“Our graduates wanted to continue their connection to their old Hand in Hand school through Play for Peace, working with younger kids. In the Play for Peace program they received facilitation tools which gave them the ability to go on to their new schools, share their experiences, and talk about what a cooperative society can be.” - Aura Hammer, Play for Peace trainer
It’s often hard to see beyond the headlines from Israel and the Palestinian Territories. But Play for Peace and its partners offer powerful proof of the hard work being done there toward peaceful co-existence and cooperation. According to Craig Dobkin, co-founder of Play for Peace, significant effort has been underway at the local level for over 10 years, in places where Jews and Arabs live near such as Jerusalem, Galilee, the West Bank, and Haifa. Originally partnering with the YMCA, Play for Peace now partners with Hand in Hand, a highly regarded network of Jewish-Arab integrated bilingual schools. Here young people in areas of conflict are trained to promote friendship and become peacebuilders.
The impact of the Play for Peace model in these schools has been felt far beyond the classroom. Families and communities have benefited too But the work always presents unexpected challenges. According to Aura Hammer, a Play for Peace trainer from Israel, “Our graduates wanted to continue their connection to their old Hand in Hand school through Play for Peace, working with younger kids.” Aura and her colleague Silvia Margia, a Christian Arab Play for Peace trainer, launched a program where they received facilitation tools that gave them the ability to go on to their new schools, share their experiences, and talk about what a cooperative society can be. The training has been successful and the 8th graders will now work as counselors in the school summer camps, using their Play for Peace skills. The school is planning to expand the collaboration with Play for Peace to other Hand-in-hand schools around the country. We’ll be reporting back soon on further developments from this region.
