Monthly Archives: November 2011

Bringing or “bringing” my students to Israel-Palestine: a first organized brainstorm

29 Tuesday Nov 2011

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Question: How can I help my students to gain a more authentic understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian situation?

Seeing from one place to another - in this case, from the Dominus Flavit church on the Mount of Olives to the Dome of the Rock

  1. Bring them to Israel/Palestine on a trip.
    1. Perhaps June 2013
    2. Funding? Prob them + structure for financial aid
    3. I’d need to learn about trip leading
    4. Publicize in advance
    5. Address concerns about safety
  2. Set up Skype conversations between my students and people here
    1. Presentations by teachers or religious figures here, followed by Q & A.
      1. Could do 8:15 EST / 3:15 IST, or 9am EST / 4pm IST, etc.
      2. Teacher would need to be
        1. Have experiences and opinions that went beyond the simplistic
        2. Savvy with technology
        3. Fluent in English
        4. Be more interested in Q&A than lecturing.
        5. Be someone I was comfortable working with, making adjustments with, etc.
  3. One on one conversations with students here
    1. Diverse class if possible, or perhaps two different classes (one Israeli, one Palestinian)
    2.  Is/Pal students would need to be willing to skype after school hours. Perhaps evening would be better? For example, 2:25pm EST / 9:25pm IST.
      1. Possible barrier: Is/Pal students just having a computer with a fast enough internet connection
      2. Possible barrier: lack of teacher presence.
    3. What subject to partner with?
      1. U.S. History
        1. With U.S. History, trade off questions? So each gets to talk enough about the subject they are studying
      2. English
        1. No trade off needed, since conversation would be the practice for those students
    4. Fluency Would both Is and Pal students be fluent enough to be able to discuss complex social and political issues with my students?
    5. Rotate partners so students get to hear from different people
    6. Evaluation
      1. How would I evaluate the students?
        1. “What gets measured gets done.”
        2. Avoid it being an “aimless but fun activity” (Grant Wiggins)

In all three of these activities, I would not be the first person ever doing them, and I would want to reach out and learn from others’ experiences. The trip one is a little easier – I would begin by speaking with St. Andrew’s School teachers who have taken students on trips. I would also try to find teachers who have taken high school students similar to mine on trips to Israel and Palestine as similar as possible to the one I envision.

For the student to student discussions, it will be more difficult. When googling “skype Israeli students” I came across Beaver Country Day School’s Kader Adjout, who uses Skype a lot in his “Political and Social Change” class: http://goo.gl/GdF5l I also found several Hebrew Schools who set up skype chats.

Googling the phrase “skype Palestinian students” came up with less direct information. The biggest theme, unsurprisingly, is Gazan students connecting with the outside world. Most links are explicitly political, with themes like “electronically breaking the Israeli blockade” (in the Gazan cases) or just “supporting Palestinian resistance.” Clearly, I would want to make sure to connect under a theme of mutual learning, rather than political support for one position.

Dear reader, your thoughts are welcome on how I can best connect my students with Israelis and Palestinians!

Renaissance man

20 Sunday Nov 2011

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Dr. Qleibo lectures in front of the grandfather's tomb on the Noble Sanctuary

I have discovered a new favorite professor / tour guide / guru : Ali Qleibo. Through al-Quds University, I got a chance to take a tour of the Noble Sanctuary with Professor Qleibo. A polymath, he shifted between artistic observations, historical narrative, and anthropological insights. Dr. Qleibo is a painter, a photographer, and an anthropologist, among other roles. He began at the beginning, pointing out that at the heart of the holy places of the Noble Sanctuary, the Cave of the Patriarchs, the Holy Sepulcher and the Church of the Nativity are all caves with holes in the roof on top of hills. (By the way, Dr. Qleibo writes about slightly different caves, caves as homes ever since the arrival of humans in Palestine up to the 20th century, here). The hilltop caves were perfect for threshing and storing wheat – it was windy on the hilltop, so the chaff blew away, and then one just swept the kernels into the cave through the roof hole. The caves kept the wheat dry – so these spots became central to the life of the people. The Jebusites worshipped at these high places before the coming of the Israelites, and such hilltop cave sites are now holy in  Judaism, Christianity and Islam.

There is no way for me to summarize all that Dr. Qleibo taught. A few highlights:

On the building of huge buildings over and around the ancient worship spots, including the amazing massive platform that is the Noble Sanctuary: “Classical religion disguises evidence of nature religions.”

“The Noble Sanctuary is dynamic art. One can only experience it by walking on it, around it, and in it.”

Apartments where our professors' families used to live, Noble Sanctuary

After showing us the building where his grandfather worked and the one where Huda Imam’s family lived, “The history of Jerusalem is the history of families.” (I had no idea that the Temple Mount complex contained so much housing, and that at one time wealthy families lived here!

“You always know a mosque from the presence of the well and the washing point. You can go to Granada, to Isfahan, and you will always have water to purify you.”

“Seventh Century Arabia was having an existential crisis. Islam arose in the context of the Judeo-Christian metaphors.”

“In some ways Islam revived the Semitic roots of the Semitic religions, which had become Hellenized.”

Well, still looks like an elegant old building to me!

On the replacing of the old rugs of the Dome of the Rock with wall-to-wall carpet: “I grew up with an elegant old building. Now it looks like a five-star hotel lobby.”

“To picture this, you must turn it into a painting. Imagine it as a painting with a romantic Arab in robes in the corner.”

What’s so dangerous ‘bout peace, love and understanding?

16 Wednesday Nov 2011

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“In general, because of the occupation conditions and structural discrimination system in Israel, Palestinians (Christian and Muslim) are more interested in activities that produce change in such structures and less motivated to participate in dialogue activities that can be utilized by the Israeli government as a form or indication of normalization of the occupation. In addition, certain Jewish American and European organizations have often supported dialogue and peace work as a way to project the democratic and pluralist image of Israel. Such organizations tend to fund Jewish Israeli initiatives and organizations as opposed to Palestinian organizations that might focus on social justice or nonviolent resistance” (Mohammad Abu-Nimer, “Religious Leaders in the Israeli- Palestinian Conflict: From Violent Incitement to Nonviolence Resistance.” Peace & Change, Vol. 36, No. 4, October 2011, p. 562).

A sign on the Jerusalem ramparts explaining that the Latin Patriarchate viewed themselves as "Custodians of the Holy Land". Graffiti above says "No way" and claims that God gave the land instead to the Jews. Perhaps not a conversation starter, but dialogue groups should make room for these hot-button theological issues, as well as daily life sufferings.

Interreligious dialogue – who could be opposed to it? Granted, one could take a very identity-based position and fear that one’s children will end up being less believing because they learned about other religions. Generally, however, dialogue sounds like baseball, mom and apple pie (or soccer, mom, and hummus, in this context.) As Professor Abu-Nimer points out, however, from the point of view of the disempowered intergroup dialogue can be dangerous. When one spends one’s time and energy understanding the other, one might be implying that this is where the most important work needs to be done. When someone is bulldozing your olive trees, you don’t sit down with that person and learn about their theological beliefs and sacred texts. You videotape the destruction, you link hands and sit in front of the equipment, you call the press, perhaps you begin a lawsuit. From the point of view of the dominant group, if they feel under attack there is a simpler reason not to talk. Abu-Nimer quotes an Israeli Jewish dialogue participant who says, “The Jews…who are suffering in their own way from the bombings and from the terrorism that is coming from these same towns [as the Palestinian participants] feel like talking with these people is almost traitorous” (Abu-Nimer, p. 567).

Given the above concerns, what if any is an effective role for dialogue groups in moving towards a just peace? To me, one point is clear – dialogue groups avoid the questions of everyday suffering and politically charged theological disagreement at their peril. Perhaps there is room for putting off those discussions until the second or third meeting, but every participant must know that both their most immediate and their deepest concerns will be discussed. Abu-Nimer quotes a participant of a strictly “learn about the others’ religion” dialogue group who reported that the Palestinians were frustrated they could not talk more about roadblocks and military occupation, and that the Jews were frustrated that the Palestinians kept trying to “only focus on what Jews, not Palestinians, should do differently” (Abu-Nimer, p. 571). Such frustration is the fate of groups who do not allow the conversation to move to topics of current serious import.

Putting those difficult issues on the table means that those in the conversation will be uncomfortable, and will have to answer questions for one another about what actions are justified or required by their religious commitments. This is all to the good. One cannot know, or be known, without challenging and being challenged.

Conspiracy theories, and actual conspiracies

15 Tuesday Nov 2011

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Recently I raised the possibility that more information about Jewish history might undermine inaccurate Palestinian conspiracy theories. While standing by this statement, I acknowledge that there are powerful reasons other than misinformation that a group might fall prey to such theories. The most powerful: some conspiracy theories are not crazy.

The currency of easily disproven conspiracy theories in the Arab world is depressingly well documented. Just for one example, in a 2008 poll, 50% of Egyptians and 49% of Jordanians said that either Israel or the U.S. was behind the 9/11 attacks. (Interestingly the Palestinian Territories were less inclined to conspiracy – while 46% did say it was either the U.S. or Israel, a solid 42% identified al Qaeda. In Egypt and Jordan, only 16% and 11% respectively thought al Qaeda was the culprit.)

Living in Jerusalem, however, brings to mind the old joke “Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean they are not out to get you.” Consider the following. Imagine you were driving in upstate New York and your companion volunteered, “You know, The Nature Conservancy bought Follensby Pond in 2000 as part of a secret arrangement with New York State to force the remaining Iroquois off the land.” You’d correctly think he was a nutball. While the Iroquois are indeed fighting in the courts for land rights to parts of New York State, you would be right to assume that these disputes are taking place aboveboard. If then your friend said that the organization of NYS archeologists was taken over by the same conspiracy, as was the housing authority and various non-profits claiming to promote New York history, you’d would be sure of his unbalanced nature.

You won't see explanations and sightlines like these in Mamilla Cemetery

Now shift to Jerusalem. The government designs plans for parks where currently Palestinian houses are located. The Knesset is considering a bill that would lessen the academic qualifications for the head of the Israeli Antiquities Authority. As the head of the Archeology Department at Hebrew University has said, the new law “could undermine archaeology’s academic freedom and its ability to operate free of political influence.” The Knesset is also debating a bill structured to cut off funding for humanitarian NGOs while retaining funding for right-wing organizations. Even what public areas are kept clean and visible is political. A large, historic Arab cemetery in the heart of West Jerusalem appears semi-abandoned and is made hard to see from the sidewalk, while all sites of ancient Jewish or modern Israeli history have been given appealing signage, sight lines and lighting.  Daily, construction for new Israeli Jewish housing in East Jerusalem is approved while Palestinian housing is demolished and repairs are forbidden.

Helping students develop the habits of critical thought will certainly aid them in moving away from conspiracy theories. If the government and its allies stopped conspiring against those students and their families, that would make an even larger contribution.

Mutual religious understanding: not a panacea, but helpful

11 Friday Nov 2011

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Not just a Zionist conspiracy - the actual foundation wall of the actual Second Temple!

Last month I interviewed a professor named Marc who expressed skepticism that education in comparative religion could improve the conflict. This month another Marc (Silverman, of Hebrew University) also questioned the relevance of this kind of work. He took a different line of critique, however. While Rabbi Rosenstein suggested that the conflict was primarily about issues other than religion, Professor Silverman proposed almost the exact opposite. “Imagine a child is raised with a real appreciation of the divine – not through being told, but through her parents’ enthusiasm. Her parents get excited at the experience of being in nature, for example. Such a child will likely be open and appreciative to the divine all around them as an adult, not just in their own tradition but in others’ as well.” He raised the possibility that I was putting too much stress on the academic, that information about other peoples’ belief systems would not significantly affect how people approach the other, and that the true influence takes place much earlier and from another direction.

In light of this critique, which I find powerful, let me try to assert some ways in which teaching comparative religion can help reduce conflict between people of different beliefs:

1. It signals to students, teachers and the culture in general that those in authority value others. The very fact that it is taught (with the exception of presenting it as “know your enemy”) is teaching by example.

2. It is an ideal platform from which to teach critical thinking skills, and such skills are a powerful antidotee to extremism.

3. There is information that can undermine extremism.

While all three of these claims need to be defended, here let me argue in more detail simply for the last one. I have frequently heard the claim that “just teaching people a few facts about another culture won’t help them be more tolerant.” I agree: learning a few facts won’t help, if those facts are unrelated to the prejudices and misunderstandings people hold. Let me give two examples, one teaching about Islam, the other about Judaism. (I’ll wait for a Christian example for another time.)

Several times people have told me that learning the Five Pillars of Islam does little to increase understanding. Well, I would claim memorizing the pillars does a small amount – it helps the student consider the claim that creedal Islam encourages many ethical values. But what are students’ really wondering? Primarily they are wondering about links between Islam and terror and Islam and the position of women. One needs to address these issues, honestly and fully – one cannot simply present an apologist argument. In the case of violence, Qur’anic verses condemning suicide are necessary but not sufficient. One needs to dig deeper and to go outside of what many teachers would consider “learning about the religion.” For example, reading several of the recent studies of the psychology of suicide bombers can contextualize self-identified Muslims who engage in acts of violence against civilians. These readings and discussions can help students reflect on the extent and the limits of the links between Islam and terror.

One can ask similar questions of Judaism. Learning that Jews place the Ten Commandments at the center of their ethical thinking likely will help a Palestinian student understand Judaism a little better, but probably will not help address their core questions. Recently a friend of mine, Professor Charles Stang, gave a talk about early Christianity to students at a Palestinian university. In the course of setting up his discussion he referred to the Second Temple and its destruction by the Romans. The teacher who had invited him to speak had to spend the next class explaining to surprised students that the Second Temple had in fact existed, and was not just a Zionist excuse for taking over the Haram al-Sharif. This points us to a key question for Palestinian students: what is the link between Judaism and the occupation? Understanding the role of Jerusalem in the hopes and dreams of diaspora Judaism and understanding the scale and impact of the Holocaust would likely help students reflect on the extent and the limits of the links between Judaism and the injustices of the occupation.

Finally, to be clear – I am not claiming that mutual religious learning will end conflicts. What it can do, I believe, is problematize and so defang some beliefs that exacerbate many conflicts.

Alternatives to the two-state solution?

11 Friday Nov 2011

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A street sign only in Arabic in the old city of Akko, Israel. What structures can protect the cultural interests of groups other than one in power?

I’m sitting in on a course at Hebrew University called “Binationalism in Israel/Palestine.” Professor Bashir Bashir, a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, wants to consider “out of the box” ways to settle the conflict. As he said in the first class, he wants to look at non-racist alternatives to the two-state solution.

The initial readings reveal some of the theoretic structure underlying his thinking. Professor Chaim Gans, a legal theorist at Tel Aviv U, argues for “liberal cultural nationalism at the sub-state level.” “Cultural nationalism” is itself an interesting idea, one that I had not encountered before. It’s basically renaming ethno-nationalism and arguing that it is not all bad from the liberal perspective. It points out that people gain great meaning from culture, even particularistic culture, and argues that they be able to practice their culture and pass it down. Many caveats follow, but the central idea is that not everyone who wants to maintain their culture is necessarily going to turn into the German romantics and then into the Nazis. Gans contrasts cultural nationalism with what he calls “statist nationalism,” in which cultural homogeneity exists to support the goals and stability of the state, not the other way around. Both nationalisms contrast with the pure liberal conception, with the state existing to defend the rights of the individual, not cultures.

An Israeli example might be the government allowing the residents of an ultra-Orthodox neighborhood (Mea She’arim) to close the neighborhood’s streets to traffic on Shabbat. An American (and many secular Israelis) might respond “They can’t do that; it is my right as an individual to drive where and when I want. They can practice their culture in private spaces.” But a defender of cultural nationalism would respond, “We increase human happiness by letting the state support some forms of particularistic culture.”

So where is this heading in terms of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict? I think Professor Bashir wants to imagine governing structures that carve out spaces for various forms of Palestinian culture and various forms of Israeli culture to flourish, and not saying that those spaces need to overlap exactly with a Palestinian state and an Israeli state. My biggest question, of course, is trust. Because of the history of anti-Semitism, most Jews are skeptical of the claim that Jewish cultural interests will be protected by anyone but Jews. Because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the behavior of successive Israeli governments, most Palestinians are skeptical that Israeli Jews will protect Palestinian cultural interests. I’ll be interested to hear how Professor Bashir suggests addressing this problem.

A deeply energetic school

07 Monday Nov 2011

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Tables in the prayer hall give students space and keep teachers nearby

Have you ever been in a school where all the students have ADHD? OK, so every school feels like that to the teachers who work in it, but the Bnei Chayil School in Jerusalem actually recruits these kids. At first I was wondering whether I was just seeing another example of the famed lack of discipline in Israeli schools – but no, there is a reason why students were walking into principal Reuven Ben Chaim’s office without knocking. As he said, and not just about his office, “Most schools try to keep those kids out; we welcome them in.”

Bnei Chayil starts with boys in the seventh grade and slowly helps them build the coping mechanisms they need. Founded by psychologist Stuart Chesner, the school provides both the warm support and the limits these students need. A fifteen-minute walk through the halls was enough to teach me a great deal about how to help distractible, hyperactive students. Dr. Ben Chaim’s body language and tone constantly communicates his interest in and concern for the boys asking him about a huge range of issues. Meanwhile, he also helps them structure themselves. He straightens one boy’s kippa, talks about another student’s progress in English class, and advises a third on running the school store.

Every day begins with an hour of prayer in the prayer hall, as do many “national religious” schools in Israel, but at Bnei Chayil they sing, break the prayers down into smaller portions, and generally help their students stay plugged into the service. Studying in pairs, a classic Jewish technique, is harder for these students. But by the year after graduating, many are able both to function well in the army and succeed in a final standardized exam.

Speaking to one of the religion teachers, a man who practically jumped out of his chair to make his points, I believed him when he said, “It is not required to have ADHD as a teacher here, but it helps!” He noted that both King David and Esau, brother of Jacob, have symptoms of the condition. He described in detail both the challenges and the benefits of teaching Bible, Talmud and Jewish Thought to this population.

Bnei Chayil’s neighborhood is on land annexed by Israel after 1967, and is right next to a Palestinian village. I suspect I have many differences with the majority of the school community. I am grateful to them, however, for welcoming me in and giving me insight into the techniques they are using to help these wonderful, wild ADHD students develop all the skills they need for their lives.