The Comings and Goings of May 2008
By Lydia Aisenberg
June 13, 2008
With spring on its way out and summer on our front doorstep, the month of May this year proved to be no different than most years – hot, windy and muggy.
However, whatever the weather the International Department seminars are much in demand and we were joined this month by groups of American and Canadian university students, high-school pupils, German educators and folks from the electronic and print medias from across Germany.
A number of Israeli tour leaders accompanying the seminar groups commented on how much they enjoy returning to Givat Haviva and participating in what are now commonly termed ‘Magical Mystery Tours’ of the Wadi Ara region.
“There’s always something new to learn no matter how many times I have done this with you before,” said one of the veteran Israeli tour leaders after a twirl around the Amir mountain range and visit to the village of Barta’a with a Birthright-Taglit group in tow.
***
International Department staff traveled to the Birthright-Taglit Mega Event held at Latrun where they chatted with overseas students about the up and coming Givat Haviva Masa To The East program. A visit to the impressive campus of The Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Raphael Recanati International School in Herzliya will hopefully bring about some of their overseas students participating in Givat Haviva seminars as part of their study period in Israel.
***
A small but extremely vibrant group of students from Philadelphia were among the youthful May seminar participants. The program, aptly named Passport to Israel, is directed by Pam Pearlmutter and comes under the auspices of the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.
Passport to Israel participants were accompanied by tour guide Asaf Beeri who is no stranger to Givat Haviva activities and in particular, the seminars for overseas students.
Upon their return to Philadelphia, Ms. Pearlmutter praised the International Department seminar undertaken by the students and mentioned that in a post-tour gathering in Philadelphia students spoke warmly of their Givat Haviva experience.
***
High-school students from Los Angeles (the Milken Community High School) and another group of lively teens from San Diego kept our educators on their toes. Both groups were in Israel under the auspices of the Alexander Muss Institute for Israel Education based in Hod HaSharon, with whom we have a close working relationship.
The Milken group, accompanied by visiting Alexander Muss National Director of Recruitment in the US, Michael Meyerheim from Rhode Island, were the third group from their school to attend a Givat Haviva seminar in recent times and staff member Lydia Aisenberg gave a one day seminar at their school during a recent educational tour in the States .
***
Hasbara Fellowships (Aish Hatorah) brought two large groups of students during the course of the month. The first group was made up of Canadians hailing from universities across the country, the second group from North American universities.
Hasbara Fellowships is a program of leadership development aimed at top Jewish university students from across the United States and Canada. A number of students in both groups asked if it was possible to do an internship at Givat Haviva when their studies allowed.
***
Rama high-school students participating a leadership program in Israel also spent a day with us in Givat Haviva and the surrounding area, as did a group of German pilgrims, the latter received by Torsten Reibold of the German Desk of Havazelet in Tel Aviv.
***
Montclare McKenna college students from California also paid a successful visit to our campus and spent time in Arara village in Wadi Ara. The group leader was university staffer Becky Grossman. Becky is a former member of Young Judea and is familiar with Givat Haviva from her youth movement days. It was at her suggestion the Montclare students had a seminar with us on their itinerary.
***
The Quebec-Israel Committee, under the leadership of Program Director Jonathan Kales, once again brought to Israel a large group of extremely bright and interested in everything French-speaking university students representing educational establishments across Quebec.
As always, the background knowledge of the students with regard the Middle East was impressive, as was the material provided by the organization for their group members. Kol HaKavod Jonathan!
***
Two Birthright-Taglit groups from the USA and Canda were accompanied by a small number of IDF soldiers who were joining them for a few days of the 10-day tour.
The American Birthright-Taglit group, accompanied by accomplished Israeli tour guide and Givat Haviva stalwart Gil Haran, also met with a leading political personality in Israel while out and about in Wadi Ara with staffer Lydia Aisenberg.
Taking the Birthright participants to the Katzir observation platform, Lydia and Gil were surprised to find themselves in the company of none other than the Deputy Defense Minister of Israel Matan Vilnay, a rather large group of bodyguards taking in the view with local BISMA council mayor and former director of the Jewish-Arab Center for Peace at Givat Haviva, Riad Kabha.
Minister Vilnay answered Lydia's request to say a few words to the gathered American students and not-in-uniform soldiers. For 10 minutes he gave an update on the security situation in Israel.
Not for nothing have our sojourns in Wadi Ara been nicknamed Magical Mystery Tours.
***
Theo Schwedmann and 22 other German educators from North Rhine-Westfalia on a two-week course studying aspects of the Holocaust at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem were hosted for a day at Givat Haviva and also took in a tour of the Wadi Ara area that incorporated visiting Harish, traveling the new road from there to the Shaked settlement block and visiting Barta’a.
The group also had the opportunity to spend a short time at the Reichan checkpoint and speak with Palestinian laborers passing through the security fence after a day working either in Israel or in East Barta’a in Area C of the West Bank.
Some of the teachers will be leading groups of students to Israel in the not too distant future and in their summary of the seminar stated they would definitely want to bring their students to Givat Haviva for such an experience.
***
Bundeszentrale fur Politische Bildung is the German Federal Agency for Civic Education. A public institution, since 1963 the BNB organizes study tours to Israel for policy-makers, journalists, educators and folks from other professional arenas – many of whom visit Givat Haviva during their intensely programmed visits to Israel.
This month we received another BNB group. The study-tour was made up of 20 teachers, university professors and journalists, and entitled “Everyday Life in Israel.”
Apart from meeting with speaker Mohammad Darawshe and undertaking a ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ of the Green Line/Security fence, the BNB group also visited the nearby Islamic College of al-Qassami in Baka-el-Gharbiya where they met an educator and students from the English Department.
***
So, that was the month that was! A heavily booked summer looms ahead and we will be back soon reporting on the groups and surprise events of those months here on the Givat Haviva website so please, watch this space!