ACADEMIC SPOTLIGHT

ENVISION A FUTURE BEYOND BORDERS
Celebrating the Work of Manhattan Country School 7th and 8th Graders,
Inspired by the OneVoice Movement in Israel and Palestine

“The conflict in Israel and Palestine gives the children in these areas a heightened view on the politics and the sorrows of war.  My hope is that children who are 12 and 13 years old, my age, will lead their people into change.”
-- Peter van Buren, 14 yrs. and Zoya Teirstein, 14 yrs.

When Manhattan Country School students imagine their world in ten years, they envision a peaceful Middle East, free of conflict and bloodshed.  On Thursday, February 26th, students shared these dreams with the adults of their community, urging them to act in favor of a peaceful resolution to the current conflicts.  Through original artwork, poetry and film, students initiated dialogue about the present situation in Israel and Palestine.  The 7th and 8th grade students were joined by youth leaders and staff of the OneVoice Movement, an Israeli and Palestinian grassroots movement that aims to amplify the voice of the overwhelming but heretofore silent majority of moderates who wish for peace and prosperity, empowering them to demand accountability from elected representatives and work toward a two-state solution guaranteeing an end to occupation and violence, and a viable, independent Palestinian state at peace with Israel.

MCS students were inspired by the OneVoice Movement’s Imagine 2018 project (www.imagine2018.org), a writing contest that challenged Israeli and Palestinian children to visualize what the region would look like in ten years if a peace agreement were to be signed in 2008.  MCS students drew insights from reading these essays and stories, discussing the conflict with youth leaders and staff of the OneVoice Movement and from an in-depth curriculum focusing on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.