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Palestinian Muslim Tours US Talking about Peace with Jews |
Ahmad Hijazi
(c) Marty Luster
by Marty Luster
Since he was a teenager, Ahmad Hijazi, a Muslim Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, has been working for peace in Israel and Palestine. In 1984, he participated in a dialogue program with Jewish teens, and the experience forever changed his life. He finished high school, studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, married and moved to the only village in Israel where Jews and Arabs have made a determined effort to live, work and raise their children together - known as the "Oasis of Peace." Today, Ahmad facilitates groups of Jews and Arabs who are meeting each other for the first time in conflict management programs in the village's School for Peace. Situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, Hebrew and Arabic for the "Oasis of Peace," was established jointly by Jews and Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship to build respect, equality, and understanding between the two peoples. Home to a number of educational programs that are working to build trust and create a durable, genuine peace, the village has recieved extensive recognition, including 5 Nobel Peace Prize nominations. At present, fifty-four families reside in the village, and an additional three hundred families are on a waiting list to live there. Each year, representatives from Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam tour the US, speaking at universities, synagogues, churches, and mosques and more to share their experiences, successes and challenges of living with "the other side". In October, Ahmad Hijazi and Deanna Arm- bruster, Executive Director of American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam spoke in Ithaca, NY. The message was clear: hope for peace in Israel/Palestine comes from the people, not the "leaders." "Our work is in the field-at the grassroots. It is there that hope arises," said Ahmad. "Both people want freedom and dignity and each must recognize that desire in the other. Both people are tired and want a solution. That is my hope and my belief," he concluded.
Contact: Oasis of Peace
www.oasisofpeace.org
Tel: 818.325.8884
Since he was a teenager, Ahmad Hijazi, a Muslim Palestinian with Israeli citizenship, has been working for peace in Israel and Palestine. In 1984, he participated in a dialogue program with Jewish teens, and the experience forever changed his life. He finished high school, studied at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, married and moved to the only village in Israel where Jews and Arabs have made a determined effort to live, work and raise their children together - known as the "Oasis of Peace." Today, Ahmad facilitates groups of Jews and Arabs who are meeting each other for the first time in conflict management programs in the village's School for Peace. Situated midway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, Hebrew and Arabic for the "Oasis of Peace," was established jointly by Jews and Palestinian Arabs of Israeli citizenship to build respect, equality, and understanding between the two peoples. Home to a number of educational programs that are working to build trust and create a durable, genuine peace, the village has recieved extensive recognition, including 5 Nobel Peace Prize nominations. At present, fifty-four families reside in the village, and an additional three hundred families are on a waiting list to live there. Each year, representatives from Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam tour the US, speaking at universities, synagogues, churches, and mosques and more to share their experiences, successes and challenges of living with "the other side". In October, Ahmad Hijazi and Deanna Arm- bruster, Executive Director of American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam spoke in Ithaca, NY. The message was clear: hope for peace in Israel/Palestine comes from the people, not the "leaders." "Our work is in the field-at the grassroots. It is there that hope arises," said Ahmad. "Both people want freedom and dignity and each must recognize that desire in the other. Both people are tired and want a solution. That is my hope and my belief," he concluded.
Contact: Oasis of Peace
www.oasisofpeace.org
Tel: 818.325.8884
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