The Boneh program is entering into its last month and we wanted to give you another update on what has been happening.
Since the Pesach chofesh we have had all the national holidays, as described below, but also have been continuing on with general Boneh programming.
The week of Yom Ha’atzmaut was also the week dealing with the British Mandate period, dealing with the rise of the Zionist settlement in Palestine, the development of the different political movements and defense groups in Jewish society, and the relations between the Jews and Arabs here. The siyur (excursion) that week began in Akko at the Underground Prisoners’ Museum, a former Ottoman and British jail where a famous break-out occurred in 1947. Here is a group picture just outside the museum:
The rest of the siyur took place in different Jewish and Arab neighborhoods in the historically mixed city of Haifa, looking both at the way that conflict developed between the population in the Mandate period, and some important examples of cooperation and coexistence.
The next week the Shnatties went on tiyul(hike)! They spent four days hiking and camping in the Golan Heights, one of the most beautiful areas in Israel, going up and down mountains and through waterfalls and streams. Each night they also practiced their field cooking skills, preparing dinner at the campsite, and then slept under the stars. The tiyul was by far a highlight of Boneh and Shnat so far.
Last week was the week dealing with the Arab-Israeli conflict. The seminar classes looked at the major wars between the State of Israel and Arab countries, the evolution of Arab-Israeli relations, the peace process, and also at our responsibility for the future. The Thursday siyur (excursion) went back to Golan, this time doing a tour of the battlefields of this much-contested region in order to understand the wars Israel has fought here in a real way. The tour actually began at the lookout point of Kibbutz Kfar Haruv, in former Syrian territory which sits on the edge of the Golan Heights directly overlooking Ein Gev and the Kinneret
This week we are headed to Jerusalem for four days for a seminar on modern Israeli society and politics. We will be exploring the different places and cultures of the city and meeting with people from all the different sectors of Israel – Jewish and Arab, religious and secular, Ashkenazi and Sephardi – to try and understand how far the country has come, and what challenges it faces today.
