Subtitles
Associated Teachers TV programme
Inspirations: Oasis of Peace
0001 10:00:12:01 10:00:15:09
(children speak Hebrew)
0002 10:00:16:20 10:00:18:04
(teacher)
0003 10:00:18:22 10:00:22:10
(children)
0004 10:00:23:17 10:00:24:23
(teacher)
0005 10:00:35:21 10:00:39:12
(newsreader) It's Sunday,
19 November. Here is the news.
0006 10:00:39:12 10:00:42:13
The Israeli army today cancelled
a planned air raid
0007 10:00:42:13 10:00:46:04
on the home of a Gaza militant
after several hundred Palestinians
0008 10:00:46:04 10:00:48:20
barricaded themselves
inside the building.
0009 10:00:48:20 10:00:52:23
A spokesman vowed Israel would
continue strikes against militants
0010 10:00:52:23 10:00:55:18
and accused gunmen of
using the civilians in the camp
0011 10:00:55:18 10:00:57:18
as human shields.
0012 10:00:59:03 10:01:03:03
(narrator) That's the sort of news
we hear about Israel most days -
0013 10:01:03:03 10:01:06:06
news of fighting
between Jews and Palestinians.
0014 10:01:06:06 10:01:08:19
But in this Israeli school,
0015 10:01:08:19 10:01:11:23
Palestinian and Jewish teachers
work together,
0016 10:01:11:23 10:01:14:11
teaching in both Hebrew and Arabic.
0017 10:01:14:11 10:01:16:08
Of course there are conflicts here,
0018 10:01:16:08 10:01:20:02
but they're sorted out by talking,
not fighting.
0019 10:01:21:02 10:01:25:06
It's the oldest of only four schools
like it in the whole country.
0020 10:01:25:06 10:01:27:11
In Hebrew it's called Neve Shalom,
0021 10:01:27:11 10:01:29:20
in Arabic, Wahat al-Salam,
0022 10:01:29:20 10:01:33:12
and in English, Oasis of Peace.
0023 10:01:34:17 10:01:39:02
(teacher speaks Arabic)
0024 10:01:41:24 10:01:45:05
(narrator) Reem Nashef is
the home teacher for grade 5.
0025 10:01:45:05 10:01:47:18
She's an Arab
and she teaches in Arabic.
0026 10:01:49:03 10:01:52:07
Hezzi Schouster is Reem's
grade 5 co-teacher.
0027 10:01:52:07 10:01:54:07
He's Jewish and teaches in Hebrew.
0028 10:01:55:09 10:01:57:09
He and Reem translate each other
0029 10:01:57:09 10:02:00:12
so the children hear the lesson
in both languages.
0030 10:02:00:12 10:02:04:03
It's just one of the unique features
of the school.
0031 10:02:05:03 10:02:08:04
We followed Reem and Hezzi
and their grade 5 students
0032 10:02:08:04 10:02:10:23
for what became a very busy week.
0033 10:02:10:23 10:02:12:23
There were school council elections
0034 10:02:12:23 10:02:15:23
and the children were preparing
for an end-of-week concert,
0035 10:02:15:23 10:02:17:12
"A Star Is Born".
0036 10:02:17:12 10:02:21:09
(Arabic)
0037 10:02:28:05 10:02:31:10
(narrator) The oranges are
an imaginative teaching resource
0038 10:02:31:10 10:02:36:01
for a geography class about
the way the world is divided.
0039 10:02:38:13 10:02:45:04
(Hebrew)
0040 10:02:45:04 10:02:47:06
(Hezzi) My parents came from Europe,
0041 10:02:47:06 10:02:51:18
but I was born in a very poor
neighbourhood in Jerusalem
0042 10:02:51:18 10:02:54:21
where all the people
were from the East,
0043 10:02:54:21 10:02:57:22
and all the food that we were eating
and all the music,
0044 10:02:57:22 10:03:00:05
it was all Arabic.
0045 10:03:00:05 10:03:03:08
The Arab and the Eastern cultures
0046 10:03:03:08 10:03:07:08
talking to me much more
than the European culture.
0047 10:03:08:12 10:03:12:07
(Reem speaks Arabic)
0048 10:03:13:23 10:03:19:23
(Reem) I was born in Tulkarim
to a father that taught English,
0049 10:03:19:23 10:03:24:03
and he was separated
from his parents in 1948
0050 10:03:24:03 10:03:26:07
when he was very young.
0051 10:03:26:07 10:03:31:11
We came back. We were the first
Palestinians to get the permission
0052 10:03:31:11 10:03:34:02
to come back to the homeland.
0053 10:03:35:01 10:03:37:01
I studied school in Saudi Arabia.
0054 10:03:37:01 10:03:41:01
I was in one of the American-Arab
oil company schools.
0055 10:03:41:01 10:03:43:01
I liked the way they taught,
0056 10:03:43:01 10:03:46:06
it was in a fun and free way
that they taught us.
0057 10:03:46:06 10:03:51:03
When I came back to schools here,
they were so traditional and strict,
0058 10:03:51:03 10:03:53:14
and it was hard for me.
0059 10:03:53:14 10:03:55:16
So I decided if
I do become a teacher,
0060 10:03:55:16 10:03:58:00
I'll make life easier for children.
0061 10:03:59:20 10:04:02:21
(Reem speaks Arabic)
0062 10:04:05:02 10:04:09:18
(Arabic)
0063 10:04:11:13 10:04:18:18
(Hebrew)
0064 10:04:18:22 10:04:21:02
(Arabic)
0065 10:04:24:05 10:04:26:02
(Hezzi speaks Hebrew)
0066 10:04:29:14 10:04:33:02
(narrator) Just as the learning
resources are being used well,
0067 10:04:33:02 10:04:34:18
the class is interrupted.
0068 10:04:34:18 10:04:36:20
It's a bit like that in this school.
0069 10:04:36:20 10:04:39:10
Grade 6 student Reem Arafat
is Palestinian,
0070 10:04:39:10 10:04:44:05
but she's going to speak to the
children in both Arabic and Hebrew.
0071 10:04:44:05 10:04:46:24
(Arabic)
0072 10:04:57:21 10:05:01:05
(narrator) It looks quite ordinary
but it's anything but.
0073 10:05:01:05 10:05:04:03
There are only four schools
in the whole of Israel
0074 10:05:04:03 10:05:07:13
where Arabic and Hebrew
are given equal status.
0075 10:05:14:07 10:05:16:12
(Reem Nashef speaks Arabic)
0076 10:05:20:11 10:05:22:22
(Arabic)
0077 10:05:23:06 10:05:26:22
(Hebrew)
0078 10:05:27:24 10:05:29:22
(Arabic)
0079 10:05:35:07 10:05:38:17
(narrator) But before the voting,
there are the hustings.
0080 10:05:39:09 10:05:42:03
(Arabic)
0081 10:05:51:03 10:05:53:02
(Hebrew)
0082 10:05:59:20 10:06:03:15
(Arabic)
0083 10:06:21:17 10:06:24:23
(narrator) The whole school
together - a perfect opportunity
0084 10:06:24:23 10:06:27:12
for children to speak
in both languages.
0085 10:06:37:02 10:06:40:03
(narrator) In 1948,
the valley below the school
0086 10:06:40:03 10:06:42:20
was the scene of some of
the bitterest fighting
0087 10:06:42:20 10:06:45:24
of the war between
Jews and Palestinians.
0088 10:06:45:24 10:06:51:14
Jewish people were fighting to
secure an independent Jewish state.
0089 10:06:51:14 10:06:54:05
It was a time when
many Palestinians fled
0090 10:06:54:05 10:06:57:02
or were driven from their homes -
0091 10:06:57:02 10:06:59:20
homes to which
they have almost always
0092 10:06:59:20 10:07:03:13
been prevented from returning.
0093 10:07:03:13 10:07:05:13
The teachers at this school
0094 10:07:05:13 10:07:09:07
are some of the sons and daughters
of that generation.
0095 10:07:13:08 10:07:15:13
(Reem) I see from 5th grade
0096 10:07:15:13 10:07:18:17
I have two that want
to be in the students' council.
0097 10:07:18:17 10:07:21:16
And then you have 3rd grade.
0098 10:07:21:16 10:07:25:02
Then 2nd grade also want to be...
0099 10:07:25:02 10:07:29:23
In the newspaper, it's written
both in Arabic and Hebrew,
0100 10:07:29:23 10:07:34:02
I have Nu and Hamza want
to be in the newspaper council.
0101 10:07:35:15 10:07:38:06
(boy speaks Arabic)
0102 10:07:43:14 10:07:47:11
(Reem) He said that
for the students' council
0103 10:07:47:11 10:07:50:11
I would like to change
the music of the bell.
0104 10:07:50:11 10:07:53:06
He'll do that for the children,
for the school.
0105 10:07:53:06 10:07:57:00
He also said that I would want
to make more Arabic lessons,
0106 10:07:57:00 10:08:00:13
because lots of Arabs -
I'm proud of him now -
0107 10:08:00:13 10:08:02:16
lots of Arabs speak more in Hebrew,
0108 10:08:02:16 10:08:06:05
so I'm gonna try to solve
the Arabic problem in the class.
0109 10:08:07:03 10:08:11:01
And I want to encourage
the children to study more.
0110 10:08:12:09 10:08:15:24
(narrator) With grade 5's voting
over, it's back to the classroom.
0111 10:08:15:24 10:08:19:21
Or rather, to two classrooms,
because the grade splits.
0112 10:08:20:12 10:08:24:19
The Jewish children are learning
Arabic with Faten Abdulhalim,
0113 10:08:24:19 10:08:27:07
one of the school's
specialist teachers.
0114 10:08:27:07 10:08:30:14
(Faten speaks Arabic)
0115 10:08:32:05 10:08:37:12
(Arabic)
0116 10:08:43:18 10:08:48:00
(Hebrew)
0117 10:09:01:13 10:09:04:07
(children sing Arabic song)
0118 10:09:04:07 10:09:07:19
(narrator) Next door, Nadira Hamed
is teaching the Arab children
0119 10:09:07:19 10:09:10:04
a song for Thursday's concert.
0120 10:09:10:04 10:09:13:10
Later, they'll teach the song
to their Jewish classmates.
0121 10:09:13:10 10:09:18:12
In the concert itself,
each grade has to perform in Arabic.
0122 10:09:18:12 10:09:21:11
(Nadira) It's a famous Arabic song.
0123 10:09:21:11 10:09:25:23
Because we have Arab people
and Jewish people,
0124 10:09:25:23 10:09:29:13
I told myself
that I must make words,
0125 10:09:29:13 10:09:34:07
or write words
which belong to each people,
0126 10:09:34:07 10:09:36:15
to the two kinds of people.
0127 10:09:36:15 10:09:38:12
So I wrote the words
0128 10:09:38:12 10:09:43:10
and this is the first time for me
to tell them the song.
0129 10:09:43:10 10:09:45:10
(children sing)
0130 10:09:46:03 10:09:49:09
(Arabic)
0131 10:09:55:24 10:09:59:10
(narrator) Home time, and tomorrow
grade 5 will be working
0132 10:09:59:10 10:10:02:02
on a project about the idea of home.
0133 10:10:02:02 10:10:04:10
Most Arab and Jewish children
in Israel
0134 10:10:04:10 10:10:06:20
live in separate villages or towns,
0135 10:10:06:20 10:10:09:20
so it can be a sensitive subject.
0136 10:10:15:00 10:10:19:09
(Hezzi) Until now we were talking
in the class about houses,
0137 10:10:19:09 10:10:24:15
and now we want them to start
describing their own houses.
0138 10:10:24:15 10:10:26:08
So we built a programme
0139 10:10:26:08 10:10:29:24
for the children to talk
about houses emotionally,
0140 10:10:29:24 10:10:33:08
about houses in history
or all over the world,
0141 10:10:33:08 10:10:37:00
and their dream house,
0142 10:10:37:00 10:10:40:02
or religious houses,
or whatever they...
0143 10:10:40:02 10:10:44:10
Whatever ideas they would
come up with, we'll take on,
0144 10:10:44:10 10:10:47:04
and from then on continue.
0145 10:10:48:01 10:10:51:19
And now, today,
we're going to make them imagine
0146 10:10:51:19 10:10:53:24
and tell us about their dream house.
0147 10:10:53:24 10:10:59:01
(narrator) This lesson has a
significance we're not used to.
0148 10:10:59:01 10:11:01:08
During the Holocaust
millions of Jews
0149 10:11:01:08 10:11:03:17
lost their homes and their lives,
0150 10:11:03:17 10:11:07:16
and Palestinians lost their homes
to Israelis in the '48 war.
0151 10:11:07:16 10:11:09:20
(Reem speaks Arabic)
0152 10:11:20:17 10:11:24:05
(Hezzi speaks Hebrew)
0153 10:11:24:06 10:11:26:06
(boy speaks Arabic)
0154 10:11:29:17 10:11:32:04
(Arabic)
0155 10:11:32:17 10:11:37:06
(Reem speaks Arabic)
0156 10:11:37:06 10:11:39:06
(boy speaks Arabic)
0157 10:11:43:13 10:11:46:23
(Reem speaks Arabic)
0158 10:11:49:03 10:11:51:10
(Arabic)
0159 10:11:57:19 10:12:00:23
(boy speaks Arabic)
0160 10:12:01:02 10:12:03:05
(Reem speaks Arabic)
0161 10:12:15:14 10:12:18:08
(Hebrew)
0162 10:12:18:17 10:12:22:16
(Arabic)
0163 10:12:22:16 10:12:26:06
(Hezzi translates into Hebrew)
0164 10:12:33:02 10:12:35:10
(narrator) As well as
being work colleagues,
0165 10:12:35:10 10:12:38:14
Hezzi and Reem are good friends
and neighbours in the village.
0166 10:12:38:14 10:12:41:00
(Reem) We lived in Jerusalem.
0167 10:12:41:00 10:12:45:16
My husband had bought a house in
Bethany, on the way to the Dead Sea.
0168 10:12:45:16 10:12:52:04
There was a declaration of
the Palestinian Authority,
0169 10:12:52:04 10:12:55:22
and we were happy.
We thought things would calm down,
0170 10:12:55:22 10:12:58:08
but things didn't calm down.
0171 10:12:58:08 10:13:00:08
We had applied,
0172 10:13:00:08 10:13:03:20
and it took us five years
to be accepted to this village.
0173 10:13:03:20 10:13:08:20
When they gave us the permission -
"Yes, you have been accepted" -
0174 10:13:08:20 10:13:12:04
we thought it was a good chance
for the children to live quietly.
0175 10:13:12:04 10:13:15:05
When we would pass
from Bethany to Jerusalem
0176 10:13:15:05 10:13:17:05
to take the children to school,
0177 10:13:17:05 10:13:20:08
it took us an hour and a half,
and it's a ten-minute drive.
0178 10:13:20:08 10:13:25:16
We had to pass a lot of checkpoints
and wait in line for an hour,
0179 10:13:25:16 10:13:31:14
so it was natural that we'd
accept it as soon as possible.
0180 10:13:31:14 10:13:34:13
So just for the kids, let's say -
0181 10:13:34:13 10:13:37:14
to make life easier for us
and for the kids.
0182 10:13:38:11 10:13:41:18
(Hebrew)
0183 10:13:53:07 10:13:57:22
(Hezzi) I came first to the village
I think in 1994.
0184 10:13:57:22 10:14:00:21
It was a very small village,
0185 10:14:00:21 10:14:03:16
I think 15 families only.
0186 10:14:03:16 10:14:08:08
Even though in my nature
I'm more a man of the city -
0187 10:14:08:08 10:14:11:16
because I like the noise
of the city and the action,
0188 10:14:11:16 10:14:15:10
the cinema, the theatre,
the coffee houses -
0189 10:14:15:10 10:14:20:08
but we thought that for the children
it's better to be here.
0190 10:14:20:08 10:14:23:24
Now they're growing, maybe in a few
years we will go back to Tel Aviv.
0191 10:14:23:24 10:14:27:01
(narrator) But for now,
Hezzi and his wife Ruth
0192 10:14:27:01 10:14:30:02
live in this house
overlooking the valley.
0193 10:14:30:02 10:14:33:20
(Hezzi) I was very involved
in the issues of the village
0194 10:14:33:20 10:14:35:13
until two years ago.
0195 10:14:35:13 10:14:38:06
But it gets up to here.
0196 10:14:38:06 10:14:41:15
You know, it's a small village
with a lot of problems.
0197 10:14:41:15 10:14:45:00
A lot of people always...
0198 10:14:46:24 10:14:49:09
A lot of politics, inside politics,
0199 10:14:49:09 10:14:54:11
not connected to the Jewish-Arab
conflict in Israel, not at all.
0200 10:14:54:11 10:14:57:20
No, not not at all.
I don't agree with you.
0201 10:14:57:20 10:15:01:04
We have the problem
of a small village,
0202 10:15:01:04 10:15:03:04
and you can add on it
0203 10:15:03:04 10:15:10:20
the problem of being two societies
that try to live together.
0204 10:15:10:20 10:15:15:05
Even our two nations are fighting
and bleeding, you know.
0205 10:15:15:05 10:15:17:17
It's a bleeding conflict.
0206 10:15:17:17 10:15:20:23
It's not so easy.
So we have some issues.
0207 10:15:20:23 10:15:26:16
For example, I can talk about
one issue - the language.
0208 10:15:26:16 10:15:30:13
I think that the Arabs in
the village, the Palestinian Arabs,
0209 10:15:30:13 10:15:35:09
are very mad about us, the Jewish,
0210 10:15:35:09 10:15:38:07
because we don't talk Arabic,
0211 10:15:38:07 10:15:40:24
we don't know Arabic.
0212 10:15:40:24 10:15:48:12
I live here many years and
I still don't speak Arabic fluently.
0213 10:15:49:07 10:15:51:21
Because the language
is very important.
0214 10:15:51:21 10:15:54:03
It's not just a language,
0215 10:15:54:03 10:15:58:13
it's part of the culture,
it's part of the identity.
0216 10:15:58:13 10:16:03:13
So if we, the Jewish,
we don't learn Arabic,