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Students' trip to Israel aims at Mideast peace

By Jeff Kass, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 28, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Matahira Hassan,16, listens to a speaker during a gathering of the Student Interfaith Peace Project this month.

Photo by Barry Gutierrez © The Rocky

Matahira Hassan,16, listens to a speaker during a gathering of the Student Interfaith Peace Project this month.

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Presidents, secretaries of state and special envoys have all tried to broker peace in the Middle East.

Now a group of 27 high schoolers from across the metro area - equally divided among Muslims, Jews and Christians - will fly to Israel in June in an effort to bring a measure of peace to the region.

It's a heck of an after-school assignment.

"I think it will make us more well-rounded, and I think it will show us that life is more complicated than walking down to McDonald's and grabbing a double cheeseburger," says Omar Murib, a 17-year-old junior at Douglas County High School, who is Muslim.

"You've got to start somewhere, and we're taking baby steps toward (solving) the war, guns, bullets and achieving peace."

During their 10 days in the region, students will learn firsthand about the facts on the ground, as diplomats say, and meet with peacemaking groups.

Places they are expected to visit include a Jewish-Arab community center in Ramle, Israel, called Open House; and the Geneva Initiative Offices in Tel Aviv, Israel, and Ramallah, West Bank, which aim to carry out "realistic and achievable" solutions based on official Middle East negotiations.

Organizers are putting together a similar group in Israel, and the Denver students also will meet with them.

"If we make a difference in the hearts and minds of 50 students and families here and there (in Israel), it is peace," says Shaul Gabbay, an Israeli-born, Jewish professor who helped launch the program. "You cannot tell me peace doesn't exist."

The program, it is hoped, will not end after the trip.

"If one of them becomes a congressperson, businessperson or ambassador, they can draw on this network," said Deborah Rohan Schlueter, the project director.

In some cases, students might just lend a sympathetic ear.

"Listening to the stories of real people being affected . . . and truly hearing what they have to say will impact them in some way," 17-year-old East High School junior Claire Simon, who is Jewish, wrote in an e-mail.

"Helping them vent or showing one person that their opinion is heard will hopefully show them that simply talking and listening is more powerful and productive than hatred and violence."

The Student Interfaith Peace Project, SIPP for short, came out of discussions between Gabbay, head of the Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East at the University of Denver, and Rohan Schlueter, the institute's former project director.

They came up with the idea 21/2 years ago but couldn't start until Dr. Paul Dragul helped with the finances that got it off the ground. The total SIPP budget, which is handled by the institute, is $25,000, which includes stipends for teachers - Jewish, Muslim and Christian - and Rohan Schlueter.

The students will have to help raise the estimated $65,000 they need for the trip. They are working on events, including a Feb. 10 fundraiser at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, and a dinner and silent auction March 7 at Strings Restaurant, both in Denver. (About seven are not expected to make the trip for reasons ranging from safety concerns to cultural issues.)

The heart of the program is a three-hour class held one Monday night per month since October. Other activities have included a Keystone retreat and attending a play about teenage Holocaust victim Anne Frank.

This month's class was on the media. Desks were arranged in a large circle at a University of Denver classroom as the students munched on pizza and offered their definitions of propaganda. Influence, catchy and convincing were among the words teacher Fran Sterling then wrote on the board.

The group is already dealing with one tragedy. Among the participants is Katy Parr, whose sister, mother and father were killed in a car crash in December. Katy was the only survivor.

This past meeting was the first since the crash, and it offered a chance for students to discuss their feelings. The teachers also talked of having a fundraiser for the trip in Katy's honor.

It appeared that few in the group knew Katy well, but fellow East High student Megan Carlson said her story was inspiring.

"The thing that is really exciting to me is she still wants to do it," Carlson said, referring to the trip.

kassj@RockyMountainNews.com

Information

* To learn more about the program, or to donate, call the Institute for the Study of Israel in the Middle East at 303-871-3094 or e-mail project director Deborah Rohan Schlueter at dschluet@mac.com.

Comments

  • January 28, 2008

    9:31 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    plotz writes:

    There is a book that the student's should read by Jacque Ellul entitled: "Propaganda: the formation of men's attitudes". Once they read this, they will know what is in store for them...especially from the Arabs. They also have to know that there is essentially two types of Arabs. Clever ones and Honest ones. The clever ones(of whom they will meet)will tell and show them all the things the students are seeking. They will put on a good show. The Honest ones say openly they want Israel's destruction, etc, etc. Both sides, want have the same goal...the destruction of Israel. The Arabs view all Jews as thieves, especially those who live in Israel. A large number of Christian's see Jews as wayward rogues...and at least in the Catholic tradition, see themsleves as the true inheritor's of the Jewish faith...via jesus. There trip while full of high ideals will be used as a propaganda tool...especially from the Arabs. Lenin, used to call those outside of Russia in support of the revolution as "useful idiots". When you go there...remember that is how the Arabs, groups like the International Solidarity Movement, etc will view you. Ask them hard questions and do fall for their pre-packaged answers. If you think, they are avoiding the hard questions, keep at them...because they will show their true colors. If you can read, Listen World, Listen Jew and the "Jewish Idea". Finally, good luck...maybe you can effect change...just do not become useful idiots.

  • January 28, 2008

    12:56 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    HolierThanThou writes:

    Lotsa luck!

    The comment above is an example of what those kids are up against. It sounds objective but it's just the kind of crap that defeats peace efforts every time. Arabs are this and Arabs are that...blah, blah, blah...

    How about this: Arabs are people and some of them are pissed off about being kicked off their land. OK? Israelis are people, too, and some of them are scared of being killed by the pissed off Arabs. There, that's a start.

    You know, they all come from the same bunch. Most Jews and Arabs claim a common heritage going back to a Semitic chieftain from Mesopotamia (now Iraq) named Abraham, or Ibrahim. So, when you pick sides in the big dispute, you're actually getting involved in a family feud. Any cop can tell you that domestic disputes are rather dangerous places to stick your nose. They're worse when you take sides.

    If you want a stereo-type, I got one for you. There are two kinds of people in the world: reasonable people and all others. If you put reasonable people in power then they can work out a deal. If you put unreasonable people in power then you have prejudice, hatred, propaganda, and the kind of relentless hypocritical piety that claims allegiance to a loving God while murdering those who worship that God in ways that fail to meet their approval.

  • January 28, 2008

    6:14 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    plotz writes:

    Those young people should also read "From Time In Memorial" and "Battleground: Fact and Fantasy in Palestine".

  • January 28, 2008

    8:26 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    kathyM writes:

    I think there's hope for the future if we give our youth a chance to see things for themselves. This group going to the Middle East is perhaps naive, but they have more courage than most of us. Perhaps one of them will someday help plant the seeds of peace there.

    Another part of the world, Northern Ireland, is relatively peaceful now, and I believe young people had much to do with it. In the last 25 years, many youth in Northern Ireland turned their backs on the violent groups and started raising their voices for peace. And when they became voting age, they began voting in politicians who were willing to negotiate. Finally, the Irish radicals (IRA and others) and the British came to an agreement of sorts that has halted the bloodshed, calming a conflict more than 700 years old. Is there equity in Northern Ireland? Not yet. But stopping the fighting is the first step to finding real peace. If young people raise their voices for peace in the Middle East, maybe we'll see something incredible happen there, too.