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WEST ASIA: New study seeks to help Jewish, Arab academic students co-exist

As campuses foster critical discourse and empathy, both Jewish and Arab students experience a greater feeling of belonging together.

New study seeks to help Jewish, Arab academic students co-existA

ccording to a recent first-of-its-kind report commissioned by the Abraham Initiatives and the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation, Jewish and Arab university and college students in Israel still feel divided in spite of inter-group efforts and academic meetings.

According to the report, which surveyed a total of 4,697 Jewish and Arab students and graduates from 12 different universities, only 15 percent of Jewish students took part in joint projects/seminars with Arab students, compared to 37 percent of Arab students. In fact, a majority (58%) of Jewish students reported not to have had any kind of collaboration with Arab students at all.

More than half (60 percent) of Arab students felt that Jews were preferred on campus, while half (50 percent) of Jewish students felt the same about Arabs, the results also showed. This is also in line with the majority (58%) of Arab students who have encountered on-campus discrimination, with only 12% of Jewish students thinking Arabs faced any discrimination at all.

While this division remains clear, the results highlighted some common ground, with both Jewish and Arab students experiencing a greater sense of belonging together when critical dialogue and tolerance are promoted by campuses.

They also found that being present on campus with the Arabic language makes Arab students feel a sense of belonging while not having a negative impact on Jewish students. This represents the Abraham Initiatives and the Van Leer Jerusalem Institute’s October report, which advocated greater integration of the Arabic language into the Israeli school system as a whole to foster coexistence.

This is why academic institutions are recommended by the Abraham Initiatives and the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation to promote inter-group interactions and enhance freedom of speech and expression.

“The research points to opportunities that can be leveraged and ultimately realise the potential of academia… in order to boost feelings of belonging,” Ahmad Mwassi, director of the Arab Society Department of the Edmond de Rothschild Foundation, said in a statement.

“We hope this research will serve as a useful tool for decision-makers in order to establish a more just society.”

“We can [encourage] the heads of universities and colleges to put this issue on their agenda,” explained Amnon Be’eri Sulitzeanu and Thabet Abu Rass, co-CEOs of Abraham Initiatives.

“Success on this front will improve the academic experience and pave the way for shared living in Israeli society as a whole,” they said.

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