Bridge Over the Wadi

On a morning like any other, Jewish children in the valley of Wadi Ara in Israel wake up, prepare for the day and travel to school.

Unlike many of their peers, however, these students travel into a Muslim town. On the outskirts of Kfar Kara, atop a small hill, sits their elementary school, Bridge Over the Wadi. There they share the classroom with Muslim students.

The schoolhouse is a small one-story building. At its heart lies a large courtyard where students can play together. This courtyard represents the brave mission of Bridge Over the Wadi: inclusivity and the union between two traditionally hostile groups. The school has two co-principals, one Israeli and the other Arab.

Teachers are typically young, energetic, idealistic and hopeful in the promises Bridge Over the Wadi has to offer. Such a balance allows history to be taught from both angles.

In the classroom, children are educated in both Arabic and Hebrew. On May 3, the anniversary of Israel becoming a state, a Jewish third grader sat quietly next to his Arab classmates as he learned of the sadness that several Palestinians experienced that day. The next lesson was devoted to why Jews celebrate May 3.

Traditions of both Islam and Judaism are taught. Holidays are celebrated and shared. Differences in culture are not dismissed for the sake of unity but rather embraced as means by which to grow and learn. Bridge Over the Wadi is not without its challenges. Clashes sometimes occur and animosities are often unearthed.

Moni, a Jewish mother, took her child out of the school because he was taught a Muslim prayer. But as is evident in a PBS World Channel documentary, such tensions are less relevant to the students than their parents. To them it is just school – not, as the New York Times puts it, “a grand cultural project.”

So what are we to gain from this story? As overly sentimental as it might sound, Bridge Over the Wadi reminds us that in the face of a decades-old conflict, religious differences and dangerous animosity, there is always common ground. Founders, parents and students of the school have the audacity to believe that perhaps a conflict is not solved by perpetuating hatred and violence.

On the other side of the same coin, it must be recognized that regardless of political or religious identity, we are all equally capable of inhumanity. A conflict and indeed life itself cannot be reduced to an intractable battle between good and evil. Both innocent Palestinians and Israelis have perished in the fighting.

Israeli history is filled with the horrific deaths of their citizens due to the misguided attacks of Palestinian bombers. Palestinians have often suffered the destruction of their homes.

In order to solve these seemingly intractable conflicts, it will require a balanced perspective that does not trivialize the distress that both sides are subject to.

Bridge Over the Wadi could be the first step in providing us with such a resolution.