«Back to Fr Keving Dance Story

Visit Kibbutz Lochamai Hagetaot – Warsaw Ghetto Fighters Museum

Raya Kalisman, Director.

For me, born in 1949, it took years to feel and understand the Shoah. I lived in a cloud regarding the Shoah. In the 1980s finally the Holocaust began to be included in Hebrew curriculum.

I taught it from the viewpoint of the victim. Education was divided into 3 separate sectors Jewish, Arab and Druse. I grew up in a complete Jewish ‘bubble’. I made the choice with my husband and our 3 kids to leave the bubble and live in Galilee.

At age 30 I had my Jewish narrative confronted by another narrative. It was shocking to hear/ see another view of the world and life. I took a sabbatical in Washington. I was taken with the Shoah memorial there and how they used it for educating.

Generalising from the Shoah, moving beyond ‘victim’ – discovering the similarities of Nazi-Jew oppression and Whites-Blacks in US oppression, led me to a vision for using the Holocaust as a tool for co-existence between Arabs and Jews.

If you could read Hebrew you would have noticed the many notices round Galilee which say such things as “Death to the Arabs”…..”Kahanah was right!”…..”Galilee is only for the Jews!”

As partners in dialogue you must know the pain/trauma of the other side. Each side has its own trauma. Don’t try to compare and compete with pain. There is the Nagbar for Arabs and the Shoah for the Jews.

Over 8 years now 20 schools have chosen to come here – 8 Jewish 8 Arab and 4 Druse schools.

It’s a way forward together.