For nearly 50 years Arabs have been learning Hebrew and Jews have been learning Arabic at Ulpan Akiva which has won the UNESCO Peace Prize,
to be awarded in Paris in December 1998.
by Simon Griver
Shulamit Katznelson, who founded the school in 1951, puts Ulpan Akiva's activities into modest perspective. "We are perhaps naive in trying to approach the problems of the region in this way," she observes. "But we believe that the firm foundations necessary to build and consolidate peace can only come about through person-to-person contacts and the ability of each side to speak the other's language."
Ulpan Akiva has indeed helped lay the foundations for an Arab-Jewish dialogue. "There is an atmosphere of tolerance here," she states. "And many of the Jews and Arabs who meet each other during the courses stay in touch afterwards." The students at Ulpan Akiva at any one time are Arabs from Israel and neighboring countries learning Hebrew, Jews from the Diaspora, also learning Hebrew, and Israelis studying Arabic. The school, which rapidly teaches adults basic language skills, has taught an estimated 70,000 students since opening its doors. Those who have attended the six-week live-in courses at the former hotel complex in Netanya, a city north of Tel Aviv on the Mediterranean coast, include leading figures from both Israel's Jewish and Arab communities as well as Palestinians, Jordanians and Egyptians. One former pupil from the Gaza Strip even set up her own Hebrew ulpan in Gaza.
Ms. Katznelson, who was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991, recently retired and was replaced by Ephraim Lapid as director of the ulpan. A former Brigadier General in the Israel Defense Forces, Lapid has always emphasized the importance of dialogue between Jews and Arabs and the importance of making the effort to understand each other's cultures as well as languages. He speaks Arabic and holds a degree in Middle Eastern Studies from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Ulpan Akiva's philosophy is that language is inextricably linked with culture. Of the five hours of lessons each day in Hebrew, one hour is spent learning about Judaism and Jewish history, and the history of the State of Israel. Likewise, the course in Arabic includes background information about Islam and Arab history as well as visits to Arab villages.
"I think the Israeli education systems must place greater emphasis on the teaching of Arabic," says Yossi from Haifa who recently received a degree in computer science from Tel Aviv University. "Knowledge of Arabic is essential for Israelis if we want to cement the peace process. The politicians can only achieve so much. The people must do the rest." Jamal, a 25 year-old engineer from Amman, Jordan, who has come to Israel to learn Hebrew, concurs. "We are neighbors," he stresses. "Through each other's language we can come to respect one another."
Ulpan Akiva's activities are directed towards mutual understanding. With this in mind the school has in recent years placed increasing emphasis on bridging the rifts within Israeli society. Weekend meetings, which include seminars and lectures aimed at enabling each group to understand the culture and values of the other, are arranged between orthodox and secular Israelis.
Ulpan Akiva also offers seminars on leading Jewish thinkers such as former Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. These seminars have attracted secular, orthodox and ultra-orthodox Jews as well as Christian and Moslem religious figures.
Over the past decade, with a massive wave of nearly 800,000 Jewish immigrants from the former Soviet Union, Ulpan Akiva has run evening courses in Hebrew for newcomers. The curriculum for new immigrants includes meeting with veteran Israelis.
But the principal goal of Ulpan Akiva remains the promotion of co-existence between Jew and Arab. Both Ephraim Lapid and Shulamit Katznelson dream of teaching Hebrew to Arabs from Syria in Ulpan Akiva, after a comprehensive Middle East peace treaty has been concluded.