On the occasion of The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 10 of Dec. 2011, we had another concert at Open House with FODfest, Friends of Daniel Pearl Festivel, also called Music in Common. In addition to our participants, we welcomed students from Ort Lillienthal High School who worked together with Todd Mack, founder of Music in Common, to create their own songs which they performed at Open House, with their enchanted parents attending.

Like last year, Rula Nafar, 12, from the Itar school of music played the Oud.

It was a high energy event as people of different ages and backgrounds gathered together to share music in the warm hospitality of Open House.

[Show as slideshow]

For more on TEDx Jaffa, visit the website http://www.tedxjaffa.com/

Many of the sessions had the character of an experiential workshop and elicited deep personal sharing. For example, one Friday morning the women read the story in Genesis about the creation of Adam and Eve, which appears in all three traditions; after sharing their thoughts and feelings about the image of Eve and the relationship between Adam and Eve, Hanna Cramer, an artist, asked the participants to sculpt the image of Woman as they experience it from the Genesis text. This artistic creativity and the ensuing discussion deepened group cohesiveness and bonding.

Women sculpting the creation of Adam & Eve after reading the story in Genesis.

One of the workshops led by Vivian Rabia—Open House project director—focused on people who influenced the participants’ lives and how their life journeys were transformed. This subject evoked serious reflection and opened the hearts of the women towards each other even more.

 Dr. Hanna Kehat gave a presentation on “leadership in trial, leadership in adaptation”; Samar from Shatil gave the participants the tools to create projects in their own communities; Fatan Elzinati led a workshop on “mediating leadership”; and Taube Jamitovsky led a session on the journey “between personal and communal empowerment.”

The participants from Lod invited all the women for a day trip, during which they had the opportunity to see and hear the issues confronting this mixed city, from the inside rather than through the eyes of the media. This trip was particularly important for the Jewish women. According to tradition, Lod is the town of St. George, where he struggled with the dragon. Therefore, there was a visit to the historic Greek Orthodox Church of St. George in Lod, which is still central to the life of local Arab Greek Orthodox Christians today. Then they visited a mosque, where they learned about Islam and the rhythm of daily prayer.  They saw an archaeological site in Lod that involves school children in the digs, and finally they visited a communal garden where the neighbors work together to enhance the life, beauty, and ecology of the neighborhood. For many of the women, it was their first time in Lod.  Some of them had never entered a mosque or a church in Israel before (only as tourists abroad).

The visit to the archeological site in Lod.	The visit to the Great Mosque in Lod.

 Another tour was to the old neighborhood of Katamon in Jerusalem. The tour began at Yakar, a synagogue and an egalitarian center for Jewish studies involving both women and men. For most of the Arab women, it was their first time in a synagogue, let alone a Jewish educational center. One of the Arab women said that, as a result of this visit, her “barriers of fear regarding the religion of the Other disappeared.”

 Michelle Shelemay, who lives in the Katamon neighborhood, invited the whole group to her home for a visit.

 That afternoon the tour ended at the Museum of Islamic Art, in which there are extraordinary exhibits from all over the Muslim world, many of them with religious significance. The Muslim women said that, since Islam is seen by many people these days as a “primitive and violent” religion, they felt particularly empowered by sharing with their friends the beauty and genius of their culture.

 At the end of the course, the women’s bonds of sisterhood were so deep that they decided to continue their meetings at their own initiative. They decided to travel as a group to learn about the life of the different communities in the country and to learn more about the different cultural and historical narratives. After the summer, they met once in the Ein Kerem neighborhood of Jerusalem, where they enjoyed the beauty of the place and learned about its history.  On another occasion they visited Ramle, where they spent time at Open House, saw the Old City, and met with renowned local artist Nihad Dabit.  (Nihad is helping Open House children and young adults produce public art)

 Lamis Salman, a group member and a nursery school teacher at Open House, has invited the whole group to her home for a Chanukah/Christmas celebration in December.

The visit to the community garden in Lod.	The participants receiving certificates for their participation.

[Show as slideshow]

Our camp program used different educational games, through which the children got to know each other and group cohesion was built. After the morning circle, we had activities like cooking for everyone and cleaning up (it is not always easy to motivate the children to do the latter), environmental art exercises, baking pita bread, sports competitions, swimming pool games, learning magic tricks, world music and dance workshops—all of which took place at the camp site.

Activities outside NS/WAS included trips to water and amusement parks, plus a day spent at Cinema City to see a 3D film.

For the first time, we had a professional film workshop in which the children watched films, learned about the components of making a film, climaxing with each group creating a short film of its own and screening it for the other campers.

We also had a day of food competition in which each group chose its own style of cooking and then presented the results to “judges.” Everyone then got to sample the different culinary creations.

Once again this year we were delighted to include on our staff young counselors and volunteers who had taken part in OPEN HOUSE summer camps in previous years. There were daily staff meetings for all of those responsible for running the camp program.

This year our OPEN HOUSE cooperated with NS/WAS in welcoming Palestinian children from Beit Sirah in the West Bank. They joined the outing to Cinema City, our sports competitions (in which they excelled), and an Animal Carnival, which concluded with a theatrical performance. The relationship between the two groups was very good, and we hope to continue this cooperation next year.

We thank all those who made it possible for the children to have such a wonderful and memorable time together, forging friendships across communal boundaries.

November 20 is the Day of the Child, marking the anniversary of the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Children. On Friday, November 18, Open House young adults led sessions on children’s rights at the Terra Santa school in Ramle. Here are the words of Bissan Salman, 19, who led the sessions together with Muhammad Kabua, 18, and Vivian Rabia:

“First we brainstormed about the concept of ”rights,” and then the children gave examples of violations of children’s rights. For example, the right of the child to spend time with both parents if they are divorced.  One child said, “it is not fair if the teacher punishes the whole class when just one of the children makes trouble.”  Then we had a board game, which we played on the floor–”the chocolate game.” The class was divided into seven small groups. The apparent purpose was to get to the chocolate first. A fierce competition ensued. But at the end of the game, they could sense that something was wrong. A powerful discussion followed.”

It emerged that the winning group’s joy was brief. They realized that sharing the chocolate is what would give them real joy; and finally, the students came to discuss  the difference between selfish competition and co operation.

If you’re planning a trip to Israel and wish to meet with us, you’re welcome to contact us through the contact form, and we will get in touch with you.

Here are a few photos from recent group visits:

[Show as slideshow]

NEVEI KODESH Synagogue members in Boulder Colorado, have taken initiative to help Open House by creating postcards from the art work of our Peace Camp and Nursery School. Members of Nevei Kodesh Congregation are holding a dialogue group with Christian and Muslim Palestinian Americans who together have taken on this project to raise funds for Open House.

Reggie Gray from Nevei Kodesh at a visit to Open House holding a postcard.

Leen holding her postcard

Day of the Child

Following The Day of the Child on the 20th of November 2010, two volunteers from “The Journey” of previous years, Bissan and Muhammad, initiated activities in two schools, to raise the consciousness in relation to Children’s Rights. They used a poster which visually portrayed the basic rights of children according to international consensus. After discussion, the children divided into groups and presented in pantomime a violation of a particular Right to the their friends in the class who had to guess what the story was. Some of the children in the school were surprised to discover about the existence of even the concept of children’s rights. The activities were held in the historic Franciscan Terra Santa School in Ramle where 18 year old Muhammad studies and in the School of Peace in Neve Shalom.

Bissan Salman in the Terra Santa School in Ramle.

Bissan Salman who had just finished high school, has been with Open House since the age of two when she was in the Nursery School of Open House. Since then she has been growing up with us participating in the various activities of Open House.

In the last two years, Bissan together with other participants, represented Open House in Japan, Geneva and Tanzania where world Youth Conferences were organized by the Myochikai Buddhists who are supporting “The Journey” through their foundation, the GNRC {Global Network of Religions for Children}which promotes the spirituality of children world wide. Bissan was a vital volunteer both in “The Journey” of last year and in our summercamp this year.

A small group in discussion of children’s rights.