A new and different elective course for undergraduate students in the Department of Nursing of Tel Aviv University: The Arab-Jewish conflict in the light of theory and experience is now underway, led by Dr. Roi Zilberberg from the School of Peace together with two facilitators, Shirin Najjar and Liron Tal.

The course aims to develop the awareness of the participating Arab and Jewish students with regard to the Arab-Jewish conflict; to enable an understanding of identity through dialogue and interaction with the other; and to provide tools to analyze the group conflict in general.

In the first session, on behalf of the University, the program director, Dr. Sigalit Warshawski and the departmental chair, Dr. Michal Itzhaki, welcomed the students who chose to participate in this unique and important course.

The course began with a guided tour of the city of Jaffa. The day started with a presentation by Prof. Youssef Masharawi, a prominent spine researcher from the Department of Physical Therapy, who lives in Jaffa and works extensively for the benefit of education in the city. He began by describing some of the challenges affecting Arab young people; such as being let down by the school system and out-priced by the real estate market.

Our guide for the day, Fatma Haliwa, also discussed the challenges associated with the socio-economic status of Arabs in Jaffa throughout the years, and their experience of social, economic and political difficulties from the time of the establishment of the state till today.

The tour itself encompassed various neighborhoods of the 5,000 year old city and ended with a lecture and discussions at the Al-Saraya Arab Theater in Old Jaffa.