Doha partage avec nous son incroyable expérience au programme d'été UWC organisé en Israël.
APPLY!!
http://www.em-is.org/arava-summer-program/apply-now/
It started from nothing. “There is a place for a Moroccan for the UWC Short Course in Israel, we got scholarships, and we can get visas”. Then, I looked a bit more closely to this random announcement. Three weeks, 40 young people from 16 to 18 years old, 22 nationalities, 6 destinations, one motto “Environmental Leadership and Cultural Bridge for Peace and Conflict Resolution”, one course: the Arava Valley of Peace. This initial situation was the starting point of an experience that I can call “metanoic”- deeply transformative. At that time, I made the quick decision to jump.
Later on, I packed my bag and left the 5th of August without knowing what to expect, picked my Israeli visa in Istanbul and rushed to Tel Aviv. I was going to miss two weeks of campus life in UWC India for this supposedly unique experience. I sacrificed a learning experience for another -- I don’t regret it one second today. You’ll understand why.
Instead of telling boring stories that will require too much effort to remember, I’ll just share what is still boiling in my mind, affecting me in some way. My usual overflow of energy and my thirst for discovery made me enjoy moving from an environment to the other with short intervals. I arrived to Israel and never settled more than 4 days at the same place: 2 nights in Ein Geidi near the Dead Sea, a night in the middle of the Negev desert, 3 nights in a community village named Sde Boker, 2 nights next to the Ramon crater (or one of the most breathtaking place on earth), 3 nights in Kibbutz Lotan (or an almost perfectly sustainable place to live in), 4 nights the Green Village next to the leftist artistically developed Tel Aviv. Finally, 3 nights in the splendid, simultaneously holy and troubling Jerusalem…
I had the chance to put myself self in the leading position for a compassionate listening workshop. I’ve trusted the people around me and shared the impact of a conflict in my life. The same people had to reflect back at me the facts, the emotions and the values that they understood from my story. I was literally shivering, shaken emotionally. I was surprised to see how connected I felt to the group, how the group could read behind my lines, how easy it was to build trust.
I had the chance to watch an astonishing sunrise in the Ramon crater, at the top of a mountain. The wind in this area of the world creates a dense courant of clouds falling from that same mountain. Nature. God.
The last days of the course were the most significant to me. My first encounter with Jerusalem commenced with the visit of the Holocaust museum. The ingenious architecture of that place, the emotions it evoked as well as the subtle political implications of the whole experience stroked me. Jerusalem was also a spiritual journey. I was amazed by the diverse religious and historical presence of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs, Jews: all living in the same city, but far from living together. In a certain way, the city is culturally rich and enriching. If you look a little bit more closely to it and if you are aware, awake, this becomes another type of experience. As I wandered in the streets of the Holy city, I thought about what my Palestinian friend said during one of the lectures we had: “why having a holy city when it is empty from holy people?” Whereas only “details” reveal that the conflict exists in Israel, everything depicts its presence and its violence in Jerusalem: the occupation of land, the over-identification to nationality, the separation, the apartheid? It saddened me deeply. Images come and go now in my mind today: the provocative settlement decorated with six Israeli flags in the middle of the Muslim quarter, the superposition of Al Quds and the Western Wall, the hateful look of the security guard who told me I wasn’t “covered enough” in the Aqsa mosque, a Jewish young guy splitting on his Palestinian fellow, the Jewish quarter and the violent opposition of these two cultures that could once coexist. These images are etched on my memory. I even cried once or twice.
In only three weeks, I luckily realized that change is not always and only about politics. It is about the people coming together, understanding each other and building permanent bonds. Politics weren’t our main focus during the course, friendship was. Thanks to that, I made friends in that bubble of people. The bubble meant for me what peace could potentially look like or feel like. I’ve been inspired by a friend who made a decision to go against the deeply rooted system of the Israeli military service, by the coordinator of the course who put an eight month of good-hearted effort to make this camp happen, by the passionate bird expert, by the deadly dangerous scorpions and the astonishing biodiversity, by each tutor and participant, by the lectures, workshops, by the holy places, natural beauties. I inspired people, made best friends for sure and almost died laughing. I had deep discussions that made me go mad, that confused me and made me question things, all the things on Earth.
What more did I take with me from the Arava Valley of Peace apart from forty five new friends? In a few words: I brought the delicious and famous Halva, a future organic toilets project from the Kibbutz Lotan, and awareness of my ecological footprint. Along the way, I gained more confusion hand in hand with more understanding of the Palestinian Israeli conflict. I got with me tools for a particular kind of leadership: “caring, asking, grouping, acting”. Today, I have energy and confidence which allow me to write this article. Brought all the way from the Arava Valley of Peace, today I have ambitions for maybe spending sometime in a Kibbutz, for being a tutor next year in the same summer course, for studying in Jerusalem but more importantly for integrating furthermore compassion in my being and for striving towards more fairness in the world.
Namaste, Salam, Shalom
Doha, Second year student in UWC Mahindra College – September 2013
APPLY!!
http://www.em-is.org/arava-summer-program/apply-now/
Later on, I packed my bag and left the 5th of August without knowing what to expect, picked my Israeli visa in Istanbul and rushed to Tel Aviv. I was going to miss two weeks of campus life in UWC India for this supposedly unique experience. I sacrificed a learning experience for another -- I don’t regret it one second today. You’ll understand why.
Instead of telling boring stories that will require too much effort to remember, I’ll just share what is still boiling in my mind, affecting me in some way. My usual overflow of energy and my thirst for discovery made me enjoy moving from an environment to the other with short intervals. I arrived to Israel and never settled more than 4 days at the same place: 2 nights in Ein Geidi near the Dead Sea, a night in the middle of the Negev desert, 3 nights in a community village named Sde Boker, 2 nights next to the Ramon crater (or one of the most breathtaking place on earth), 3 nights in Kibbutz Lotan (or an almost perfectly sustainable place to live in), 4 nights the Green Village next to the leftist artistically developed Tel Aviv. Finally, 3 nights in the splendid, simultaneously holy and troubling Jerusalem…
I had the chance to put myself self in the leading position for a compassionate listening workshop. I’ve trusted the people around me and shared the impact of a conflict in my life. The same people had to reflect back at me the facts, the emotions and the values that they understood from my story. I was literally shivering, shaken emotionally. I was surprised to see how connected I felt to the group, how the group could read behind my lines, how easy it was to build trust.
I had the chance to watch an astonishing sunrise in the Ramon crater, at the top of a mountain. The wind in this area of the world creates a dense courant of clouds falling from that same mountain. Nature. God.
The last days of the course were the most significant to me. My first encounter with Jerusalem commenced with the visit of the Holocaust museum. The ingenious architecture of that place, the emotions it evoked as well as the subtle political implications of the whole experience stroked me. Jerusalem was also a spiritual journey. I was amazed by the diverse religious and historical presence of Islam, Christianity and Judaism. Christian Arabs, Muslim Arabs, Jews: all living in the same city, but far from living together. In a certain way, the city is culturally rich and enriching. If you look a little bit more closely to it and if you are aware, awake, this becomes another type of experience. As I wandered in the streets of the Holy city, I thought about what my Palestinian friend said during one of the lectures we had: “why having a holy city when it is empty from holy people?” Whereas only “details” reveal that the conflict exists in Israel, everything depicts its presence and its violence in Jerusalem: the occupation of land, the over-identification to nationality, the separation, the apartheid? It saddened me deeply. Images come and go now in my mind today: the provocative settlement decorated with six Israeli flags in the middle of the Muslim quarter, the superposition of Al Quds and the Western Wall, the hateful look of the security guard who told me I wasn’t “covered enough” in the Aqsa mosque, a Jewish young guy splitting on his Palestinian fellow, the Jewish quarter and the violent opposition of these two cultures that could once coexist. These images are etched on my memory. I even cried once or twice.
In only three weeks, I luckily realized that change is not always and only about politics. It is about the people coming together, understanding each other and building permanent bonds. Politics weren’t our main focus during the course, friendship was. Thanks to that, I made friends in that bubble of people. The bubble meant for me what peace could potentially look like or feel like. I’ve been inspired by a friend who made a decision to go against the deeply rooted system of the Israeli military service, by the coordinator of the course who put an eight month of good-hearted effort to make this camp happen, by the passionate bird expert, by the deadly dangerous scorpions and the astonishing biodiversity, by each tutor and participant, by the lectures, workshops, by the holy places, natural beauties. I inspired people, made best friends for sure and almost died laughing. I had deep discussions that made me go mad, that confused me and made me question things, all the things on Earth.
What more did I take with me from the Arava Valley of Peace apart from forty five new friends? In a few words: I brought the delicious and famous Halva, a future organic toilets project from the Kibbutz Lotan, and awareness of my ecological footprint. Along the way, I gained more confusion hand in hand with more understanding of the Palestinian Israeli conflict. I got with me tools for a particular kind of leadership: “caring, asking, grouping, acting”. Today, I have energy and confidence which allow me to write this article. Brought all the way from the Arava Valley of Peace, today I have ambitions for maybe spending sometime in a Kibbutz, for being a tutor next year in the same summer course, for studying in Jerusalem but more importantly for integrating furthermore compassion in my being and for striving towards more fairness in the world.
Namaste, Salam, Shalom
Doha, Second year student in UWC Mahindra College – September 2013
Ton article est tellement touchant que même en ayant jamais vécu l’expérience UWC, on ressent tout ce qu'elle a pu t'apporter . Merci beaucoup de prendre le temps de partager tes expériences qui donnent tellement envie de faire partie de ce mouvement.
RépondreSupprimervotre uwc maroc envoie des eleves en israel??! est ce qu'ils cautionnent les actes criminels d'israel?
RépondreSupprimerMon Dieu c'est magnifique ce que tu as pu vivre là bas comme expérience. On la sent, cette passion et cette énergie que tu nous as fais parvenir, et ça fait vibrer, faut-il dire. Bonne chance pour la suite, Doha !
RépondreSupprimerBonjour
RépondreSupprimerIl s'agit d'un programme d'ete organisé par UWC Israel. UWC Maroc "n'envoie" personne puisque les personnes intéressées postulent directement sans passer par le comité de sélection marocain.
Le principe de rassembler des jeunes en ce lieu est justement de pouvoir dépasser le conflit et de donner les outils à la génération de demain pour trouver ensemble des solutions. Les UWC sont des lieux d'inclusion et d'apprentissage, des palestiniens et des israéliens y apprennent à se côtoyer et à s'apprécier, au delà des considérations politiques. C'est ce qui fait toute la richesse de cette expérience, et c'est ce qui transparait du témoignage de Doha.
UWC Maroc ne cautionne que l'accès à l'apprentissage et notre but en publiant ce témoignage est seulement de faire connaitre cette opportunité et ce qu'elle pourrait apporter d'un point de vue individuel, sans promouvoir ni encourager des actions politiques quelles qu'elles soient.