Hand in Hand: A Unique Educational Reality in Israel.

"I love this school because Jews and Arabs study here and everybody accepts the other ... "

"I like this school because we are Arabs and Jews ..."
"This school is very special is not like other schools"

"It is very important to make peace between the three religions"

"We are all Muslims ..."

It is the students themselves, with their spontaneity and their camaraderie, who witness to the success of "Hand in Hand", a truly special school composed of Arab and Jewish students who speak and study in both languages. It is a far cry from the obvious in Israel, and in Jerusalem in particular, where there is a completely separate education system for each population, and where both Arab and Jewish communities are accustomed to living in separate worlds, perhaps neighbors by necessity but never a part of each other's lives.

Ira Kerem: "What we try to show is that there is an opportunity to have peace ... too many people do not believe that Arabs and Jews can live together in peace. But here we demonstrate every day that you can ... "

Half of the students are half Jewish and half Arab (Muslims and Christians). For every position of responsibility in the school, there are two figures, representing the two spirits of the community: two principals, and two teachers for every class. It is a model of bilingual education that translates into an entirely revolutionary educational system: learning both Arabic and Hebrew, the language becomes a precious means of contact between the two cultures, a gateway to knowledge of the history and religions of their respective peoples, as a teacher of religious culture explained to us.

Merav Ron Pertstein: "We are a Jewish and a Muslim teacher and we have students from the three religions, Christians, Jews and Muslims; we teach the different topics of the three religions and try to show that they have many ideas in common ...
We are two teachers and we teach every subject in Hebrew and Arabic. Many of them grew up here from nursery school ... and certainly they come from families who believe in the idea of coexistence shown in this school. "

There are three other schools in Israel like this: in Upper Galilee at Misgav, in Bersheva and in the Arab village of Wadi Ara, with a total of 900 students. Next year the first cycle of studies in the history of Hand in Hand will be completed in Jerusalem. It is a concrete means for an education of coexistence- Even if the Hand in Hand school in Israel is the only one of its kind.

Raffaela Corrias: "The objection is often made towards the School's uniqueness, but we want to continue to hope that we can spread this model ... it takes patience and little by little to think about a different society, not only a different educational system ... "

The development of multicultural curriculum and the double number of personnel carries with it double costs. For this, the Hand in Hand Schools, which are recognized by the Israeli Ministry of Education, also live depend on funds from local and international …