The girls sing the chorus at the top of their lungs as the music pours out of the speaker. It’s recess and Hebrew day at school. Then everyone practices Hebrew through games, play and singing in the schoolyard. In a few days they will have Arab day. – I speak Arabic at home, says Aya Daadle. – I speak English and Hebrew, but I can speak Arabic well with her, says Ahava Ravid. The laughter is loose, and the two best friends bump into each other all the time. – I like her because she makes me happy. We have fun together, says Aya. FUN: (fv) Ahava and Aya laugh a lot together even though they also feel the presence of the war. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news – One should be able to be friends regardless of religious background, Ahava believes. “Fredens Oase” The school with 280 pupils is completely unique in Israel. Here, Palestinian and Jewish Israelis are in the same class. The teachers teach in both Hebrew and Arabic in all subjects. – If you speak my language and I speak your language, we will understand each other better and can facilitate a good relationship, says Samah Salaime, who is the director of the school in Neve Shalom. In regular Israeli schools, Jewish children do not learn Arabic despite the fact that 20 percent of the Israeli population is Arab. THE SCHOOL: Today is Hebrew day at the school where all play and teaching takes place in Hebrew. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news – Here we teach them that peace is possible, and that we must be able to live together with equal rights in a democracy, but the opposite is happening in Israel, says Salaime. She herself speaks Arabic as a mother tongue. Regularly, the fighter jets pass over our heads on their way to Gaza. The war affects everyone, including here. – We have families who lost friends in southern Israel and others who have relatives in Gaza, she says. The school is located in the village called Neve Shalom, or Wahat al-Salam in Arabic, which means “Oasis of Peace”. It was founded by a monk 40 years ago, who wanted three religions to live together, both Jews and Christians and Muslim Palestinians. One of the first to move here by Ety Edlund and her Swedish husband. Now her grandchildren go to the school, which she helped start. – We have an opportunity to understand the other side because we live together. The core of the problem is that you only see one side of the conflict, says Edlund. PIONEER: Ety Edlund has lived in the village of Neve Shalom for 40 years. Photo: Åse Marit Befring / news She believes that what they have created cannot be found anywhere else in Israel. Here, Jews and Palestinians are treated equally. – I hope that we can get others to look at the conflict with new eyes. Here we see it from both sides, which is the core of the problem, she says. The children notice increased hatred Best friend does not let the hatred of the war affect their friendship, even if it makes them uneasy. – I think it is very sad to think about the war, because so many people die. I hope it stops, says Aya. She notices a growing hatred between Jews and Arabs, and says that even though she is only 11 years old, she is exposed to racism. Ahava finds it incomprehensible. She herself just turned 12, and had the party of all time with friends who have both Arab and Jewish backgrounds. – She is exposed to racism because she is Arab. I hate that she is subjected to that, says Ahava. Although they have found their way together, they believe it will take a long time before Palestinians and Jews are able to live peacefully together. – It is far, far into the future, they say in unison.
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– I hate racism against my Palestinian friend – news Urix – Foreign news and documentaries
