On October 1st, Dr. Lars Hänsel, Director of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung Jerusalem, and EU Project Manager Annika Lübke, visited two of the Palestinian schools, located in Birzeit and Ramallah in the West Bank.

Birzeit School is a Latin Catholic school, which belongs to the Latin Patriarchate. With its 69% Christian and 31% Muslim students the school reflects the proportions of Christians and Muslims in the local population of Birzeit Village. Even though the majority of the Christians are Latin Catholic, Greek Orthodox and Greek Catholic students are enrolled in the school as well. At Birzeit School the program on civic education is being taught to around 40 students of grade 9 and 10.

After first concerns about the idea of a joint project, implemented by Israeli, Palestinian and Jordanian schools together, the students received the program very enthusiastically. Encouraged by their parents they are investing time and efforts and are even ready to meet after school with their classmates to discuss the new material and to prepare themselves for the next class.

Al-Ahliyya College, located in the center of Ramallah, is a Latin Catholic school as well. 55% of the students are Christians while 45% are Muslims. Al-Ahliyya College is one of the pioneers in the region, developing a curriculum on civic education for the school. Two classes in grade 11, both with around 20 students, are participating in the project's classroom program on civic education.

At first most students reacted with reservations when receiving an introduction to the project. Hearing that the project is being implemented together with Israelis and that there will be joint meetings in the future, the students feared to be brainwashed and to be working for Israeli interests. Long discussions and the information that the project is implemented by KAS – a German organization – and co-financed by the EU helped the students to overcome their concerns.

Dr. Father Aktham Hijazin, the head master of the school, underlines the importance of such projects but at the same time points out that the students need to see direct results in order to continue with the project.

Students and teachers both from Birzeit School and Al-Ahliyye College welcomed the visit to their schools and were eager to talk about their expectations and opinions towards the project. They are enjoying the new way of teaching and are happy to be able to communicate about their situation with others.

Annika Lübke