Students’ and Teachers’ Visit to Israel & Palestine 2012

10 – 19 February 2012
This year we were able to bring 14 students participants and 3 teachers to Israel and Palestine.
There were 7 nationalities represented: Ireland (7); Belarus (1); Belgium (1); France (2); Germany (1); Nigeria (1); South Africa (1).
This was our 2012 Rainbow Team selected from five schools in Dublin:
The Students
LYCEE FRANCAISE D’IRLANDE (FRENCH SCHOOL), CLONSKEAGH, DUBLIN

  • Francois DE DECKER
  • Adrien DUNNION
  • Adèle VERRÉ

OATLANDS COLLEGE, CBS, MOUNT MERRION, DUBLIN

  • Daniel MOYNIHAN
  • Michael SHAW

THE KING’S HOSPITAL SCHOOL, PALMERSTOWN, DUBLIN

  • Neil BOLES
  • Keziah HILL
  • Philippa PETERS
  • Robert SHAW

ST. KEVIN’S COMMUNITY COLLEGE, CLONDALKIN, DUBLIN

  • Marcus COONEY
  • Cleopatra OGOCHUKWU

ST. KILIAN’S DEUTSCHE SCHULE (GERMAN SCHOOL), CLONSKEAGH, DUBLIN

  • Stacey ALESHKO
  • Jake SMITH
  • Jack SARGENT

The teachers

  • Ms Emer GARDNER ST. KEVIN’S COMMUNITY COLLEGE
  • Ms Kerrie LINDSAY THE KING’S HOSPITAL SCHOOL
  • Mr. Tadhg O SCANAILL ST. KILIAN’S DEUTSCHE SCHULE

As with previous years, we had a busy programme which centred on Jerusalem, Hebron and Bethlehem with visits to:

  • the Israeli and Palestinian school groups involved in the programme
  • sites of cultural and religious interest
  • sites relating to conflict issues and project themes.

There were of course plenty of opportunities for the visiting students to have time to mix with their Israeli and Palestinian hosts.
All the visiting students and teachers set their own personal aims for their visit. Again, there were many first-time experiences and many emotions shared.
These and the personal learning outcomes of thse students and teachers are ably expressed in each of their reports:

The Student Visit Reports

“My main aim of going on the trip was to not have a biased based opinion and see reality for myself, and also to tell the Palestinian and Israeli children that I care….”
Click here for Cleo Ogochukwu’s Visit Report

“Before the start of the trip I drew up a few aims that I wanted to achieve while on the trip. The aims were as follows:

  • To get a better understanding of the conflict
  • To spend time with both the Israeli and Palestinian host families
  • To experience what life is like in Israel and Palestine
  • To experience the Israeli and Palestinian culture
  • To see the tourist attractions in Israel and Palestine…”

Click here for Michael Shaw’s Visit Report

“My own personal aim for the trip was to facilitate connections between both sides of the conflict, in the hope that they grow up to be more understanding and compromising in later life…”
Click here for Neil Boles’ Visit Report

“ As our classes continued, my interest in this conflict slowly arose as we learnt more about the troubles and when Darran proposed that we could host both/either an Israeli and a Palestinian I jumped at the opportunity. Therefore I got the pleasure of hosting an Israeli, who was called Maya, and a Palestinian, who was called Yara…”
Click here for Stacy Aleshko’s Visit Report

“First of all, my personal Main Aim for the trip to Israel and Palestine was to learn more about the people’s opinions on the conflict on each side. I think that the group discussions that we had as well as being around locals a lot of the time helped me achieve this aim, and I feel much more knowledgeable about the conflict now than I did before going there, even though I had some knowledge about it before…”
Click here for Adrien Dunnion’s Visit Report

Each of the other Student Visit Reports are well worth reading:

The Teacher Visit Reports

“Overall, my experience working with Schools Across Borders has been the highlight of my professional career, it has been an amazing experience which has changed the way I think and feel about certain aspects of life and it is one which I will always be grateful for having!”
Click here for Ms Emer Gardner’s Visit Report

“The visit is exceptionally rich with information and encounters. The fact that SAB works with schools, teachers and students, as well as with IPYL in Hebron, turned the visit into more than an ordinary school trip. It was an experience through which the students gained in maturity and social skills. For that alone it was well worth it…”
Click here for Ms Kerrie Lindsay’s Visit Report