ר"ע תיתד תונויצל ינויערה גוחה ,םולשו זוע
Evening Program
16.54 Candle lighting
17.20 Mincha and Maariv prayers
18.30 Dinner
20.00 Lecture - Hania Bitar -“Palestinian perceptions of Israelis and the place of the Palestinian woman in the peace process”
Daytime Program
Coffee and tea
08.00 Schaharit prayers
10.00 Lecture -Bilha Admanit - “Nabal the Carmelli and Avigail - How Avigail’s Wisdom turned David’s murderous impulses into peace”
11.30 Lunch
13.00 Rest
15.00 Mincha prayers
15.30 Text Learning and discussion - -Gideon Admanit - “Ethical Dilemma of ‘Blotting out Amalek’s Name’”
17.00 Dinner
18.08 Maariv prayers and Havdala
18.30 Discussion by students
20.00 Departure
The academic year usually begins with a student seminar designed to acquaint new students with Netivot Shalom and to form a cohesive, working group of student members who will be active in Netivot Shalom activities during the year. This year, because of the protracted student strike, the Shabbat seminar was held later than usual. However attendance was good, topics included Palestinian issues, Jew-non Jew relationships, and channeling violence towards peaceful goals. Discussion was lively, new students pledged to become active, and a core group whose main interest was working with Palestinians and human rights issues was organized.
Evening Program
14.30 Reception
17.34 Candle lighting
17.44 Mincha and Maariv prayers in the Kibbutz Synagogue
18.50 Dinner
20.00 Lecture - Yoske Achituv - “The relationship to the non Jew in the writings of Rav Kook. - the transition from the pragmatic to the mystical point of view”
Daytime Program
Coffee and tea
08.30 Schaharit prayers
10.30 Brunch
12.00 Lecture - Tzvia Grunfeld - “Judaism, Democracy and the Supreme Court”
15.00 Mincha prayers
15.30 Learning in chavruta led by Prof. Rabbi Michael Nehorai - “Jewish Identity - Religion or Nationality?”
16.30 Discussion on the above learned material
17.45 Dinner
18.34 Maariv prayers and Havdala
This fascinating weekend brought together Netivot Shalom members and religious Jews with more right wing attitudes to learn Jewish texts and discuss some of the burning issues in Israel today. Although the turnout was small (limited by the number of rooms Ein Tzurim could provide because this was a popular pre-holiday weekend) the participants came from divergent backgrounds and the discussion was sometimes heated and very productive. Several of the more politically right wing participants asked to be notified about future events and to be included in our mailing list.
Shavuot Evening
19.12 Candle lighting
19.25 Mincha prayers
20.50 Maariv prayers
21.15 Dinner
Shavuot Evening learning : “Tikun”
22.45 Prof. Rabbi Michael Nehorai, Bar Ilan University - “Maimonides and Yehuda Halevi on Receiving the Torah at Mount Sinai”
23.45 Shmuel Herr, Hartman Institute - “Rabbi Yaakov Emden - Tolerance and Intolerance towards Jews and non Jews”
00.45 - 01.00 Intermission
01.00 Dr. Uri Erlich, Ben Gurion University - “Midrashic Perspective on the Evils committed by the Egyptians”
Shavuot Daytime Program
08.00 Shaharit prayers
10.30 Breakfast
11.30 Lecture - Dr. Israel Zeiderman - “The Blue Color ‘techelet’ on Tzitzit - meeting of science and halacha”
13.30 Lunch and rest
17.00 Coffee and tea, fruit and cake
18.00 Lecture - Daniel Goldfarb - “Here and there in Masechet Megilla”
Shabbat Evening Program
19.13 Candle lighting
19.25 Mincha and Maariv prayers
20.30 Dinner
22.00 Lecture - Shmuel Herr, Hartman Institute - “David’s sin in the literature of the Jewish sages and the New Testament”
Shabbat Day
08.30 Schaharit prayers
10.30 Brunch
12.00 Lecture - Prof. M. Nehorai - “Jewish Concept of ‘Freedom’”
Rest
16.00 Coffee, tea, cake, fruit
17.00 Lecture - Prof. Uri Erlich - “They participated in the same miracle - Equality in the world of Halacha”
18.15 Discussion of current events and summary - Round table with Prof. Nehorai, Dr. Erlich and Shmuel Herr.
19.00 Mincha prayers
19.15 Dinner
20.50 Maariv Prayers and Havdala
The Shavuot holiday and Shabbat were adjacent this year, and allowed us to have a 2 day seminar, as we did last year. Two days allow for much more far ranging discussion and lectures that both have political ramifications, and those that are just text learning in the spirit of the holiday. Once again, the weekend attracted a diverse group of people, not just Netivot Shalom members. Several people called the office after the weekend to remark on the success of the weekend and the quality of the lectures. Once again, some of the talks were controversial, and issues such as Jew-non Jew relationships and women’s involvement in Judaism were well debated. Participants came from all over the country and there were many new faces.
The connection between Netivot Shalom and the residents of Anata village began when we first went to assist them rebuild houses that had been demolished. This meeting was intended to deepen and broaden the connection with the village residents. The program lasted several hours. It was primarily composed of dialogue sessions and suggestions for joint activities between Jews and Arabs in order to improve the conditions of the Palestinians residents
The program opened with a introductory meeting “getting to know one another” and thereafter broke into small discussion groups that focussed on subjects such as settlements, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with the Geneva conventions, and others. After the discussion the participants all had lunch together during which time there was plenty of opportunity to chat and strengthened the connections between them. It was decided to continue the connection and to search for ways of practical action. The first practical result of this meeting was an evening session to learn more about the Geneva conventions. There is now a larger group of knowledgeable people who intend to inform the public at large about human rights issues and violations in Israel.
On August 2 and 9, 1999, videos produced by Palestinians in East Jerusalem were screened for an audience of West Jerusalem, Jewish Israelis, informing them about the problems faced by the Palestinians of East Jerusalem because of official discrimination against them. These videos were half hour digests of much longer live broadcasts of public discussions held during the previous winter in various East Jerusalem neighborhoods. At these forums Palestinians met and discussed their problems publicly. Hence the Jewish citizens of West Jerusalem also had a glimpse into the way the Palestinians talk among themselves about their problems
The first video concerned the problems faced by the citizens of Issawiya, a large Palestinian neighborhood close to the Hebrew University, because there is as yet no master plan permitting them to build housing for themselves. Although almost all of the land in the neighborhood is privately owned by its residents, it is not zoned for housing. Five men from Issawiya came to discuss their problems with the audience. Three officials of the Jerusalem municipality also came, in a private capacity, they claimed, so that instead of a discussion between the Oz Veshalom audience and the Palestinians, the discussion turned into a protracted argument between the municipal officials and the Palestinians. While this was somewhat frustrating, it was also very enlightening, showing us the patronizing attitudes that Palestinians confront when dealing with municipal officials.
One of the municipal officials who attended the screening in a “private” capacity was the mayor's advisor on Arab affairs, and he was vehement in his attacks against the people who initially made and broadcast the video. He apparently regards a meeting of concerned citizens to discuss acommon problem as an extremely threatening action, especiaif that meeting is broadcast on cable television. By screening this video for West Jerusalemites, civic democracy in East Jerusalem was strengthened.
The second video concerned the neglect of two Palestinian neighborhoods in southern Jerusalem, Tzur Bahar and Um Tuba. Although the residents of these two neighborhoods pay their municipal taxes, they receive a much lower level of municipal services than residents of Jewish neighborhoods in Jerusalem. The video focussed on the problem of sewage: there is no sewage line, and some sewage is collected in cesspools that are emptied periodically. The moisture in these cesspools causes structural damage to the dwellings in the neighborhood. Other sewage runs off in open streams, a serious health hazard, and not just for the residents of East Jerusalem.
Again, five residents of the villages came to discuss their problems with the audience, and again the Jewish citizens of West Jerusalem were made aware of the discrimination routinely practiced against Arab citizens of the city.
Attending the screening of these two videos was very valuable for the audience. The second screening was better attended than the first, and if this activity is continued, it will undoubtedly attract larger audiences. While any attentive reader of the newspapers ought to be aware of the situations described in these videos, the experience of seeing them and meeting with the Palestinians involved in the problem brings the issues home and makes them harder to ignore. For the representatives of the Palestinians who attended the meetings, it must have been heartening to see that a group of Israelis was willing to hear about their problems, and perhaps get involved in helping them.
9:30 AM Meeting with the District Commissioner of Nablus
10:00 AM Coffee and tea with our Palestinian hosts
10:30-1:00 Walking tour of the Old City of Nablus together with our hosts
1:00-2:00 Bus tour on the hills around Nablus
2:00-3:30 Lunch at the homes of our hosts
3:30-5:00 Round table discussion with our hosts on peace related issues
Imagine wearing a kippah and walking in the Kasbah in the Old City of Nablus and feeling completely safe. Or hearing young Palestinian children ask our hosts in worried tones whether or not we were settlers and seeing the surprised expressions on their faces when they heard that we were religious Jews who wanted peace.
The day was full of the unexpected. We began by meeting the District Governor of Nablus in the Palestinian Authority’s government building, a building used to be an Israeli military court and prison. He spoke of his desire for peace and progress on the political front. He answered questions and explained that they had dialog groups and community programs and a little bit in the schools to try to encourage Nablus residents to think positively about peace. One of Netivot Shalom’s members gave a short D’var Torah showing how the current Torah reading stressed peace and friendship.
After sharing coffee and tea with our hosts, we all climbed aboard our bus for a brief journey to the Old City. We were surprised by how clean and calm everything looked. Our tour included archeological and historical explanations of Nablus. We were sorry we hadn’t allowed time for shopping! Our hosts, who took our presence very seriously, answered all our questions and made sure we didn’t get lost. One of our participants was based near Nablus during his army service. He and our hosts shared perceptions of manning checkposts, conducting searches and soldier- Palestinian relations in general.
The surprises continued when we divided up and were invited to different families homes for lunch. We brought sandwiches (to meet our needs for kosher food) for everyone and our hosts provided drinks, fruit and vegetables. In my group the discussion focused around how different life was now under autonomy and how much freer everyone felt. It seems as though all our hosts had spent some time in prison and their fear of soldiers ran deep. Now they could sleep at night, they described. All were employed, and all expressed a desires to raise their children in peace.
The roundtable discussion was similar. People wanted prisoners freed, and expansion of settlements (Nablus is surrounded by Bracha, Yizhar, and Itamar) to stop. They wanted more areas to become autonomous, quickly. They wanted us to bring more people, to show other Israelis that they really do want just to live like normal people.
On Tuesday night, November 30, 1999, a small group people had the pleasure of listening to Dani Zeidman describe the state of human rightsof Palestinians in East Jerusalem. Dani, a lawyer for Ir Shalem, spends much of his time representing Palestinians in the court system. He began with some important background information. He reminded us that we are not talking about the rights of a minority group in a nation that shares a common background and destiny, but rather of two peoples who are struggling against one another. This is essentially a nationalistic struggle, and the decisions of the government and the courts have this struggle foremost in mind when creating and carrying out policy. The courts are, on the one hand, supposed to render impartial, just decisions but on the other hand they also represent a government policy which is determined to hold on to Jerusalem.
Dani came with a map, and described land distribution in the city, and how land is earmarked for different purposes. A great deal of land in East Jerusalem has been annexed by Israel and used for the building of new Jerusalem neighborhoods, but no Palestinian homes have been built. Dani described a case in which a group of Palestinian Muslims and Christians petitioned the courts against the building at Har Homa stating that if they pay taxes and are considered citizens, then they must receive some benefits - i.e., housing should be built for them as well. The outcome of this protracted case was fairly successful and at the moment, Har Homa has been slated for both Jewish and Palestinian housing.
Dani described two other cases - one of an elderly widow living since the 1920’s in a designated “green area” (no building allowed) who needed to build to accommodate the needs of her 5 sons. After being refused a building permit, she built a 70 meter addition above the existing house. This too went to court, and the decision was to insist she remove the addition and pay a fine, or know that the addition could be demolished. The court could not break precedent, for fear of the number of similar cases that would then follow. The final case was that of residents of Walaje, a tiny village between Gilo and Malcha that is divided in half. That is, half is within the Jerusalem municipal border and half “belongs” to the territories. All the residents are considered residents of the territories and this is what is marked on their ID cards. This creates the absurd situation that if they step into the Jerusalem half of the village they could be arrested for being in Jerusalem without a permit!
Despite the clear injustice of the sample cases he brought, Dani was quite optimistic about the future. He believes that eventually a solution to Jerusalem will be found, even though is it presently by far the greatest obstacle to achieving a final status arrangement with the Palestinians.
This talk provided background for the tour to Walaje on Friday Dec. 3. Dani is an excellent speaker and now another 30 people know what is really happening in East Jerusalem and will hopefully join the forces pressuring the government to change its policy.
At 9:00 am Friday, December 3, 1999, a group of about twenty-five people came to participate in Netivot Shalom - Oz VeShalom’s tour of Walaje, a Palestinian village along the border of Jerusalem.
Despite a rather disconcerting beginning, the rest of the day ran quite smoothly. Not ten minutes after boarding the bus, the Israeli, religious driver announced that he refused to drive to the Palestinian village, turned around, and returned us to our original meeting place. If anything, this incident only reminded us how important it is to break down these fears and stereotypes.
Fortunately there were enough private cars that we could continue the visit anyway.
Imagine the reaction to our arrival in Kfar Walaje! As I am sure a caravan of six Israeli vehicles is not an everyday occurrence, many people stopped what they were doing to watch us pass by with curiosity.
We received a warm welcome from Adnan, our Palestinian host, as we sat on his porch in a big circle, drank Palestinian coffee, and heard the history of the village. Nine Palestinian men sat with us and shared some of his background, as well as hearing from Etan Peleg, an Israeli lawyer who has worked to help their plight.
We then went on a walking tour of the village and saw a number of sites where a number of families had had their homes demolished because they had not been granted housing permits. Despite this, the houses had been rebuilt in most cases. The complexity of their position was explained to us as the official border of Jerusalem runs somewhere through the village, although nobody knows exactly where. Because of this, they do not receive services (such as water, garbage, and electricity) from either the Jerusalem or Bethlehem municipalities.
After our tour, we split up into groups of three and were invited into the homes of 6 individual families to hear their personal stories. Perhaps it was this interaction that proved to be the most meaningful for many of the participants. In fact, many people requested an exchange of phone numbers so that they could stay in touch with their new friends. At the end, we all came together again at Adnan’s house and shared lunch.
|
|
|
| |
| Home |
The Movement Objectives and Principles You can Help! |
What's New Activities and Current Events |
Articles and Position Papers Peace Judaism and Israel |
|
|
|
|
Weekly Parsha (Hebrew) Weekly Parsha (English) |
Search Our Site | Links To Peace Movements |
Contact Us
OZ veSHALOM - NETIVOT SHALOM
P.O. Box 4433, Jerusalem, 91043 Israel
Tel: 02-5664218, for Shabbat Shalom only call 053-920206
ozshalom@netvision.net.il
©
Copyright 1997-2003 by Oz Veshalom. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.