Preparation visit to Israel

The delegation of UM4P and JES is staying in Jaffa, Israel, for a week and a day. Together with Sadaka Reut we are preparing the program for the summer exchange in August. Time to post a first report after the first few days of hard enjoyable work.

In this first part we were mainly interested in getting to know each other so that everyone would understand their role in the project. We got the chance to learn in details about each organisation and their role in their community and in the broader environment. Finally we did some prospecting on sites which allow us to understand the conflict better and do some prospective work.

The day of arrival consisted of a short personal introduction between the staff of Sadaka Reut and our delegation. It was almost 18 o’clock when we arrived and everybody thought it was a good idea to have an informal meeting.

The second day we began with the more serious topics. The different projects of Sadaka Reut were explained and we met the coordinators and some volunteers of the specific projects.

Tuesday we explained the work of UM4P and of JES vzw and some of our projects. In the afternoon we got a tour in the city of Jaffa and we went to a few different places which have a meaning in the political history of Jaffa.

Yesterday we went to Jerusalem to watch different places we might visit during our 10 days exchange. First we went on a tour with the organisation ICHAD which is a Jewish organisation against the demolishing of homes. They showed the poorer, mostly Arab, neighbourhoods in East-Jerusalem and the separation wall, as well as taking us to the West bank.

Then we had dinner, after which we went to the museum on the seam, with a global exposition of artists about identity, freedom and security. After this visit we went to the old city and visited the church were Jesus Christ is buried and to the (Western) Wall, an important religious symbol for the Jews. Unfortunately we couldn’t go to the Al-Aqsa mosque because on the one hand it was quite late and on the other hand we got signals that it was hard or maybe impossible to get in as non-muslims.

Today we went on a trip to the south of Israel, Negev desert, to find out about the history of the Bedouin. They are a tribe of semi-nomadic desert Arabs who are being discriminated by the Israeli government. As a consequence the inhabitants of 50 Bedouin villages were evicted and many of their homes were destroyed. They were allowed to stay under severe control in area close to the Jordan border where there was almost no possibility to gain electricity, running water or any other basic human need. In a way they are being bullied out of the country. We met a tribe leader who welcomed us in the traditional way of the tribe.

With only three days to go we still have a lot of work to do in the next few days in which we will make the final program of the exchange. Furthermore we will make the practical arrangements for the 10 days we will be staying here in Jaffa during the summer. A full travel journal will be posted next week with more detailed information. In the meantime you can check out the links below to find details about what we saw in these past few days.

Peace from Israel -

Joost, Steffi, Dries, Olivier

http://www.icahd.org/eng/
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-church-of-holy-sepulchre.htm
http://www.sacred-destinations.com/israel/jerusalem-al-aqsa-mosque.htm
http://www.olivebranch.com/isreal/jesurwall.htm
http://www.coexistence.art.museum/eng/index.asp
http://www.assoc40.org/