A few weeks ago one of my classes went to Abu Gosh and Ein Rafah, which are two Israeli-Arab villages located just outside Jerusalem. We spoke to a British Moslem woman, who is married to one of the men in the villages. Everyone in Ein Rafah has the same last name, because they are all one family. She was a very smart woman, and described her life as an Arab living in Israel. She explained that Israel has two separate education systems, one for Jewish children and one for Arab children. Both groups have the option to go to any school they choose, however this woman has chosen to send her children to Arab speaking schools, so they can be with their friends.
In my opinion having two separate school systems is lame, and prevents unity between Jews and Arabs. This is not segregation, but Arab-Israeli schools often have worse conditions than Israeli schools. The government claims that a main reason for having two systems, is because of a language barrier, however almost all Arab-Israeli’s speak Hebrew, and many Jews speak Arabic. Both Hebrew and Arabic are the official languages of the State of Israel, and many places such as the multi-cultural city of Haifa, make their students take Hebrew and Arabic.
Besides being a fantastic Arab-Israeli town, Abu Gosh is famous for it’s Hummus. We went to a beautiful Hummus restaurant, with lavish décor, and a view of the Jerusalem hills. It turns out that the owner had won the lottery. Also, apparently Abu Gosh holds the current Guinness world record for most hummus! They put a lot of hummus in a big vat, beating out the Lebanese. Israel wins again! To be honest the hummus was a worse version of Pinati’s, but there was a lot of it. Almost as cool as Aaron Lyon, Moshe Arazi, and David Micley’s record of the longest skateboard.
Aaron Jijj going for the reach
Take that Lebanon!
Remember these guys...yep Jewish/Israeli to.
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