Word: springer
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
After two days of camp, other counselors also sensed tension between the Jewish and Palestinian campers, and planned separate meetings for the two groups to air their grievances. Springer led the group of Jewish campers, while his Palestinian co-counselor led the Palestinian group. Springer asked his group, "What do you think of Arabs?" He received answers like, "They're dangerous," "I wouldn't trust them," and "Why do they have to stay in my country...
...girl came up to me afterward and said, 'I hate our Arab co-counselor--I want to stab her.'" Springer remembers. She didn't show these feelings at all when she was with the counselor. And I remember thinking that the best thing for her would be to have genuine interaction with the Palestinian counselor...
...Springer and other counselors led an exercise in which Jews acted out the PLO and Palestinians acted out the Israeli army. The goal of the exercise was to teach the campers the opposing point of view...
...Palestinian kids, the Isreali army was guns, everywhere you go. To the Jewish kids, it was what everyone serves in. And to the Jews, Yassir Arafat was a terrorist. To the Palestinians, he was president. When he reflects on the camp, Springer is ambivalent. "If they gained anything, it was because they were thrown together as friends. But to me it seemed more important to solve the political situation...how much could the camp do when the cousins of these kids were throwing rocks at each other across the green line...
...work at the human rights organization completed Springer's education. He spent time in the West bank, visiting the wives of men who were about to be deported. He tired to interview psychiatrists on the West Bank. They would not speak with him because they were afraid of losing their jobs, but they did say that Israeli authorities had interfered with medical care, stopping ambulances, for example. Springer visited victims of Israeli army violence, and he saw people's homes which had been demolished...