Young people are busy trying to define themselves: As an individual, as part of a larger peer group, in school... The time of junior-high and high-school is a critical age, as the adolescent approaches the final stage of his socialisation. Whatever experiences are made now, they will leave a deep imprint with the youngsters and define their world view to a very large extent. For us this means, it will be the last chance to expose them to experiences that define their view of the world.

In this pillar we established a method that enables us to provide youngsters with such an experience and to give them the chance to challenge what they think they already know: About themselves, „the  other“, their land and the conflict. Especially we want to provide an alternative view to what is being taught in school, media and by many parents. We want to provide an alternative view regarding reality and provide ultimately a different vision for the future.

Most importantly for such a method is the organisation of face-to-face encounters: Mixed activities between Jews and Arabs which are rare within the normal framework of school or sports activities. These activities are meant to „open up“ the participants for a broader, more multifaceted view of „the other“ and his everyday reality and to enable him to communicate and cooperate in order to create a better future together.

Gesher leKesher is being organised by two youth groups: The Jewish Hashomer Hatzair movement and the Arab group Ajiyal. Both groups jointly organize a series of monocommunal and bicommunal training and encounter programs over the course of the school-year. Their content ranges from smaller group-meetings to large bicommunal camps, from fun oriented activities to theoretical units designed to process these experiences. The participants, as well as their facilitators, go through a intense process of meaningful encounters and examinations. Most importantly, they not only examine their partners from the other side, the also, very thoroughly examine themselves, their identities and own belief-systems. At the end stands the awareness that reality is far from clear cut (as opposed to widely and dearly held beliefs – especially in politics and main-stream media). It is the realization that „the others“ are not a monolithic block but rather a complex group, a society comprised of a whole world of individuals, their ideas, fears and hopes. Ultimately it is the realisation that dialogue, co-existence and even good relationships as neighbours are possible and not the fairy-tales of some do-gooders. All one has to do is to be able to open oneself, to question generation-old stereotypes and world-views. All one has to want is to change reality and shape a common future.