Building on her successful classes last year, JPB's Sarah Benazera returned to Sharet High School, Netanya in January and February to facilitate workshops on conflict resolution, storytelling, and communication for 10th and 11th graders. During one of the workshops, Sarah connected the topics of conflict transformation and storytelling to her own personal experience of peacebuilding in Rwanda. They explored how the Rwandan genocide and stories about it helped fuel the conflict and how new stories of reconciliation helped transform the conflict. With that as a model, she asked the students to plot the points of their own personal story, explaining that they decide where their stories begin
Sarin Gejekoushian and her Armenian family grew up in the Armenian Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem. Now a student at the Hebrew University, she credits Jerusalem Peacebuilders' summer institutes with giving her life skills and experiences that have shaped her personality. Sarin was a JPB learner twice, first in the Service-Learning Summer Institute in Connecticut and then in the Leadership Institute in Vermont. Thinking back on the experiences at camp, she realizes how they have expanded her ability to be socially engaged and outspoken. She now sees herself as someone who is able to feel comfortable with people across religious and ethnic divides. "I feel more comfortable approaching pe
When it comes to navigating peaceful resolutions in matters of dispute, there is a common belief that any outward demonstration of empathy might ultimately compromise one's bargaining position. The thought is that any sign of compassion or gesture of compromise towards an opponent (be it in a relationship, in a business transaction or in a court of law) might be seen as a sign of weakness. When such displays of the heart are off the table, negotiating issues can be contentious, merciless and unyielding. Marital disputes can become like war zones where the inflexibility of spouses can compromise a sense of peace within the home. In business negotiations, hard-nosed transactions will often dis
As our in-school programs have expanded in Jerusalem through our partnerships with Q-Schools and the Shared Learning program of the Jerusalem Municipality, JPB has also extended its reach in the Galilee area of northern Israel. Over the last few months, our Jerusalem Regional Co-Director, Yardena Prawer, and our Program Director, Jack Karn, have made important in-roads with new schools as well as reinforcing our partnerships with existing ones. During February, Jack led programs and presentations at the Latin Patriarchate School of Reineh, St. Joseph Seminary and School, Nazareth Baptist School, and the Afaq High School. Yardena led multiple sessions at three key schools in Sakhnin and Iksal
