Tapestry of Faith: Heeding the Call: A Program on Justicemaking for Junior High School Youth

Activity 2: Story - The Village That Could

Activity time: 10 minutes

Materials for Activity

Preparation for Activity

  • Read the story until you are comfortable presenting it.
  • Be prepared to locate Israel on a world map or globe. With all of the press coverage of the conflict between Israel and Palestine, youth may be surprised to see that the country is small in size.

Description of Activity

Youth hear a story about a cooperative village in Israel.

Tell the group that you want to share a story about people in a village in Israel called Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, or Oasis of Peace.

Tell or read the story. Here are questions to spark a discussion after the story:

  • What parts of the story did you find most interesting?
  • Why do you think it is possible for Arabs and Jews to live in peace in this village? What do you think it takes for such a village to survive? Is cooperation one of the skills you think residents need? What about respect for religious differences?

Including All Participants

Have enough copies of the story so visual learners can follow along.