The Yad Veyad association was set up with the aim of advancing the cause of Jewish and Arab cooperation in the area of education by establishing frameworks for bilingual, binational, and multicultural education.
Today, there are four bilingual schools in Israel: in Jerusalem, in the Galillee, in Kfar Kara (an Arab village in northern Israel), and this year saw the inauguration of a school in Beer Sheva, where there are 2 pre-scholar groups. These schools are recognized by the Ministry of Education as State schools.
In these schools, Jewish and Arab children meet, learn in the same classroom, play together in the same yard, and develop friendships. In this sort of environment, fears and misunderstandings give place to tolerance toward each other.
Language isn't only a vehicle for mutual communication, but is also a fundamental building block of every person's culture. The goal is for each child to develop his learning, writing and expressing himself at a level no lower than his mother's tongue.
The children in the classrooms can speak any language they choose.
Operating costs are covered by state funding, parents paying tuition, donations through fund raising by the Yad Veyad association and other groups raise money too.
In Jerusalem the school is supported by the Jerusalem Fund. In October 2007, the school moved to a new building. The new school stands in a symbolic location between a Jewish neighborhood and an Arab neighborhood.
Shachaf
Shachaf started learning in the bilingual school in Jerusalem during pre-school. Now she's in her third year at the school as a first grader.Inbal, her mother, tells The Epoch Times : "Shachaf now speaks Arabic with the right accent and also reads and writes in Arabic. She's got many Arab friends from Bait Tzafafa and she visits them often. She's exposed not only to the Arabic language, but also to the culture, the dress and to the 'otherness,' and learns to accept this 'otherness.'"
Inbal feels that with more exposure to Arab society, Shachaf has become more tolerant in her life overall. She's open to everyone she meets, be it disabled children or people from other ethnic groups.
Inbal and her family live in Pisgat Zeev and the distance to the school doesn't frighten her. "The effort is well worth it," she says.
"It was important for us that Shachaf understood Jews and Arabs can live together, and today it's the most natural thing for her."
In the classroom there's due consideration to each child's level, Inbal says. "In the classroom there are 29 children and two teachers. Shachaf came into the classroom already knowing reading and writing and she gets worksheets according to her level."
The bilingual school in Kfar Kara, called the "Bridge Over the Wadi" school, has set a historic precedent. For the first time since the establishment of the State of Israel, Jewish children study in a school situated in an Arab village.
The atmosphere is pleasant, the well-kept yard is surrounded by arches made of stone which serve as entrances to the building and its classrooms. On the concrete fence surrounding the yard there's a drawing of a yellow bird symbolizing the peace dove.
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