Lizrael Update

Category: conflict management/negotiation

  • Conflict management.

    It’s probably only appropriate that at the graduation ceremony for Bar Ilan University’s Conflict Management and Negotiation program, I witnessed my first Israeli-Arab walkout. I studied in the program the same years as a secularish Arab girl from around Uhm Al Fahm. She’s probably around my age, with an assertive nature and a big, warn…

  • Graduation.

    On the day of my ‘graduation ceremony’ from Bar Ilan’s Conflict Management and Negotiation program, I must note that five years ago,when I started, I wasn’t planning to still be at the job that was supposed to pay my way through university. Yet here I am. So, the degree was a bit of a disappointment.…

  • Bracing for heartbreak… but still hoping.

    I know, I know. I won’t believe it till I see it, either. The Israeli in me is skeptical/angry/excited, the spouse in me is tormented/emotional/hopeful, and the mediator in me is curious/reflective/fatigued. For better or worse, I’m indulging in this: Eldad Regev’s father: Deal finalized for abducted troops’ return The father of abducted Israel Defense…

  • In appreciation of צהר, or small windows.

    I attended a secular wedding last night; if it wasn’t my first Israeli secular wedding, then I have only been to one or two before this. The secular Israeli wedding is something I don’t fully grasp. A Jewish wedding is so chock full of beautiful, wacky and wild traditions, why not have that be a…

  • My time in jail.

    Remember the nationwide drill I wrote about? The emergency sirens went off today at 10 am all over the country, wherever you happened to be standing. And me? I was standing in Ma’asiyahu prison in Ramle. And let me tell you, it’s a little surreal to hear a siren go off in a prison. I…

  • A true face of Jerusalem: the hospital waiting room.

    Today I spent quite a bit of time in a Jerusalem hospital waiting room; no emergency, I just needed an x-ray. In the past few months, I’ve actually frequented Jerusalem hospital waiting rooms and have been fascinated by the faces I see and the languages I hear. I think the true face of any city…

  • A different kind of commute.

    Driving home through the shtachim (territories) from Jerusalem tonight was an eerie experience. Usually I like to look out at the hills, or notice the lights, or, in daylight, watch the Arab residents traveling along the highway, in ‘their’ cabs, with ‘their’ license plates. I like to imagine sometimes the only reason we don’t mingle…

  • Bar Ilan University has shut its doors…

    …and it’s libraries, laboratories and offices. I just got a notice; if you’re a student it might interest you: בשל שביתת המרצים הבכירים הופסקה באופן מעשי פעילות ההוראה של הסגל הבכיר באוניברסיטאות זה כ- 87 יום לאור העובדה שהצדדים למו”מ אינם מצליחים לגשר על הפערים, הגיע ועד ראשי האוניברסיטאות למסקנה האוניברסיטאות אינן מוכנות לקבל מהסגל…

  • The irony of studying mediation during a strike.

    I received an email today from the head of the Conflict Management and Negotiation department at Bar Ilan, apologizing for the inconvenience of the strike. He is new to the position as of this year and I found his email refreshing; isn’t this what you would expect considering the focus of this department? He explains…

  • What Jewish TV taught me tonight.

    Tonight was the first taping of Tuesday Night Live, “the first Israel-based Jewish TV show broadcast around the globe.” I suppose I was curious about what all that meant (being aware that it is run by Ohr Olam and produced by Arutz Sheva). When we arrived and I got a pamphlet, it became clearer what…

  • Hey everybody, look! Funny Arabs!

    Tonight we went to Off the Wall comedy club (apparently the only comedy club in Jerusalem) for their open mic, where my new favorite Arab-American comedians were performing. Unlike a Mideast peace conference, this was not disappointing! (budump-bump?) Ray Hanania (Palestinian-American) and Sherif Hedayat (Egyptian-American) have been running around Israel – along with a few…

  • Internet Media and me.

    I was asked to participate on a panel discussion on Monday, representing Mideast Youth. The panel is called: Internet Media: Strategies and Challenges facing Internet News Web and Blog sites. I think I’ll focus on the fact that Mideast Youth is more than a media center or news blog. It’s actually about communication between people…