:
a) Establish and run theatrical workshops for children, youth and adults in local
community centers.
b) Develop artistic and creative skills among local young people – particularly in the area
of theater.
c) Volunteer for social and educational activities in Jewish and Arab low-income
neighborhoods.
d) Perform bi-lingual theatrical plays of relevant, progressive content, to children and the
adult population of the community.
Main objectives
• To bring together young volunteers from Israel’s Arab and Jewish population.
To bring together young volunteers from Israel’s Arab and Jewish population.• To impart values that allows for alternative perspectives and respect for others’ views,
To impart values that allows for alternative perspectives and respect for others’ views, culture and behavior.
• To encourage connections and cooperation between citizens of the Jewish "Newe
To encourage connections and cooperation between citizens of the Jewish "Newe Yosef" neighborhood and the nearby Arab "Halisa" neighborhood and to teach the
value of coexistence, based on mutual respect and equality.
• To develop the artistic and creative skills of the local population in the above areas,
To develop the artistic and creative skills of the local population in the above areas, particularly among children and youth.
• To promote social and educational standards of the two neighborhoods, through
To promote social and educational standards of the two neighborhoods, through theatre activities; i.e. circles and performances.
• To realize improved social relations through theatre
• To create a supportive environment for all the objectives above
• To experience communal living
• To work towards continuation of this project
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