As part of their unit on Israeli-Palestinian relations, students in the Modern Middle East class video conferenced with Palestinain students from The Friends School in Ramallah and Israeli teenagers from Shoham. Topics ranged from differing views on the events this past summer in Gaza to how Americans perceive the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Although only scheduled for an hour or so, students couldn’t stop sharing their opinions and both calls lasted over two hours.
The Palestinian students seemed surprised by the wide range of views held by their Saint Ann’s contemporaries, and our students heard about conditions that they had only read about. Senior Ali. P said that “To hear first hand how a girl my age couldn’t visit her sister in Jerusalem was a shock.” The class spoke to Israeli students the day after the Israeli election and heard a wide range of views on the controversies leading up to the vote.
