A lesson in cross-border cooperation
Arava Institute brings together Israelis, Palestinians and Jordanians
When Shadi Shiha arrived at the Israeli-Jordanian border and saw the armed Israeli soldiers and the Israeli flag, he almost turned around and went home.
“I really panicked,” he says with a laugh. “I had seen cops in Jordan, but they don’t have rifles. I thought I was walking into a war zone with tanks and guns.”
It had been tough enough to convince his family to let him come to school in Israel. They worried about his safety, and even before the latest tensions between Israel and Jordan, many Jordanians opposed contact with Israel. The Jordanian Intelligence Service even called him in for a meeting and asked him why he was going to Israel.
That was almost a year ago. Shiha, who is also a serious break-dancer, spent two semesters at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura in southern Israel and says it changed his world view.
“I didn’t know there was any place that Palestinians and Israelis actually live together and they are just friends,” he says. “I went to Haifa and they live together like it’s nothing. I also went to Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank and it was terrible how people lived.”
The Arava Institute, affiliated with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, offers accredited programs for both undergraduates and graduate students. Some come for a semester, others for a full year. The idea is to study environmental issues from a cross-border and trans-boundary perspective.
The program is small, offering opportunities for environmental research and one-on-one contact with professors.
“For 20 years, the institute has advanced cross-border environmental cooperation in the face of political conflict through our academic program that brings together Israelis, Palestinians, Jordanians and international students,” says executive director David Lehrer. “Through our research programs in water, energy, sustainable agriculture, conservation and international development, after 20 years we have over 1,000 alumni all over world.”
Courses range from Water Management in the Middle East to Environmental Mediation and Conflict Resolution to The Bible as a Key to Environmental Thought. The student population is usually one-third Israeli, one-third Arab – which includes Jordanians, Palestinians and Arab citizens of Israel – and onethird international, mostly from the US.
Palestinian students have continued to attend despite growing “anti-normalization,” a movement that eschews any Israeli-Palestinian public cooperation until there is progress in peace negotiations. But Lehrer says it has become harder to convince Jordanian students to attend, as the public mood in Jordan against Israel has intensified.
“I wanted to know more about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” Shiha says. “I heard everything from the media and the media makes it look really bad. I came here to meet some Israelis and some Jews because I never met them before. From the media, it looked like they were always killing and shooting Arabs.”
The Arava Institute is located in Kibbutz Ketura, a pluralistic kibbutz founded in 1973 by Americans affiliated with the Young Judea youth movement. Today, there are more than 500 Israelis living there, with businesses ranging from growing dates to cultivating red algae for cosmetics to a special orchard for medicinal plants.
Students live in dorms on the kibbutz, eat their meals in the kibbutz dining hall and are welcome to attend various kibbutz events, including religious celebrations and weddings. There is also an Olympic-sized swimming pool, which helps beat the desert heat.
Like many study abroad programs, tuition isn’t cheap. While Palestinians and Jordanians receive full scholarships, native Israelis pay about $2,000 a semester and North Americans $9,000 a semester, including room and board.
Yonatan Abramsky, an Israeli student, recently finished his compulsory military service.
“I always liked environmental issues and sustainable living,” he says. “I was into finding a community in the desert and I heard of this place and checked it out. It was amazing.”
Dallal, a Palestinian woman who asked not to give her last name, has already completed a BA degree from Bir Zeit University.
“I didn’t think I would enjoy it as much as I do,” she says. “I can say whatever I want to say, and do whatever I want. I’m presenting just myself regardless of my background and family. I’m less stressed than I am in the West Bank.”
She said her mother didn’t want her to leave the West Bank, but for more traditional reasons not having to do with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“It’s because I’m a girl and I have a certain role – I’m supposed to get married and have kids, not to travel,” she explains.
The institute recently celebrated its 20th year, and as part of the celebration, launched the Arava Alumni Innovation Program, which gives seed money grants to teams of alumni to support initiatives for sustainability and peaceful relations across borders. Eligible teams must comprise at least two nationalities: Israeli/Palestinian or Israeli/Jordanian or Palestinian/Jordanian.
Since completing his studies, Shiha has returned to Amman and has opened a business with two friends: a car wash and wax that does not use water. In the fall, he’ll be touring US college campuses as part of a recruiting trip for the Arava Institute. STUDENTS FROM the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies at Kibbutz Ketura take a break between classes.