Harmonious World: Unifying Jewish and Palestinian People in Israel’s Oasis of Peace

Located between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, this community of 350 residents is the only village in Israel where Jewish and Palestinian people have intentionally chosen to live together. The Oasis of Peace was established in the 1970s by the Reverend Father Bruno Hussar, a Christian Monk of the Dominican Order. The primary school at Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom is the first binational and bilingual school in Israel. Jewish and Palestinian children learn to speak each other’s languages and take lessons in both Hebrew and Arabic. “Our primary school includes 320 kids. They are coming from 19 different villages, not only from Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom.” One of the fundamental principles taught at the Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom Primary School is democracy.

In November 2023, two friends from the Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom Primary School, Ahava Raviv of Jewish descent and Aya Daadleh of Palestinian descent, were asked, “Is there something you want to tell the children in Gaza and Israel and maybe to the parents when they get angry with the ‘other side?’” “Believe in peace.” “Know that peace will win. And take care of yourselves.” “Please take care and believe in the end everything will be okay.” “A little change creates a big change.”

The School for Peace is a Jewish-Palestinian educational institution to promote broad-scale change toward peaceful and egalitarian relations between the two peoples. To date, it is estimated that over 65,000 Jewish and Palestinian people from professional fields such as politics, media, education, environmentalism, mental health services, and more have taken part in the programs. Nava Sonnenschein, the founder of the School of Peace, and one of the first to live in Wahat al-Salam – Neve Shalom, offers insight into how the school is shaping the future of Jewish and Palestinian relations. “People who live here and people who graduated (from) our programs, they have this ability, and it’s a rare ability today, to see the complexity, to see both sides, to feel empathy.”