King David high schools recently hosted The Galilee Dreamers, a group of 20 Israeli school children representing Jewish and Arab communities, who visited the schools as part of a unity programme co-ordinated by their high schools in the Galilee region of Israel.
The Galilee Dreamers’ vision is to build long-lasting connections between Jewish and Arab communities in the Galilee and to share this message of hope, tolerance, and respect for diversity with young people around the world. The group arrived in Johannesburg on 1 February, and spent the morning at King David High School Victory Park (KDVP), where they enjoyed a special assembly.
“In a school as diverse as ours, it’s important for our students to be able to meet and mix with a community of students from such different backgrounds in Israel. The message of coexistence and understanding of each other is a most powerful one, and we can all learn from their example,” said Andrew Baker, the head of school at KDVP.
The students were hosted by various KDVP families, giving them a chance to experience the South African Jewish community.
The group was welcomed to King David High School Linksfield (KDL) on 2 February, where they joined a group of 15 KDL history students on a tour of Constitution Hill, giving the Dreamers a brief insight into the apartheid era and its end.
Jocelyn Angel, a senior history teacher at KDL who is passionate about taking education out of the classroom, accompanied the group. “Visiting Constitution Hill with The Galilee Dreamers presented a unique opportunity for our history students to ‘see’ apartheid first hand and gave them the opportunity to teach our visitors. The explanations I heard our students giving the Galilee Dreamers – of whom none spoke English as their first language – were priceless and informative,” she said.
King David high schools are proud to be part of this initiative to promote unity and respect among different communities, which aligns with their core values.
