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Report on IPCRI’s Peace Education Workshop

January 4-5, 2008

On January 4-5, 2008 IPCRI convened a two-day workshop on peace education. The Workshop brought together 162 peace educators, curricula writers, encounter facilitators, peace studies practitioners from Israel, Palestine and many other countries. There were 68 Israelis, 60 Palestinians (from the West Bank and East Jerusalem) and 34 international participants. The workshop participants included conflict resolution practitioners, mediators, and activists from academia, research sector, governmental and community organizations and others from Israel, Palestine and beyond. There were The Workshop was a tremendous opportunity for dialogue, debate and visioning with collaboration and cooperation between the body of theory and practice. The Workshop was a meeting grounds for dialogue and mutual learning from the field of peace education from the viewpoint of academia and from the field of practioners. The Workshop raised critical issues and brought new insights into the profound developments in Israel, Palestine and around the world in the field of peace education. Main Themes for the Workshop

• Moving from a Culture of hate to a culture of peace • Resources for peace educators

• Peace education curricula - research and development

• Coping with existing curricula in Israel and Palestine

• Using media in peace education

• Using the arts in peace education

• Virtual Peace education - using the internet in peace education

• Peace education in the informal educational arena – youth centers, youth movements,

clubs, etc.

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• Institutionalizing peace education – confronting the formal education systems During the course of the weekend 51 workshops, lectures, discussions, dialogues, and films were conducted. The following is a list of the workshops: 1. Developing Joint University Projects Across The Green Line Given The Asymmetry Of The Societies And The

Conflict 2. How Can We Inspire Others To Move From "Hating And Fearing" To "Loving And Respecting" The Other? 3. The Traditional Tale As A Tool In Facilitating Dialogue Between Identities 4. The Direct-Causation Person-Centered Approach: A Radical Change In Approach To Peace Education

5. Using Theater In Peace Education: The Play: Just Over The Boardwalk (Peace Child Israel) 6. Creating The Environment For Seeds To Flourish: Challenges And Possibilities For Peace Education, With The

Example Of Seeds Of Peace As A Starting Point For Discussion 7. Film: "Women On The Frontlines" 8. Conquering Conflict Through Creation: The Power Of A Child's Canvas 9. Arab And Jewish Students Engage In Participatory Action Research At The University Of Haifa: A Model For

Dialogue 10. What's Right? Tapping Into Positive, Creative, Intuitive Ideas 11. Unequal Gender Relationships In Dialogue Encounters Between Palestinians And Israelis 12. From A Language Of Hate To A Language Of Peace: How Reiki Can Help 13. Processes Of Majority Group Identity Formation During A Jewish –Palestinian Encounter 14. Team Development Through Movement Games In Multi-Cultural Groups 15. Symbols As A Universal Grammar For A Dialogue Between Cultures 16. Yoga And Dance Communication 17. Peace It Together: Empowering Youth To Promote Peace Through Dialogue, Filmmaking, And Multi-Media 18. The Peace Labyrinth: A Self-Learning Peace Education Model 19. Israelis And Palestinians – Self Image And Images Of "The Other" 20. Knowing The Other – Dialogue Through Cinema

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21. The Role Of Religion In Conflict And Peacemaking In The Israeli-Palestinian Area 22. Win-Win Conflict Management/Transformation/Resolution (Ww-Cmtr): Facilitating The Journey Of Understanding

And Resolving The Conflict In The Middle East By Applying/Synthesizing Transactional Analysis, Psychodrama And Gestalt Therapy Techniques

23. Holy Land: Common Ground - Dual Narratives As A Bridge To Mutual Understanding 24. Using Theater In Peace Education: A Film About Peace Child Israel 25. Israeli-Palestinian Peace Organizations: It Is Their Duty To Influence Policy Making Decision-Making 26. A Multicultural Teachers' College: How We Make Diversity Work For Us 27. De-Demonizing The Other: "Teen Voices From The Holy Land: Who Am I To You?" 28. Combatants For Peace: Transforming Our Struggle From Violent To Non-Violent 29. Eu-Partnership For Peace Program: "Utilizing Middle Eastern Civic Education As A Leverage For Peace" 30. Environmental Education As Peace Education: "Common Paths" 31. Musician For Peace Workshop. Workshop/Concert 32. The Dialogue Project Diaspora Palestinians And Israelis Creating Partnerships - In The United States What We

Do, How Can We Partner With You? 33. Compassionate Listening In The Middle East 34. Peace Education In Palestine 35. Creating Care-Full Listening And Conversations Between Members Of Conflicting Groups In Israel: Narrative

Means To Transformative Listening 36. Proximate Peace, Far Away Fairness 37. Why Is It Difficult For Women To Participate In The Public Domain? 38. Envisioning A Culture Of Peace: How Can We Succeed In Genuinely Transforming Our Culture? The Law Of

Critical Mass 39. Transformative Learning And The Connection Between Peace Education And Human Rights Education In Adults 40. Making History: Cultivating Relationships To The Past That Encourage Peace 41. Facts About Peace Camp Canada 42. Networking And Building A Strategy For Peace

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43. Searching For The Emotional Code Through The Chaos 44. Building Peace Through Education": A Project In Israel And Palestine Based On The Reconciliation Process

Between Poland And Germany (After WWII) 45. Patches" A Personal Documentary Film About Losing My Aunt And Grandmother In A Terrorist Attack In Tel Aviv

(Hebrew: Tla'im) 46. Peace-Building : How To Create Trust As A Basis For Action 47. Establishing An On-Line Network For Palestinian And Israeli Individuals And Organizations 48. Language & Peace 49. Negotiating Non-Violence: Power Relations Within Palestinian/Israeli Peace Activism 50. Living In The Holy Land: An Educational Journey To Discover Similarities And Differences Between The Three

Monotheistic Religions 51. Amnesty International’s Youth Direct Action Program The following is taken from the blog of E A S T M E D S E A P E A C E ( H T T P : / / E M S P E A C E . B L O G S P O T . C O M / 2 0 0 8 _ 0 1 _ 0 1 _ A R C H I V E . H T M L )

Saturday, January 05, 2008

thank you.. i just got back from a weekend retreat-conference in tantur about peace democracy and education run by IPCRI.. oh man.. so many things were awesome about it.. i am smletering right now in the fires it has ignited within me.. the passion it has awoken.. what an amazing experience.. i will do my best to afford this weekend justice in this post.. i hope you get a taste of it.. i miss it already.. the drive wasnt as hard as i thought it would be.. then again i didnt need to cross a check point.. and even if i did have to it wouldnt have been a problem.. several hundred israelis palestinians and "internationals" joined together for a jam-packed back-to-back trail-blazing series of workshops on peace and education and i have never been so amazed and inspired by the work of so many amazing people.. if you find this gushy - do what you need to get through the post - im struggling to hold back.. haha

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the above pic shows u the magical entrance to the peaceful compound that houses IPCRI

generally but also created the setting for one of the most amazing weekends of my life.. tantur is

apparently a "neutral" venue.. run as a christian centre geared to uniting christian factions in

israel it has an open arms policy to all sides of israel and palestine.. u can feel those open arms

big time.. (i warned you this is gush-rated)..

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as always in conferences the lecture time was as valuable as the break time.. which was when we

joked together.. ate.. laughed.. and generally soaked in this amazing and diverse family of peace

champions that this land is blessed with - while its obvious that more are needed.. i wish i could

bottle the energy i still have now even after driving home from the event.. im sure it could cure

anything on the planet if i could only share it enough..

overlooking the glowing beauty of bethlehem i sunk back into memories of dad taking me to the

church of nativity when i was a kid.. i remembered uncle ronny wearing a smock to cover himself

down to his knees and i asked dad why his bro was donning a dress hehehe.. it was so natural

back then to go there.. must have been 1985.. never thought twice about it.. from there we went

to jericho where dad showed me an ancient palace built by hordus 2000 or so years ago.. but

these fond memories faded quickly against the eye piercing view of the wall.. if you double click

on the pic you may see it wrapping bethlehem.. i would love to counter the previous statement

with a statement about the wall's importance.. but i must confess - staring at that town - i

couldnt convince myself.. i couldnt.. the way the wall zigzagged around corners of the town's

edge and separated me in tantur from bethlehem didnt seem right.. i hope it is.. i hope we are

justified.. and just as much - i hope that justification evaporates tomorrow.. and that what to me

was merely a visual and emotional burden ceases to destroy the lives of so many who live at the

mercy of the checkpoints around it..

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looking the other way i saw this little jewish suburb (above).. and while cute.. 'cause red tiles are

somewhat lovely- right?.. it didnt make me want to visit it.. i admit.. full heartedly.. i wanted to

go to bethelehem.. my heart turned to the south..

the workshops were facilitated by peace educators.. ie the participants and the facilitators were

the same people.. i thought of talking about peace blogging and probably will next time.. but i

just wanted to get a feel for the space before the head dive and it was worthwhile.. besides the

topics were facsinating - they will fill the next few posts (at least)..

one of my favourite things was the friendships.. i dont know which of these will flow over into my

day to day or even into my every now and then but it felt so warm.. palestinian jewish and int..

there was one palestinian guy in particular who spoke great hebrew but no english so i translated

many of the workshops for him.. im not sure what he does.. i didnt ask.. i prefered to leave it and

focus on him as a person.. i wasnt like that with most people.. but because we formed a good

bond i decided to approach it a bit differently.. it was very seemless and truly golden.. and yet

with others i really felt like i had made some excellent connections as well.. in any event being

surrounded by so many people seeking good for our region was very uplifting..

you know the truth is i didnt really feel like going.. but i felt obligated.. not sure why - but i think

not going seemed too fake.. finally - after blogging for so long - i had a chance to work with other

palestinians eye to eye about our interface.. i couldnt not go.. besides how bad could it be.. but

once the event kicked off that feeling very quickly changed to a sense of overwhelming privilege..

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i am so exhausted.. but i couldnt not tell you all about this.. but before i go and finally take a

decent shower and unwind - i just want to list the workshops i was in.. there will probably be

posts about some of these soon.. get your thinking caps on in the meantime.. :)

• traditional tale as a tool in facilitating dialogue between identities

• arab and jewish students engage in participatory action research at the university of

haifa - a model for dialogue

• unequal gender relationships in dialogue encounters between palestinians and israelis

• symbols as a universal grammar for dialogue between cultures

• knowing the other - dialogue through cinema

• holy land: commonground. film by Ed Gaffney - viewing and discussion

• environmental education as peace education: "common paths"

• transformative learning and the connection between peace education and human rights

education in adults

• searching for the emotional code through the chaos

• peace building: how to create trust as a basis for action

mind you - at any given time we had 4 seminars to choose from..

and if anyone from the event happens to read this i want to say thank you - yet again (mike stop

laughing)..

wishing us all a week that feels as i do now..