Wed., Aug. 8, 2007 – Congressman Brian Baird, a member of the House of Representatives from Washington State, spent the afternoon and evening in the Oasis of Peace village, staying overnight in the comforts of our Guest House. Before embarking upon his current tour of the Middle East, the Congressman was unwavering in his determination to make an overnight stop in Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al-Salam, the only intentional Arab-Jewish community in the entire world. He discovered the village earlier this year when he met Ahmad Hijazi, our Communications & Development Director, while Ahmad was in the States, conjuring up support for the ALLMEP People-to-People Coexistence Program in the Middle East by members of Congress.

Congressman Baird and his companions, Caroline, from the Department of Defense and Ibrahim Shaqir from the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv (and the Congressman's two bodyguards) were in for a busy day on their tour of the Oasis. In the late afternoon, he was welcomed by Ahmad Hijazi, Rim Nashef, a resident and homeroom teacher in the Primary School and the rest of the C & D Staff, including Bob Mark, Deb Reich, and Shelby Port, an American volunteer. The meeting took place in the main office conference room where the guests were given an introduction to the village and watched a documentary produced by the British Friends Association. Later, Boaz Kita'in, the Chairperson of the “Amuta” or association for our educational institutions, joined the group to explain the philosophy and ideologies behind the establishment the village and those which guide it today.

Directly after this orientation, Rep. Baird and his colleagues were led to the opposite side of the village to the Domia ~ Sakina, or the Pluralistic Spiritual Center that was dedicated to Bruno Hussar.. Abdessalam Najjar, who works in Spiritual Centre as well as in the Communications & Development office, spoke on the importance of religious tolerance and interfaith dialogue; then gave a tour of the centre's facilities and the dome-shaped House of Silence, where members and guests go to pray, worship and/or meditate.

The group then moved on to the Primary School, where the school's principle, Anwar Daoud, told the story of how the school, the first bilingual, binational primary school in Israel, was established. He highlighted the school's activities, giving particular attention to the “Healthy School” program to be carried out next year, where the students will learn about a holistic approach to overall health and well-being. Also to join the assembly, was Noam Shuster, a young Jewish women and Ranin Boulos, a young Palestinian women, both graduates of the Primary School; the two of them are life-long best friends because they grew up together in the village. When Caroline asked, “which one of you is the Palestinian and which one you is the Jew?” they only laughed. For this wasn't the first time that someone had confused the two of them, as their appearances can be quite deceiving. They also expressed their deep appreciation for their bilingual, binational upbringing, especially as the outside world (outside the village) can often be hostile and intolerant towards Palestinians and sometimes even of Jews who speak out against the injustices done to Palestinians, both within and outside of Israel.

The session was concluded with a talk by Nava Sonnenschein, from the School for Peace. She explained some of the psychological components of ethnic self-identity and how it relates to the Jews and Palestinians involved in the conflict, a topic Congressman Baird took particular interest in as he was trained as a clinical psychologist. She also elaborated on the inspiring work being conducted by the SFP facilitators – the many training sessions, workshops, and conferences that reach out to a diverse audience of Jewish and Palestinian participants, from journalists, to teachers to everyday citizens.

After a short intermission, where the visitors took some R & R in their hotel rooms, dinner was served on the Guest House balcony. Over dinner – Middle Eastern salads and grilled fish (or dolmas for the vegetarians, the Congressman included), Rep. Baird acknowledged the extraordinary work being done here and his commitment to help the village to carry out its mission – to create an environment where Arabs and Jews can live together while engaging in educational work for peace, equality and understanding between the two peoples. We presented him with ways in which he could assist us: by signing the House of Representative's proposal to provide $11 million for the Middle East People to People Coexistence Program; by suggesting a Senator to champion an initiative to get Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al Salam's name listed among other peace-work organizations specified in the Senate proposal; and by supporting an ALLMEP initiative for an International Fund for the Middle East, which would provide a great sum of funding to be used over a long period of time, based off of the International Fund for Northern Ireland. Congressman Baird was more than willing to help us our perusal of these specific endeavors and even offered to help us make our Green Village Project a reality – a proposal to take concrete measures to make NSWAS more environmentally and economically sustainable place to live. Furthermore, he even came up with an idea of his own, to bring a future delegation of Representatives and Senators to visit Neve Shalom ~ Wahat al-Salam in order to get an accurate and balanced perspective on the conflict and to witness first-hand, Palestinians and Jews living together on an equal basis, in the Oasis of Peace.

The next morning, both the Congressman (followed by his bodyguards) and Caroline, accompanied by Bob and Shelby, woke up at the crack of dawn to take a jog through the lush green forests that surround the village. On their run, they encountered the Byzantine-era mosaic that was discovered along one of the trails and enjoyed the fresh cool air that reminded the Representative of his childhood upbringing in the mountains of Colorado. While the Congressman and his entourage spent less than a day in the village, we are quite certain that this brief visit will develop into an opportune relationship with more collaboration in the near future.

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