The First Jewish/Arab Waldorf Kindergarten in Israel: Ein Bustan

In the mixed Jewish Arab kindergarten of Ein Bustan, the children gather in a circle to welcome the Sabbath together, a candle is lit, and they sing:
With God’s help we shall live in peace,
Your light is small, but in my heart the light is great,
With God’s help we shall live in peace.

Ein Bustan, Spring in the Garden, is the first integrated Jewish/Arab Waldorf kindergarten in Israel. The founders of El Zeitoun saw the Waldorf method as an approach well-suited to their mission of peace and coexistence.  While the standard educational system keeps Arabs and Jews apart, this kindergarten is bringing them together. Established in 2005, it is situated in the Arab village of Hilf, near Kiryat Tivon, in the lower Galilee. Ein Bustan operates two kindergartens/schools: a preschool for the youngest children, ages 2-4, and a kindergarten for the older children, ages 4-7.  The 30 children of Ein Bustan come from Kiryat Tivon, (a Jewish town) and the surrounding Bedouin Arab villages Hilf, Zbidat, Zarzir and Bosmat Tab’un.

The children know they are Arab or Jewish.  But, language rather than politics, ethnicity or religion draws that distinction. The teachers only distinguish students as Arabic-speaking or Hebrew-speaking, if at all.  The two classes are team-taught by two instructors—one Arab and the other Jewish. Each is bilingual, though they speak in one language during class.  Everything is  Arabic and Hebrew, from the signs the teachers write to the songs the children sing. Since almost all schools in Israel are segregated, most instructors read stories to their students in one language. The teachers in this school alternate between two. As other schools celebrate either Rosh Hashanah or Eid al-Fitr, the students here celebrate them both. 
Through the kindergarten, Arab and Jewish parents also meet on a regular basis. Paths often cross when dropping and picking up their kids. They join in to celebrate holidays and attend after school meetings.
Parents end up learning the culture alongside their children.  In a country where the mainstream education system keeps Arabs and Jews apart, this kindergarten is bringing them together.Plans are being developed to begin a first grade in 2011.