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Photo: Guy Ravets
Palestinian kid: Natur
Photo: Guy Ravets

Israeli, Arab kids celebrate 'Peace Day'

10-year-old girl from Jenin visits Tel Aviv school, performs for students, teachers for International Peace Day; initiative came from Israeli student: 'I am interested in peace, not fighting

Building bridges: Some 800 Palestinian and Israeli students gathered Wednesday in Tel Aviv to fly kites, play sports, and watch performances in both Hebrew and Arabic.

 

Credit for the event goes to Daniel, a student at the Daniel Shechter school in the Ramat Efal suburb of Tel Aviv. Two weeks ago, the school principal asked students to propose ideas to commemorate September 11, but Daniel took the project a bit more seriously than most.

 


Shimon Peres sings with kids (Photo: Guy Ravets)

 

"I am interested in peace and co-existence, not fighting and terrorism," he explained.

 

The suggestion led to a joint 'fun day' for 450 Tel Aviv Jews and about 400 West Bank Palestinians, on a day declared by the United Nations "International Peace Day."

 

Peres center helps out

 

The Peres Center for Peace helped out by connecting the Shechter School with a counterpart school in the West Bank. Most activities were visual, due to language barriers between the students, and all performances were bi-lingual. Jewish and Arab students also joined together for sporting competitions.

 

Othmar Mustafa Natur, a 10-year-old from the Jenin area, sang a song called "I am a Palestinian kid" wearing a traditional Palestinian Jalabiya with a Palestinian flag on both sides.

 

"Palestinian children have the right to live in a free country," she said afterwards.

 

'At first, Jews scared me'

 

This was Natur's second time in Israel, but she was still suspicious.

 

"I was scared to be the only kid from Jenin," she told Ynet. "But when I saw that there were other Palestinian kids, I calmed down.

 

"At first, the Jews really scared me. When we crossed the border, I only saw Jewish soldiers with guns. It was really scary," she said.

 

The school in Ramat Efal, which includes a petting zoo, tennis courts and a swimming pool is a little bit different than schools in the Palestinian Authority, to say the least.

 

But teachers say the building is the only difference. "There is no difference between Palestinain and Israeli kids. We're all the same," they said.

 

Moshe Shma, 11, asked Vice Premier Shimon Peres if he would give up Jerusalem for peace.

 

"Peace is never giving up something," said Peres. "It is an agreement between people," he said.

 

Peres also said he hoped the children would grow up to know peace instead of war.

 

"The whole world prays for peace. We should, too," he said.

 


פרסום ראשון: 09.21.05, 14:05
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