peacecamp 2014

Peacecamp 2014, Lackenhof
On July 3rd, 2014, at 3 o’clock in the morning 8 students from Carmel Zvulun Regional High School met the students of the Hand in Hand School in Jerusalem and set out on a trip to Austria together. Eight Jewish teenagers and eight Arab teenagers left friends, family and familiar surroundings to meet with eight Hungarian and eight Austrian teenagers and spend 11 days in Lackenhof, a small village surrounded by green hills and mountains around 100 km south-west of Vienna and a popular ski resort in winter. The purpose of the trip: to talk about peace, listen to the opinions of others, learn about others and voice opinions.
The two groups from the Middle East came to Lackenhof under the shadow of tragic events that had recently taken place in the region: the kidnapping of three Jewish teenagers, the searches and curfews that were imposed on the Arab population in the attempt to find the missing teenagers and the senseless murder of an Arab teenager, once it was clear that the three Jewish teenagers had been murdered. This was not a comfortable and easy time to talk about peace, understanding, tolerance and friendship. There was a lot of anger, frustration and pain, a feeling of misunderstanding and suspicion.
As the coordinator of the Jewish teenagers from Israel, I watched as my 15 year-old students listened to the pain and frustration of their Arab counterparts, and I listened to their own anger , frustration and helplessness. They didn’t have answers and they didn’t strike back with examples of what the Arab side had or hadn’t done. They listened to the critique and accusations voiced by the Arab teenagers, with dignity and patience, without lashing out, without making counter accusations. Instead, these eight young teenagers did their utmost to find a way and build a bridge of communication and understanding, to reach out to the other side. It took a lot of belief and persistence, but they succeeded in creating a good bond with their Arab counterparts. Surprising? Hardly….after all, they share the land, the weather, the food, the problems and both groups understand each other much better than people usually give them credit for. The friendship and mutual concern became evident when things heated up in the region: Hamas started shelling towns in the South of Israel and the IDF was forced to react.
Students from both sides expressed their concern for families and friends, but more importantly, for the newly formed friendship between them. How would the situation affect the relationship between them now? Would they have to choose sides? Would they start arguing again? Would the bond that they had formed in this short time be strong enough to withstand the tensions or would it be too fragile and break? Sixteen teenagers decided to protect and develop their bond, recognizing the fact that neither of them had any responsibility for the situation.
Will their efforts succeed? Will they be able to talk about the differences and still see the person, the human being, on the other side of the argument? I am not a prophet and cannot see the future, but I know that in this peace camp, 4peace-2014, seeds have been planted from which the hope to a better future for all people in the region can grow: a future of mutual understanding, mutual recognition of the needs of the other side, mutual condemnation of violence and a common wish for a lasting and just peace.
Liz Vanun, coordinator of the Jewish delegation from Carmel Zvulun Regional High School.