March 14th, 2023
Dear Friends,
In this report, I will share about an exciting new educational system that brings greater opportunities to expand the Abrahamic Reunion’s work in the Holy Land.
The story started when we began our programs focused on raising youth awareness and building bridges of peace among young people in the region.
Months ago, we partnered with our friend Robert Wertz from the Prescott Frontier Rotary Club to introduce virtual reality technology to our work with youth through his “Paths to Peace” (Mandala) program.
This program will enable people from different religions and nationalities to come together despite the wall that separates Israel and Palestine, and other barriers, difficulties and obstacles faced by the Palestinian and Israeli people over many years.
This program will make the seemingly impossible possible.
This program will introduce the youth to another world where there is freedom, stability, and happiness. What may seem like a science fiction tapestry but has the potential to become real.
For several months we have been learning and training how to use this educational method well. We met on a weekly basis with Robert, who put his trust in us as peacemakers, and shared his time and effort to impress on us the importance and objectives of VR technology in peacemaking. Robert demonstrated the great change it can bring about here in our Holy Land, in conflict. Finally, it was time to hold the first program with the participation of young people of the three religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam here in Palestine and Israel!
During my training, I had imagined the extent of enthusiasm that the participants would feel when experiencing this program, but in fact I did not imagine the magnitude and depth of this enthusiasm when we implemented the program and experienced it on the ground!
I will let the recorded videos show you that, see below.
A month before, the program was scheduled to be held in a restaurant in the Dead Sea area. However, because of the violence taking place in that region, especially in the city of Jericho, we had to postpone until things stabilized.
The city of Jericho faced a complete closure by the Israeli army and several incursions into the city, which resulted in the death of 5 Palestinian citizens, and violence prevailed in the city and its surroundings.
After things settled down, together with the participants, a plan was made for holding the program in a restaurant in the “Almog” area. The Almog Junction is under Israeli control, 10 minutes south of Jericho, and both Israelis and Palestinians can come to it without any obstacles, due to its presence outside the borders of the separation wall.
On Tuesday, March 14, indeed, the day had arrived, the day of enthusiasm and experience!!
I coordinated and arranged with the participants to meet them at the specified place, so I left early from the city of Ramallah, where I live. The participants were Roie K., an Israeli peace activist from Jerusalem, Samar Abed R., and Saed M., both Palestinian peace activists from Bethlehem.
We all arrived, and I welcomed them and talked to them a little and explained about the program and its wonderful experience. Then I contacted my partner, the Israeli director of the Abrahamic Reunion’s programs Abdel Salam Manasra, who is currently in the United States, to join us from there.
We started the program, and I will not hide from you that I faced some sudden technical problems in the sound system and control of one of the speakers. But I quickly rectified the situation, and once again activated the program and entered it with the participants.
Shouts of happiness and sheer excitement came out in the participants’ voices as soon as they entered the program for the first time and saw the virtual island and the virtual world there; and their enthusiasm entered into the depths of my heart.
After we entered the virtual world, I welcomed them there, and then we moved into the Mandala program, that takes you to another world, where you feel psychological comfort, meditation, experience strength and hope to continue working for peace.
This program shows us how strong we are as people, regardless of our religion, nationality, belief, or color. It brings us closer to goals that seemed far away to show us that the impossible has become a reality!!
What surprised me and made me happy during our presence in virtual reality was seeing how the participants embraced themselves, how they treated each other, how they consulted each other, and how they hugged each other!!
It was as if they were telling us that had it not been for the barriers, obstacles and fear on the ground, we would have already achieved peace today, before tomorrow!
For an hour, the participants lived through moments of peace, moments of hope, and moments of warmth—UNFORGETABLE MOMENTS!
These are the virtual moments that make us more capable of our work on the ground, breaking through barriers of fear and tension, to achieve connection with those we have pushed away and considered “other”.
After we finished this beautiful experience, we interviewed the young people who participated and asked them about their experience in the “Paths to Peace” program.
Their answers were more than we expected, and snippets are captured below for you to share in.
We took souvenir photos and a set of videos, then ate delicious pizza in the restaurant and left the area in peace, with peace in our hearts.
Mohamad Jamous is the Palestinian Director for the Abrahamic Reunion
