Jerusalem WIE's Excursion to Haifa on 16th May 2008:

Friday 16 May 2008 an enthusiastic group of 25 Christian, Muslim and Jewish men, women and children left Jerusalem early in the morning, direction Haifa. Nadia prepared games to introduce each other and very soon the atmosphere in the bus was joyful, relaxed and lively.

After a short break at the Beit Yanay Mall for coffee, we proceeded to our first stopover: the Bahai Shrine and Gardens in Haifa. Received by the World Representative of the Bahai faith and his spouse, Mr Kern Wisman and Mrs Barbara Wisman, we had an in-depth visit to the Holy Bahai Site, walking down the delightful gardens, enjoying the pleasant breeze and mild sunny weather. We were also accompanied by some Bahai ladies, as requested, ready to answer our questions. After refreshments and a short film, we were introduced into the Shrine and admired its beauty, peacefulness and atmosphere for prayer and meditation.

We ended the visit by having pictures taken together and thanked our hosts - who traveled especially from Jerusalem to guide our visit together with all the Visitors' Center staff.

We all learned with interest about the Bahai faith, its roots in Israel, its worldwide believers and world vision of peace and understanding among all nations and human beings.

Our next stopover was the Mount Carmel Golda Meir International Training Center, where we were warmly welcomed by Mrs. Mazal Renford, Director and by Mrs Fanette Modek, former Director of the Center, now in charge of the Palestinian Women empowerment and leadership Seminars, as well as Israeli-Palestinian coexistence special programs. A delicious kosher lunch was ready for us, prepared and kindly served by staff specially called that day - it was Friday, usually their free day.

Mrs Renford and Mrs Modek explained to us the activities, seminars and interfaith meetings taking place at the Center. They mentioned also emotional encounters between Israelis and Palestinians leading sometimes to long -time friendships, keeping up even during the recent Lebanon war.

Returning to Jerusalem, we celebrated our Christian coordinator's birthday, Seta, with joyful singing and sharing of a cake baked by Saheer for the occasion. As planned we were in Jerusalem before Shabbat, so our Jewish members could reach their homes and get ready for the Holy day in time.

In retrospect, the day spent together and the visits drew a lot of attention from our hosts, we got mails showing interest from the media, peace activists from the North and the West Bank. The feedback from the participants and the hosts were excellent. The latter told us the group was really unique. This gave us a feeling that despite our region's turbulent daily reality new hopes for friendship and cooperation could arise.

Reported by Evelyne Savir & Saheer Siam
 

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