A Hymn: Finding Common Ground

With a passion for traveling and international relations, Sarah decided to move abroad to complete her studies. She received her BA in Government at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya, where she specialized both in security studies and conflict resolution. Sarah is currently doing a dual-degree MA program in International Relations at the University of Haifa and the University of Warsaw. Her research is on the US' relationship with Israel and policies towards Israeli settlements. 

1. The project first seeks to address the lack of shared identity symbols at the University of Haifa. Israeli society is divided, and there is not an exception in the student body. The singing of Israel's national anthem, HaTikvah, at university ceremonies is very controversial. 

2. This project seeks to create a new symbol--a university hymn through a second track workshop initiative. The final result will be a local song that can become a symbol and unifying element for students, faculty, and alumni. Later aspirations of the project seek to convince other Israeli universities to follow the University of Haifa's lead. The hymn could also become a national symbol for all Israelis.  

3. This project could elevate humanity by creating a shared symbol that everyone in the society can relate to. Israel is diverse and this should be celebrated. 

Israel is a diverse country, yet very divided. This division, especially between Israeli Jews (around 80% of the population) and Israeli Arabs/Palestinians (around 20% of the population) is only increasing with the younger generation. Both groups have strong identities that can be powerful and even beautiful, but they can also exacerbate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

This proposal will focus on surrounds the identity-driven conflict and controversy of Israel’s national anthem, HaTikvah. HaTikvah is generally rejected by Arab Israelis as it is a Zionist song that only refers to the Jewish people--not something that the average Arab Israeli can relate to. When the national anthem is sung at ceremonies, a large amount of Arab students often do not stand up or sometimes even leave the room. Because of this controversy, a faculty at the University of Haifa made the decision to not play HaTikvah at the 2011 graduation ceremony. There was a backlash in the media and the incident was followed up by the Israeli Knesset initiating a bill that would make academic institutions that do not play the national anthem in their ceremonies ineligible for state funding. 

This project seeks to provide an alternative and very needed symbol--a hymn.

The project seeks to create a new symbol--a hymn through a second track initiative. The goal of the project will be to reach a consensus on the issues of Israeli and Palestinian national symbols and attempt to find plausible solutions to the conflicts that arise from the exclusivity of Israel’s national symbols to the Jewish people. A successful workshop would conclude with all participants reaching a consensus about the values/terms/words to be included in the university hymn--academically pursued in an atmosphere of freedom, equality, and creativity, and codified in a common ground document. The document could then be commissioned to a small group to develop the music and wording, which would include short texts in both Hebrew and Arabic. This draft text could then be offered for voluntary crowdsourcing. 

The inclusive hymn can be played at the university ceremonies. The University of Haifa has shown support of the initiative. When concluded successfully, the initiative could be expanded to other Israeli universities. The University often sets the precedents for multicultural school policies in the Israeli upper education system. For example, it was the first university to add non-Jewish holidays to the school vacation calendar (2013). 

On the smaller scale this second-track initiative will help rebuild trust in the student body of the university of Haifa and reunite those members of faculty who feel polarized on the issue to form a united front for the university. By a ground-up second-track workshop, there will be a process to ensure that identities, conflicts, and opinions can all be voiced and applied to the finished song to ensure that is relatable for the Israeli society as a whole.

The creation of a unifying hymn that will be implemented by the University at official ceremonies will encourage this idea of sharing common ground to the rest of Israeli society. Although this project is starting at a small scale, it has to potential to reach further. 

The creation of a shared symbol can help change people's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors. Benedict Anderson in his Imagined Communities has narrowed the formation of an identity to a flag, a museum, and an anthem. Jewish and Palestinian symbols exist; however no shared symbols exist. The existence of a shared symbol could have very positive affects on the society. 

Due to several reasons, I decided to transfer from my community college in California and study in Israel. I received my bachelor's at the Interdisciplinary Center of Herzliya and continued my master's at the University of Haifa. The two universities gave me two very different perspectives of Israeli society. As a non-Jew living in Israel I was astonished with the strong identities that I encountered, which completely changed my pre-existing ideas and solutions of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 

The idea of this project was first presented to me by my professor and advisor, Edy Kaufman. We had a discussion where I expressed my interest in this idea of a shared symbol and he told me of this project he has been trying to make happen. I joined him in his efforts of creating a proposal and searching for funding.

As a non-Jewish twenty-one year old student that moved to Israel to complete my bachelor's degree, I had somewhat of an identity crisis that began not long after my arrival. I became very interested in identity and the role that it plays in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I would talk to both Jews and Palestinians about their experiences. I realized there is a complete lack of any common understanding about the "other," even in the few places were Jews and Arabs actually interact. I realized it's not that the two sides are incapable of living in peace side-by-side, but that they just don't really know the other side. This leads to both sides coming up with "solutions" that are incompatible with the other narrative.

The outcome of the project will be positive. It seems small right now, but only time can tell the possible impact that it can have. It's something that is feasible and I would have the support to get it off the ground. It's also something that Israelis need, even if they don't know it yet. With politics aside, most Israelis actually do accept the existence of the "other," but there is nothing symbolic to reflect it. 

After living in the region for 6 years and studying about it for six, I consider myself to have extensive knowledge and understanding of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Israeli culture in general. I have participated in two common ground workshops at university, the second of which I helped facilitate. 

My partner in this project would be Edy Kaufman, who was my professor and mentor. Edy has dedicated his life to peace-building in the Middle East, as well as Latin America. He has written and edited thirteen books, often co-authoring with Palestinian colleagues. Through his involvement in human rights and peace organizations, Edy has contributed to the "international citizens lobby." He has committed himself to the protection of human rights within Israel he has been Honorary Secretary of the Public Council for Jews in the Arab Countries. At the global level Edy was the founder of Amnesty International in Jerusalem and spent a sabbatical working at the International Secretariat, later to become one of the longest serving members of Nobel Peace laureate organization’s International Executive Committee.

We were first looking to get funding through a program offered by the US Embassy. However, funding for these types of projects have recently been cut. We continue to look for funding to keep the project and idea alive. 

As someone who is still a student that has lived in foreign countries where I [usually] did not speak the language, I am hesitant to answer this question as I feel like I have not yet demonstrated to the world my leadership capabilities strongly in one specific instance. Instead, I will speak of a few different things about myself. I am a person who loves to help. In previous jobs that I have had I would end up training the new employees because I want to share my knowledge and make sure that the new employees have someone that they can go to. I am always looking to make the organization work better as a whole. I want to live my life with purpose and make positive impact.

The project would be hosted by the Jewish Arab Center at the University of Haifa.