The Dialogue Project: A Better Peacebuilding Paradigm
On Thursday, March 31, 2022, Dr. David Lehrer, the Israel Institute Postdoctoral Teaching Fellow at the Elie Wiesel Center, moderated the Arava Institute Alumni Panel titled “Nature Knows No Borders: Israelis and Palestinians Living and Working Together to Protect the Environment” in person at the Elie Wiesel Center, where he was joined virtually on Zoom by two Arava Institute Alumni Odeliya Matter and Mohammad Azraq, who shared stories of how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has personally affected them and how their perspective shifted and empathy for ‘the other’ grew. In their conversation with Dr. Lehrer, Odeliya and Mohammad shared what they learned about cooperation around mutual goals while studying at the Arava Institute, including the importance of open, respectful, and transformative dialogue.
The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies brings Jewish, Arab, and international students together to study the region’s environment and build trust. Students also participate in the Institute’s internationally acclaimed Peace-building Leadership Seminar, which teaches them consensus-building skills, models of conflict transformation, and how to listen to and engage with other narratives thoughtfully. The Dialogue Project held this year at the Elie Wiesel Center for Jewish Studies aims to bring this message of peace to college campuses and communities in the U.S. and provides, in the process, college students with a rare insight into the Middle East and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
To learn more about the Institute’s work, you can visit The Arava Institute for Environmental Studies’ website or contact the CEO of Friends of the Arava Institute, Miriam May, at miriam@friendsofarava.org.