peacecamp 2014

The peace camp started even before our arrival in Austria, since we met with the Palestinian group in Jerusalem, we talked and made posters together. We met again at the airport and we flew as one group.
When we arrived at the airport in Vienna the Austrian and Hungarian groups welcomed us with “peace” signs and lots of love.
On the first day we got to know each other, a clear separation between the groups could be seen, each delegation kept together, and on the dining room each delegation sat on different tables.
Soon this situation changed, we startled to bond with each other and we discovered great people and good friends. We no longer sat on different tables.
We started each morning with warming up, yoga and a lot of beat with AnnPhee Lukas. At first we found the activities rather strange and somewhat embarrassing, but very soon we became more open-minded, and we had a lot of fun.
We continued with discussions in the “large group”. Sometimes they were tense and sometimes more relaxed.
In the talks4peace we sat in smaller groups and we discussed the meaning of peace for each one.
I learnt about new cultures in the culture evenings, we sang and danced together. After days of working on the final show about our experience, we presented our show in Vienna.
The experience was very meaningful for me, and I feel my point of view has changed a little about what is happening in Israel and the world.
I am so happy that I had the opportunity to participate. I enjoyed every moment.
Maya

Es ist ein außergewöhnliches Friedensprojekt, das Georg Friedrich Prinz von Preußen im Schloss Paretz veranstaltet: Acht Jugendliche aus Israel und acht palästinensische Jugendliche studieren gemeinsam ein Musical ein. Fernab des dramatischen Konflikts in ihrer Heimat bewegen sie sich Schritt für Schritt auf einander zu. Gemeinsam mit zwei Schülerinnen aus Brandenburg und vier Schülern aus den USA lernen sie unter Anleitung des New Yorker Allround-Genies Todd Fletcher neue Wege eines friedvollen Umgangs. Die Zeit in Brandenburg wird Grundstein einer engen Freundschaft. Nina Bednarz und Christine Stellmacher beobachten die Proben, zeigen die Konflikte und werden Zeuge dieses zerbrechlichen Annäherungsprozesses. Vom 24. bis 29. August proben die Jugendlichen auf Schloss Paretz. Am Samstag, 30. August, wird das Musical im Beisein von Politikern und dem israelischen Botschafter öffentlich aufgeführt. Georg Friedrich Prinz von Preußen finanziert das Projekt mit Hilfe von Sponsoren.

Proben für den Frieden – Dokumentation, D 2014
rbb Brandenburg - Mittwoch, 03.09.2014
Beginn: 22:45 Uhr Ende: 23:15 Uhr Länge: 30 min.

Regie: Nina Bednarz, Christine Stellmacher

Originaltitel: Proben für den Frieden
Kategorie: Nachrichten/Info, Dokumentation

Land: D

The Peacecamp in Austria was a very meaningful experience to me in two aspects:
The social aspect:
I was surprised to discover that I am open-minded and can communicate and cooperate people who are supposed to be enemies. But I guess that is what happens when you spend 10 days with 26 kids from 4 different cultural backgrounds. It’s a real special experience because you eat, sleep, fight and laugh with them. It was a lot of fun, very educational and a real unique experience.
The political aspect:
Hearing the stories and opinions from kids my age from Hungary, Austria and from the Arab delegation changed my mind and my view of many things. To hear stories from a person is quite different from hearing information on the news and from what is generally shown in the Israeli media.
I never imagined that I would be able to connect to an Arab teenager, but I did. I learned to listen and to be tolerant and that is very important to me. I hope to see everyone again, soon.
Dana Kelerich