Projects Living in the Holy Land reports

	Living in the Holy Land: Respecting Differences First School Semester 2008/2009 1/9/2008 - 31/12/2008 The Implementation of the Academic Curriculum of the Project During this academic school term, we have implemented the project in the 12 Bethlehem and Ramallah private schools as well as the AEI high school group, the number of the participants students has reached 437, the teachers who participated in this project were twenty-four, Christians and Muslims including males and females. The main practical steps/ activities in implementing the project: 1. On the 18th of September 2008 an iftar meal and inter-religious meeting were held in Rammallah on the occasions of the holy month of Ramadan and the International Day of Prayer for Peace and the beginning of the new school year 2008-2009. The principals'  and teachers of the school network in addition to Mr. Jihad Zakarneh – Deputy Assistant of the Minister of Education attended the meeting. During this inter-religious encounter, the participants discussed the meaning of fasting in the three monotheistic religious. Wishes and prayers for justice and peace in the region and the world were pronounced by the teachers. A discussion was followed about the various different events and activities of the first semester action plan. AEI new publication was distributed to the attendance. 2. On 20th September 2008, a meeting was held in Bethlehem similar to that one of Ramallah. Mr.Abdallah Shakarneh – Director of the Office of the Higher Education in Bethlehem – together with the Bethlehem School network principals and teachers were present. The whole interfaith gathering began in front of the church of the Shepherds Field in Beit Sahour where participants recited some prayers.  Then the participants began to march to the Golden Park hotel chanting peace songs calling for justice and peace in our holy land. At the hotel hall, and after Mr. Fuaid Gacaman's welcoming word, Sheigh Mahir Assaf spoke about the meanings of fasting in Ramadan. Then Mr. Muhammad Al-Husseni from the Ministry of Tourism - gave a presentation entitled "AEI philosophy in implementing the Christian Muslim living together in Palestine. During this celebration AEI publication were distributed among the participants. The School year action plans were discussed.   3. The Students/ Teachers Training Sessions After consultation cooperation and coordination with the participating schools, the following subjects were selected for the training sessions: §   Love in the New Testament. §   Love in Quran. §   How dos the Quran look to the other? §   Love in the Old Testament. A number of trainers and specialists were chosen as well as religious education teachers from Rammallah and Bethlehem. These are the names of the guest speakers who gave the training sessions: a. In Bethlehem Schools: §   Dr.Fr.Jamal Khader –Dean of Arts at Bethlehem University. §   Mr. Sheigh Mahir Assaf – Islamic religious instruction teacher at S.O.S school. §   Mr. Tony Nasser – Christian Religious Education teacher at Dar Al Kalimeh – Lutheran School. §   Mr. Attalah Danon – Islamic Religious education teacher in Beit Sahour Schools.   b. In Ramallah Schools the following lecturers were involved in the sessions: §   Dr. Barakat Fawzi – an Islamic scholar. §   Fr. Emmanual – Orthodox priest. §   Fr. Aktham hijazeen- Catholic Parish Priest of Ramallah. The students were able to understand the position of the other in the three monotheistic religious, which was summarized through applying three concepts of respect, recognition of the other, strengthening the love and living together, relations among the adherence of the monotheistic religious: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. 4. On the 15th of November 2008   a workshop and fieldtrip was organized in Nabulus for the participants and teachers of the school network to learn from the Christian Muslim experience of this city. Fr. Ibrahim Nairuze- Anglican/ Episcopal Church parish priest of Nablous coordinated the study day. This interfaith workshop trip included debate in which the following speakers gave presentations: §  Dr. Sheigh Ali Sartawi- Dean of Alsharia College at al Najah University in Nabulus and former Minister of Justice, he spoke about the Christian and Muslim relations. §  Fr. Ibrahim Nairuz, gave presentation on the Christian Muslim relations and applications  especially in Nabulus. §  A deep discussion followed the two presentations. At the end of the debate, Dr. Ghazi Abu Shaergh – representative of the Higher Council of Education in Ramallah spoke about the importance of the document of Palestinian Declaration of Independence in strengthening the respect and education for the difference and diversity. At the end of the workshop, a guided tour took place to the various historical and ancient quarters of Nablus in cooperation with the Public Relations department of Nablus municipality.   4. A festive celebration and dinner was held in the AEI school network of Ramallah and Bethlehem in addition to AEI different groups members and Dutch IKV/ PAX Christi group that took place on 22/12/2008 in Bethlehem at the Golden Park Resort and hotel in Beit Sahour. This celebration happened on the following occasions: Christmas, the 60th anniversary of the declaration of the universal document of human rights, Palestinian teacher's day and Al Adha Feast. During this meeting a number of wishes and prayers were read. These were sent by members of the World Council of Churches and Pax Christi sections members in solidarity with the Palestinian people in general and Bethlehem in particular in their struggle and work for peace , justice, freedom and reconciliation .  Fr. Archimandrite Issa Musleh – the Greek Orthodox Church in Jerusalem Media Spokesperson – delivered a speech in which he highlighted the meanings of Christmas and referred to the Bethlehem Christian traditions of   celebrating Christmas with their Muslims. Mr. Abdallah Shakarneh – Director of the Ministry of Education Office in Bethlehem – spoke about the role and mission of the Palestinian teacher under the present difficult political circumstances.  The lawyer Mrs. Scarlette Salman talked about "the 60th anniversary of the Declaration of the Document of the Human Rights" and the present Palestinian sufferings. Mr. Elias Amayah- a teacher at Talita Kumi – Beit Jala- introduced the newly established AEI teachers groups "mission aim and activities". During this inter-religious festive celebration, some cultural artistic and drama performances were held by both the guests of the IKV / PAX Christi and AEI women members of the cultural tourism project.