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Discovery Program:
Creating a Muslim-Jewish Mutual Discovery Guidebook
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use
to change the World"
Nelson Mandela
[Français]
The Discovery Program is an intensive four-month online
seminar that is designed to act as an educational gateway in bringing
together Muslim and Jewish youth to examine their current, as well as
prospective relations. Youth from all over the world are encouraged to
engage in thought-provoking discussions that tackle themes related to
religion, political debates, and the Arab-Israeli conflict and its effect on
Muslim-Jewish relations.
The program also provides an open forum to critically analyze the
different forms of media and their impact on these two communities. The
Discovery Program creates new opportunities and possibilities to learn about
the ‘other’ by providing young Muslims and Jews with a platform to
understand one another, to appreciate their respective culture and
tradition, as well as to explore the similarities in beliefs and practices.
Along the lines of the notion that "a picture is worth a thousand words",
the participants also discover their shared spiritual values through
photography and thought provoking discussions. Each group of the discovery
program consists of eighteen students, 9 Muslims and 9 Jews, who are
selected from Jewish and Muslim communities from all over the world to take
pictures of Muslim and Jewish religious themes, symbols, rituals and events.
These photos serve as powerful and spiritual visual tools that both
challenge and prompt the students to explore and reflect on many issues that
are considered 'taboo'.
At the end of this educational journey, the students work together to
publish a photo essay that serves as an educational tool for use in Muslim
and Jewish schools and communities around the world. This photo essay is a
combination of photos and essays compiled by the participants in order for
them to share their discoveries, insights and realizations with other Jews
and Muslims locally and globally.
The main goals of this four month long seminar are to:
1. Become leaders in Jewish and Muslim youth dialogue
2. Discover common theological and cultural beliefs and practices
3. Foster interaction between Muslim and Jewish teenagers around the world,
with the aim of restoring a culture of respect based on knowledge and
understanding
4. Become pioneers in the exploration of Jewish and Muslim traditions and
breaking down the walls of mistrust, hate, and rivalry
5. Build creative and practical skills for peace-building and open dialogue
between the two communities.Students should be:
- between 16-18 years old
- comfortable communicating in english
- enrolled in a jewish school and knowledgeable about judaism
- have daily access to the internet and a camera
Application
More Information:
www.children-of-abraham.org
[Français] |
