In the shadow of the pogrom that took place in the Palestinian village of Huwara at the hands of Jewish settlers, we held our annual Simulation of Peace Talks with the EMIS students.
In the morning of the simulation, the facilitators held conversations with students about their feelings and thoughts on the ongoing events. These devastating events had a direct link to the focal issues discussed during the Peace Talks. We then continued with the planned activities that were meant to educate the future generation on such issues and hopefully create a more tolerant and understanding future.
Every February, the Charney Resolution Center assists EMIS students in learning more about the conflict in the Middle Eastern region. The highlight of the activity is the Peace Simulation based on the development of Dr. Sapir Handelman.
This year the CRC also had a joint collaboration with EMIS by combining the preparation of our Peace Simulation and EMIS's annual Mission Week. The prep-days included lectures, groups activities, enlightening workshops and tools of expression like music, theatre, and art for the students.
On the actual simulation days, the students started with a talk with Dr. Yuval Benziman (Israeli) and Ms. Dima Arkan (Palestinian) who were among our experts on the conflict . The students were actively engaged in the conversations and could each inquire about the conflict in general, and about the Areas of Disputes that they would be discussing the next day in their smaller groups. The talk focused a lot on trust between the two sides - how it has been broken over the years and how it can be rebuilt. Yuval and Dima found it a crucial topic because both believed that a solution cannot be reached without trust between the two sides.
After this talk, the students split into their groups where they discussed what they learnt and what ways to rebuild trust. Dima and Yuval joined them again the next day to go around their negotiations and share their knowledge. The students finished their day with a stress-relieving stand-up comedy show by Noam Shuster, who grew up in the only equal community with both Israelis and Palestinians in the country, Neve Shalom.
On the day of the Simulation the negotiations were run by student facilitators, the senior students of EMIS, who participated in the Peace Simulation in previous years. By the end of the day, each group prepared a summary of the solutions they came up with as well as what they disagreed on. Each group was required to present the summary of what they discussed in a creative way. This made the process much more creative, fun, and engaging for everyone.
Right before the presentation of the solution the students had a nice break from the discussions and enjoyed a game of treasure hunt organized by the Peace Simulation leaders. To wrap up the event, we welcomed back former US ambassador to Israel, Dan Shapiro who carefully listened to each groups’ solution and added his comments on the feasibility and creativity of their solutions.
Overall, the simulation was a huge success, even though the current reality is anything but. The vast majority of students said that they have learnt something new about the Israeli Palestinian conflict. Some even mentioned that they have changed their views on the conflict, from a simple two sided - conflict to a multi-dimensional issue that needs understanding. We appreciated the help from the lecturers who constantly gave information and assistance during our negotiation processes. Unfortunately, some students also raised their concerns about biases in the given information. Therefore, we had our facilitators and experts share their personal perspectives, so the students can hear as many sides of the issue as possible. This we hope to expand on in the upcoming years.
To conclude, the 2023 Peace Simulation was again quite an impactful event for the students. This is thanks to all the facilitators, lecturers, experts, and the Charney Resolution Center who organized the event and allowed EMIS students to have such a meaningful event once again.
~ Noa Dar and Shammah Kiunsi