(The workshop was co funded by Anna Lindh Foundation for the Dialogue between Cultures and the Danish Hermod Lannung Foundation)




THURSDAY, 26TH
On Thursday morning, the Danish and German participants arrived in Jerusalem. After checking in and getting settled in the New Imperial Hotel which is situated close to Jaffa Gate inside the old city of Jerusalem the youth went to visit the Museum of the Seam in the afternoon (http://www.coexistence.art.museum/eng/ Index.asp). The museum is concerned with difficulties and possibilities of peaceful coexistence in pluralistic societies and offers a lot of interactive artistic materials that challenges the visitors to reflect on their own attitudes and behaviour towards ‘the other’. The Crossing Borders participants from Europe were guided through the exhibition “Equal and Less Equal” that attempts to rise the awareness and social sensitivity so frequently dulled in us, and elucidate questions relating to the labour relations prevailing in our world.

MUSEUM ON THE SEAM, JERUSALEM.
Afterwards the participants had a walk in the old city where they got a first impression of what coexistence means in this multicultural city where many religions and cultures are gathered in a small spot. After a short tour through the Muslim, Jewish and Armenian quarter with glimpses at the Wailing Wall, the Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock the participants arrived at the Christian quarter where they had lunch on a roof top with a great view over the old city.

FRIDAY, 27TH
On Friday morning the rest of the group arrived. The Danish, German, Israeli and Palestinian youth gathered in the conference room where Mr. Allan Pagh Christensen, Deputy Head of Mission and Counsellor from the Danish Embassy in Tel Aviv, gave the opening remarks. In particular, he emphasized the importance of civil society and young people for finding peaceful solutions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Subsequently, Hanna Siniora from the IPCRI (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information) gave welcome words. As the previous speaker he stressed that the young people create the future. Furthermore, he supported the establishment of Crossing Borders Clubs, especially in the Westbank and in Gaza. Finally, Garba Diallo welcomed the youth in the name of Crossing Borders and presented the seminar program.

After a short break, participants were asked to sit according to their names in alphabetic order. In this new constellation they attentively participated in Walid Salem’s (Panorama Center) interactive lecture on ‘My neighbours, my world and myself’. The group brainstormed on the expression ‘the other is me’ and came to the conclusion that oneself is mainly defined by the existence of other people. The young people furthermore thoroughly discussed the concept of dialogue. They distinguished dialogue from reciprocal monologue or competitive discussion. In a next step, the participants were divided in four groups that worked on: 1) conditions necessary for successful dialogue, 2) the process of dialogue, 3) the outcome of dialogue and 4) selfexperienced stories of successful dialogue. The results were presented in the plenary and greatly contributed to the following discussions during the seminar.

Following, Arnon Rosmarin (Givat Haviva) ran a workshop on ‘miracle pills’. Participants were divided into two groups, one consisting only of Palestinians and Europeans, the other of Israelis and Europeans. Both were asked to identify the worst diseases of their respective societies. Whereas the Palestinian group focused on difficulties in the government, the Israelis highlighted the problem of denying the conflict. In order to cure the diseases, participants were asked to choose 3 pills from a list of 10 miracle pills. Despite the different problems that had been unravelled before, both sides chose the ‘hatred reducer’, the ‘rational thinking developer’ and the ‘extremist factors neutralizer’ as the most appropriate cure for their national “diseases”. Eventually , also the Danish and German participants were asked what the national “diseases” in their societies are and which pills could help.

In the afternoon Garba Diallo gave an introduction to citizenship and identity. In smaller groups, the youth reflected on what citizenship means to them and how citizenship overlaps with the rest of the world. During the presentation it was discussed whether citizenship can only be understood in a technical way or whether it is also an important part of identity. In a last step, the participants worked on ideas of expanding the national empathy to the global sphere. They came up with different suggestions, especially emphasizing the importance of education.

GROUP PRESENTATION.
Full of new ideas and information, the participants had some free time to talk and explore the old city in the late afternoon. In the evening, a final session took place on writing the articles for the next CB magazine. Garba Diallo lectured on different techniques of writing and let the participants practice by writing a story in 1 minute.

SATURDAY, 28TH
In the morning, Vera Maeder gave a workshop on building  Crossing Borders Clubs in the region. She presented what has been planned by CB veterans so far and encouraged the participants to comment on these ideas. Furthermore, the youth agreed on concrete actions that could be implemented without too many efforts and resources in the weeks after the workshop. The Israeli and Palestinian participants gathered and worked on a concept how to realize actions in the youth clubs in the region. The Danish and German group reflected on how they could activate youth in order to promote intercultural dialogue, especially relating to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the late morning, the group made a bus tour to East Jerusalem in order to see the wall separating East Jerusalem with the West Bank. Especially German participants were reminded of the Berlin Wall since neighbouring houses are separated by it. The tour continued to the Mount of Olives where participants had a great view over the old city. Afterwards, the bus went to the Wailing Wall where the group started another tour through the old city.

PARTICIPANTS ON THE MOUNT OF OLIVES.
In the afternoon, the workshop of the morning was followed up. Moreover, participants had time to continue writing on their articles and profiles. In the evening, the group enjoyed a big meal with everybody sitting at one long table. On this occasion participants also gave feedback on the seminar. The participants were very satisfied about what they learned and getting to know new Crossing Borders members. In the late evening the Israeli and Palestinian participants left.

SUNDAY, 29TH
Since the Danish and German participants stayed another day, they took the chance to visit the Temple Mount and travel to Ramallah.Many of the youth were impressed of how different life is in Jerusalem and Ramallah albeit their proximity to one another.

With all these new impressions in mind, the Danish and German participants returned to Europe in the night.