From being an active
supporter of Meir Kahane and the Kach movement to becoming a peace
activist of such passion that one feels the Arabs must have their
“Nakba” day of mourning is quite a metamorphosis.
It happened to Melisse Lewine Boskovich, today director of Peace Child
Israel, an organization that brings together Arab and Jewish teenagers
to get to know each other, dispel stereotypes and perform plays in
Arabic and Hebrew which are often expressions of the yearning for better
understanding between the protagonists.
At the end of May the company will perform their latest production, Pocahontas,
John and Me at the Kfar
Saba Theater. In the audience will be proud parents, both those who live
locally and those coming into town from nearby Tira. For Boskovich it
will be the culmination of years of work, very hard work. The hardest
part is getting the teenagers from both sides to agree to take part.
Then there are the logistical problems of where and when to meet,
transporting the kids to the towns of their opposite numbers, casting
and rehearsals.
They are the headaches of any amateur dramatic/school production with
the added dimension of nationalistic feelings, preconceived ideas,
hostilities and sensitive no-go topics. Boskovich takes it all in her
stride, a veteran singer and actress with a lifelong commitment to
activism – even if the particular ideology has gone from one extreme to
another.
Peace Child was founded in 1988 by David Gordon (brother of singer Cat
Stevens) who at the time lived here and was married to an Israeli, and
the late Habimah actress Yael Drouyanoff. It was created to teach
coexistence using theater and the arts.
“We educate for democratic values, tolerance and mutual respect,” says
the organization’s Web site. “We teach compassionate listening, critical
thinking and non-violent communication. Workshop participants get
experience in dialogue and conflict resolution. They address issues of
identity, stereotypes, mutual respect, equality in a democratic society
as well as cultural similarities and differences.”
In practice it means that as a facilitator (as well as director of the
project) Boskovich sits in a room with 30 Arab and Jewish teenagers and
gets them to talk about their prejudices, fears and hopes before they
can even think of putting on a play together. She’s been doing it for 12
years now and there have been many times when she faced seemingly
insurmountable obstacles – but she perseveres, knowing that, in the long
run, changing socially learned stereotypes is a worthwhile goal.
“Being in a project like this is no longer in fashion,” she says. “And
even 22 years ago, when Peace Child was founded, it was considered far
more sexy and trendy to be developing cross-border projects in Israel.
Peace activists tended to look past the issues facing majority/minority
relations, which was the basis for Peace Child.
“Today a program like ours has become stigmatized. It’s becoming harder
and harder to recruit participants. It was always difficult to get
Jewish participants – not because they had ideological objections but
because they had greater demands on their time, were busier than the
Arab kids who didn’t demand the same degree of instant gratification, so
they were harder to attract.
“A change in Arab attitudes was precipitated by the riots of October
2000. They started to deal with their national identity and demanded
dialogue of existence before coexistence, to address the whole problem
of discrimination. The whole dynamic of peace-building in Israel has
undergone a huge change, especially since the Left disappeared in the
country and the Arabs are seen more as a fifth column because of their
demand to identify with their Palestinian brethren.”
Still, there are enlightened school principals who encourage their
10th-graders to join the program, and for the current production
Boskovich is working with Herzog High School in Kfar Saba and Amal
Technological High School in Tira. The Jewish school was originally
intended to be Katznelson High School and 15 students had signed up to
audition.
“Only six showed up,” says Boskovich. “It was the first sign of disaster
as we need a minimum of 12 kids to start.”
The chosen pupils begin activities with a three-day seminar which
usually takes place in the Jewish-Arab village Neveh Shalom. It is the
first real encounter between the two groups and each learns that the
other is not a monster. Eventually real friendships develop.
In past years the plays were written specifically for the performances
and were usually based on the experiences of the youth involved. But
this year they decided to perform a known work.
“We hoped it would make it easier, not only to attract Jewish teenagers
but to be able to get
bookings for our performances,” says Boskovich. “In previous years when
we approached schools and were asked what the play was about, they
wouldn’t touch it with a 10-foot pole when they heard that it dealt with
issues of injustice or the occupation. This way, if we offer Don
Quixote or The
Little Prince they know
what they’re getting. But these are still scripts which have something
about values and act as triggers for awareness-raising.”
They also provoke discussions among the kids. They explore the
parallels, for example, the so-called “savages” in Pocahontas,
and reveal that the only other encounter between Jewish and Arab
teenagers had been at three in the morning in the local mall where
everyone is drunk.
“Then they each see that the others are ‘nice’ kids and totally not
‘savage’ – it’s an awakening,” Boskovich points out.
Like putting on any show, there are difficulties – sound, lighting,
stage direction – and Boskovich has to contend with another problem:
Jewish kids dropping out.
“It reflects the difference in the two cultures,” she says. “The Arab
kids stick to commitments and appreciate the opportunity to do something
different. The Jewish kids are less responsible, and if something more
attractive comes along, they just leave. Often it’s as simple as being
disappointed at the level of production. OK, it’s not Broadway, but so
what?
“It’s the ‘me’ generation in action. The Arabs have different values –
something about honor which is missing in the Jewish community. It’s not
ideology; they just can’t be bothered, and it embarrasses me as a Jew.
“We also had to eject two Arabs, but for behavioral issues. They were
disruptive, noisy and disrespectful and the way they acted shocked the
Jewish kids. But it’s also a terrible rejection if Jewish kids leave;
it’s like saying ‘you’re not good enough for us’ and it blows their
minds.”
Peace Child Israel is financially supported by some European pro-child
organizations, such as Warchild Holland, which works all over the world
to improve the lives of children in conflict. USAid also gives a grant.
“Many donors didn’t want to get involved in projects within Israel but
have changed in recent years, knowing that if they don’t the programs
just won’t exist,” she says.
In 2008, the organization held a 20-year reunion and 500 graduates
turned up at the Jerusalem Theater to renew acquaintance with fellow
actors from bygone years. Research projects on the alumni showed that
the program had had only positive results.
A future project is Don
Quixote with schools in
Baka al-Gharbiya and Petah Tikva.
“This wasn’t easy,” says Boskovich. “After Gaza the Arabs had a real
hard time sitting in the same room as Jews. Peace-building is a struggle
and being in the middle of it is being in a battle zone,” she sighs.
“but I’m not ready to give up yet.”
BOSKOVICH FEELS that being overweight has made her an activist.
“Whenever you see an activist – that is someone who wants to bring about
a change in society – you can assume there is a screwed-up childhood in
the background.
“I think I got into Kach because I wanted to nurture something in a way
that I had not been nurtured as a child,” she says. “My parents were
ashamed of me and I was taunted at school for my size. Instead of
telling me not to pay attention to the other kids and that I was a
great, wonderful kid, they just reinforced the feelings of inferiority.
“So I was open to it and being a supporter of Kahane and the Jewish
Defense League answered a need for me. Kahane gave the Jews pride – a
Jew who stands up for himself – and there is no doubt that they kept the
issue of Soviet Jewry on the front page for years.”
She first came to Israel in 1971, having graduated high school in her
native Philadelphia, and almost immediately got into hot water.
“The Israeli government under Golda Meir was getting very friendly with
various African states and one of these leaders who had been invited was
Yakubu Gowon, the general who had been responsible for the genocide of
the Biafrans. A group of us went to the airport to demonstrate. I was
screaming ‘he killed millions of children’ and was arrested and spent
three days in prison.”
Back in the US she studied opera and theater, gaining a master’s in
both. She would often visit Israel for holidays and in the late
Seventies came back to live on a kibbutz for a while, commuting to Tel
Aviv once a week to sing with the Cameran Singers under the name Lisi
Lewine. It was about this time that she became friendly with former
Knesset member Geula Cohen and even had the distinction of teaching her
nine-year-old son Tsahi Hanegbi karate.
In 1981 she returned to the States and married Israel artist David
Boskovich, whom she later divorced.She came back in 1993 after the
birth of her daughter Alex, today 18 and serving in the army as a film
editor. It was this experience of motherhood which finally pushed
Boskovich over to the other side of the political spectrum.
“It wasn’t an overnight change – the process had already begun – but
once I realized that instinctual hormonal connection of a mother towards
a child, I couldn’t justify ever wanting to see anybody’s child go
through any kind of pain.
“I think the Jewish people are suffering a form of child abuse syndrome.
After so many hundreds of years of persecution and suffering we are
reacting to that by the way we treat others. The only other option is
that the Jews are born evil, and I don’t accept that.
“I’m not very optimistic. It will take five generations to fix what’s
broken. If there’s any consolation it’s that we are not the only people
in conflict. And it is heartwarming to see that there are still people,
like our youth and their parents, who find the inner strength do be
active in Peace Child.” |
