Peace Child Israel  -  Mission Statement

Peace Child Israel was founded and operates to promote peace and equality between Arab and Jewish citizens in Israel, using theatre to promote coexistence among young people. Our program aims to achieve the following objectives:

• Creating acquaintances, friendly relations with, and mutual respect for, the youth of the other people;

• Education towards democracy as a way of life for all citizens of the country, encouragement and strengthening of the willingness to accept the views of the other, and to respect them, even in disagreement. Development of tolerance and empathy towards the other;

• Education towards equal rights for both peoples, while maintaining the unique identity of both;

•  Educations towards changing reality through peaceful means

• Involvement, as much as possible, of the parents and community at-large in the process and in adoption of the organization’s objectives.

Process

Peace Child Israel works nationwide.  Each workshop site is comprised of 20-30 teenagers from the 9^th and 10^th grades from neighboring Arab and Jewish schools.  Each group is co-facilitated by two professionals, Arab and Jew, one with a background in theatre and the other in group-facilitation and social work.  Preparation for the multi-cultural encounter is facilitated by 4 unilateral meetings with each partnering group of teenagers.  A team-building seminar of three days is provided after the first binational  meeting..  Peace Child Israel evaluates its curriculum annually and promises the highest level of field work, delivery and standards maintenance, which  are supported by a full-time operations manager, pedagogical director and theatre consultants.   Binational meetings taking place in both the Arab and the Jewish school continue weekly until the playwriting and rehearsal begins.

Workshop participants are treated to the visits of guest artists in the field of pantomime, vocal production, circus & juggling games, dance and movement.  Their communication skills, as they develop in the teen years, are greatly influenced by participation in the program. Also included are two national  field-trips where the teenagers get to meet their counterparts from around the country and feel that they are part of a movement for peace-building.

 Play & Performance

Each workshop develops an original bi-lingual play based on he teens’ experiences during the 8 months of meetings.  It is performed  first at a noon-time dress-rehearsal for students from the two participating schools and then at an evening “gala”  performance for family, friends and the community at-large, usually addressed by members of the pairing municipalities and regional councils and school principals.  An after-show celebration, to which families bring authentic foods, salutes the teenagers in their efforts. In the second year, these  "Leadership Troupes" continue their activity by performing their plays for student audiences once a month, reaching thousands of junior high school students around the country. Productions at schools include a post-performance discussion with the audience designed by the actors themselves Their group process also continues with a Second Year  Curriculum.

 Parents and Professors