Binational School for Jewish and Palestinian kids

Hope increases in hard times:

Amid the increased levels of mistrust and conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam’s Bilingual/Binational Primary School saw an increase in applications! An additional class of first-graders was welcomed for the opening of the 2015-2016 school year. They were greeted by the 6th graders in what has become a tradition at the Primary School.

Principal Carmella Ferber knows the power of music as a tool for peaceful dialogue, opening new pathways to learning as well as opening hearts. The opening of the school year was led by the new music teacher.

Playing the oud, he had the children singing in Hebrew and Arabic. A few weeks later, two internationally known musicians- Israeli Udi-Bar David playing cello and Palestinian Hanna Khoury, playing violin – both now living in Philadelphia, performed for the children, and then offered the children an opportunity to sing some well-known folksongs while being accompanied by world-class musicians!
Coming from a dozen towns and villages within a twenty-mile radius, every day the children return to their communities and families with the evidence that learning and living together is not only possible, it is enriching. Families begin to see their world a bit differently every day, and step by step- following the lead of their children- families, neighbors and then communities come to see the power of mutual respect and a shared future.

As a parents committee representative said on opening day,"Our school is a growing garden and you are its flowers,"

Every year, Primary School participates in Good Deeds Day, where students and teachers focus on helping and improving the lives of others. This year, the 5th grade students, along with the help of their teachers, the Village biologist and gardener, representatives of the student environmental committee, and the NADI Director, carried out a project over the two weeks leading up to Good Deeds Day. The project set out to help the Bustan Snobar (Pine Tree) Kindergarten, an Arab kindergarten that takes care of 8 autistic children. On Good Deeds Day, everyone came together to clean up the school, paint the outer wall, place birdhouses created by PS students from recycled materials, install beautiful mosaics and wind chimes, plant flowers and other plants the 5th graders selected from the PS Greenhouse, and set up an irrigation system.
To honor the memory of both nationalities, the teachers of our Primary School conducted programs for both the Palestinian and Jewish children. Listening to each other’s stories of what it means to live together in coexistence and peace, respecting each other’s narratives, helped everyone understand the impact of the conflict. The children came together to draw pictures symbolizing what living together in peace meant to them.