Libby & Len Traubman From Adina Friedman, a Master's degree student at Tel Aviv University, comes even more light during the convergence of three important celebrations of spirit. She invites your inquiries. -- L&L

By Adina Fridman

In light of all the positive examples being given these past few days of peaceful coexistence and educational programs which foster such coexistence, I'd like to add another such example...

I am part of a program called the Peace College, in which 15 Israelis and 15 Palestinians study together for a masters (MA) degree in Peace and Development Research. The program is sponsored by the Swedish labor party, and we officially belong to Gotebor University, Sweden. We also have one Norwegien student and one Swedish student in the program. We meet every Thursday mid-day until Friday afternoon, mostly in Tantur (Jerusalem) and sometimes in Beit Berl (near Kfar Sava). We have a series of lectures each meeting, and we sleep over so that we have joint evening activities as well. Last week we celebrated Hanukkah, Christmas and Ramadan together. Basically we are together for more than 24 hours evey week.

The lectures are on various issues concerning the region and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - peace and development theories, issues of history, economy, identity, conflict resolution etc. We will be writing our theses in pairs - one Palestinian and one Israeli, and we should have our MA degree in the Fall of 1999.

Not only the students are mixed (Palestinian, Israeli, European - Jews, Muslims, Christians), but each issue is presented by an Israeli and a Palestinian lecturer, and some by Swedish lecturers too, and we use varied sources as well. In all respects this is a unique program, and this is its first year. The idea is to educate people from various walks of life (holding various BA degrees, working in different fields) in a well-rounded way on regional issues, so that we, and others like us, help constitute the leadership of the future in these various fields.

The issues we deal with are interesting, but of course we learn much more by the mere fact that we are studying together. All of us have have experienced life here - the Intifada, the army, occupation, being prisoners, being prison guards, or just living daily lives in this region - and we bring our life experiences with us to class and to the academic studies. It's going great so far - there are often lively discussions or arguments, and things are intense, but it's positive intensity. We hope that this year is successful and that the program continues and expands. If anyone wants to here more about it or possibly join one of our sessions (or inquire about joining in the future) - feel free to e-mail me at adinaf@zoot.tau.ac.il

Happy Holidays and may 1999 finally bring some peace to us all...

Adina Fridman