Jewish and Arab Israeli Partners Build an Educational School for Refugees in Lesbos

The International School of Peace (ISOP) is located on the island of Lesbos, Greece. It was founded two years ago by two groups of educators, one Arab – the Ajial Movement, and one Jewish – the Hashomer Hatzair Life Movement.

At that time, Greece had thousands of refugees crossing each day by sea from Turkey.

The Jewish and Arab Israelis were concerned about the Syrian and Afghan refugee crisis in Greece. The two organizations had previously built a partnership focusing on social and educational issues in Israel, and now agreed to work on this project together. As residents of the Middle East they felt they could not stand idly by during this crisis. However, they could not cross the border into Syria or Lebanon, as they are considered enemy states.

Na’ama Moshinsky, 30 years old, is co-CEO of the Hashomer Hatzair Life Movement and focuses on partnerships and funding. She grew up in Tel Aviv and joined the youth movement at 18 years old. Throughout her army service and after, she worked on educational missions and with youth at risk. Na’ama studied history and political science in Tel Aviv University.

She told me that this project started with a kickstarter fundraiser to raise funds and find partners to open an educational center and train adults to be counselors and guides, and empower them with the tools they would need. Once they arrived in Lesbos, they realized they needed to build a normal school to offset the chaotic atmosphere and the loss of productivity for the adults and the lack of structure for the children.  They changed their mission and opened the International School of Peace.

They bought two shipping containers and modified them by working with refugees who were engineers and carpenters.  They built two classrooms and on the first day 30 students showed up. The majority were Syrian and taught by refugees who spoke their language. Two years later, they have 9 classrooms and 250 students from Syria, Afghanistan and the Congo.

The teachers are refugees themselves. Often they are professionals who adapted to the needs of the community. For example, an engineer became the math teacher, a graphic designer the art teacher.  The Israelis, both Arab and Jewish, are managing the school with staff and volunteers to coordinate the education and facilitate transportation, meals and activities. Each group learns in their mother language and also learns Greek so they can adapt to the local language. Na’ama says they are regular kids learning and acting like normal kids in an abnormal environment.

When the kids return to the refugee camp at the end of the school day, their situation changes dramatically.  Na’ama says it feels surreal. They return to a crowded tent, with no electricity and water. The adults and the students no longer have the same freedom to make choices. Both the students and the teachers love coming back to school each day, with smiles on their faces.

Na’ama spent a month as a volunteer at ISOP, during the month of Ramadan.  She said it was beyond her expectations. The highlight for her was when they celebrated the last day of Ramadan, Eid al Fitr. They invited all the parents and students to a big meal and the exchange of gifts was organized by teachers and parents. They danced together – Jews, Arabs, Syrians, Afghans and Congolese – in dance circles. Everyone celebrated regardless of where you came from. Na’ama says it was a privilege to host such an extraordinary mixed cultural experience.

The goal is to keep the school going until there are no longer refugees in need. They don’t have any more physical space to build more classrooms where they are now.  They hope to build classrooms for refugees who are living in other remote areas on the Island.

The EU has declared the refugee crisis is over. Na’ama says there are more refugees arriving everyday although the media no longer writes about it.

They dream about using their school as a model. Na’ama says its a low cost school that can be replicated in other places. Some organizations have showed interest and they are open to other partnerships.

Hashomer Hatzair Life has an organized network of 350 young entrepreneurs. They are supported by governmental funding. They promote equality, social justice and democracy in Israel. They strive toward social change and transformation, a progressive Israel. ISOP is the only initiative that operates outside of Israel. To learn more about the movement go to Hashomrim Life Movement.

Ajial is an inspiring youth movement, actively contributing to the socio‐cultural, educational and economic development of the Arab Israeli people. To learn more about this partnership, go to Progressive Israel.

Two thousand students have attended the International School of Peace over the the last two years. They are supported by private donations, Foundations and the Jewish Federation. For more information and to support, go to ISOP.