Dec- Jan Newsletter 2012
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Turning Walls Into Windows: Altnerative Tours to the West Bank for Diasporic Jews and Internationals Over the past year Windows has taken groups of young people from abroad to tour the West Bank. This initiative began in response to the many programs, which bring young Jewish people to strengthen their connection to Israel. Since these programs often overlook the occupation and the experience of Palestinians, we invite participants of these programs for a tour to Hebron and Bethlehem. These tours enable participants to spread accurate information from their own experience rather then from biased sources of information. The group encounters Palestinian realities through crossing check points, visiting the old and new cities of Hebron, exploring Aida Refugee Camp, walking along the wall and meeting with local Palestinians. These tours have been very successful – for many participants this is the first chance to meet with Palestinian people and to see and hear about life under occupation. See more about the tours on our website.
Renewing our Logo – New Look for Windows! We are renewing our logo and welcome your ideas! We are looking for friends with graphic design experience. Please contact us for more information about how to get involved! Please also invite friends who enjoy challenges in graphic designs. for more information enter here
“The Law in These Parts” – Food for Thought for the General Public
We continue to offer the Tel-Aviv public various opinions and food for thought.
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Dear Friends, As you may know, in the past months there have been several socio-political developments in regards to human rights issues. One example is the incident where MP Anastasia poured water over MP Majadla during a meeting of the Educational Committee. This action preoccupied the media’s attention which served to legitimize racist and violent behavior. The media distracted the public from the decisions of the Committee, which is actually a victory for freedom of expression. The Educational Committee had convened in order to discuss the Ministry of Education’s reprimand of a high school principal in Ar’ara. The principal’s students had participated in the Human Rights March in Tel Aviv on the 9th of December 2011. The Committee decided to cancel the reprimand and commended the principal for his activity. The lack of media attention of this decision is a shame. Civic activism is accelerating world-wide. There are short-term methods such as demonstrations and petitions. However, educational activities, which yield long-term effects, demand patience, vision and courage – to stand in front of the system and in front of the community, which don’t always support such activities. In 2012 we are expanding our outreach to include more youth, more communities and new ideas. If you’d like to take part in our wide variety of activities, please contact us! Yours, The Windows staff
"Embarking on a long journey " – Issue 31 of the Windows magazine is out ! The Young Journalist groups from Tamra, Givathayim-Tel Aviv and Jalkamous finished their official activity year in WINDOWS, and have done so with the publication of the new issue of the Window’s Arabic-Hebrew magazine. This issue reflects the exhausting but fascinating journey these young journalists have made during the past 4 years in the youth group. The magazine opens up with their memories from their first days in the program. Amira, a Palestinian participant, reflected: "The activities we have been doing evoked the participants’ curiosity to get to know the other". The magazine reflects the discussions they had on the barriers between them – from fear and prejudices, to the deep need to recognize each other’s history and learning how to cope with history’s consequences and effects on our lives nowadays. . Ma’gad (Jalkamous) explains that "It is highly important for me to tell everyone about my reality of living under occupation." Roni (Givthayim) describes how "at the beginning the meetings were puzzling and somewhat awkward". Through sharing their grandparents stories they discover the past from a personal angle, for example – Shahar (Holon) wrote about his grandfather who "Knew that the Iraqi regime will not let him immigrate to Israel", Sundos (Jalkamous) shared that "my grandfather went back to Farwaneh to see what happened since, and found ruins of the houses". During the past two years the youth coped with the past, developed a more complex view of the recent events. They have expressed how they now have a lot to think about in the coming years. The main question that they are engaged with now is "what is our role as youth within the struggle and change? What can we do in order to take more responsibility for our future? the full version of the magazine here
Windows Youth Activism Centre – A space for New Initiatives Itamar, Daniel and Noam discuss their work with Windows: We are three friends, students at Ironi Alef High School in Tel-Aviv. There is a Community Service program at our school, through which students volunteer in various organizations. We chose to volunteer at Windows. We are organizing a series of workshops about the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, designed for high school students in the Tel-Aviv area. We will be dealing with the history of the conflict and the current situation. The program includes tours, movie screenings, lectures and more. The first workshop will include a tour of Jaffa with two historians – a Palestinian and a Jewish historian.
 Youth Activism Centre – A space for New Initiatives- Dec 2011
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