Wow wow wow, I have no specific words to describe two of the most spectacular days I have ever had in my life,” wrote Eman Darawshe, English Language coordinator at Iksal High School on her FaceBook page. Her eleventh-grade grade Muslim students met with Jewish students from Afula for a two-day intensive negotiation workshop facilitated by NGO Pathways. The program uses Harvard Law School’s Program on Negotiation (PON) methodology, specifically designed to teach over 400 eleventh-grade students from 16 high schools around the country. The workshop pairs together schools from different communities, whose students learn basic negotiation skills by participating in simulations and exercises to reinforce these life skills. This unique program opens up new lines of communication between Arab and Jewish youth who seldom have the opportunity to meet one another by providing a platform to break down stereotypes and prejudice and explore areas of mutual respect, tolerance and understanding.
