July JUMP Israel Report

Multicultural Dance Troupe of Jerusalem Visits the United States

WAIT and Service For Peace recently hosted some 25 youth and administrators from the Municipality of Jerusalem in a 2-week tour of cultural exchange, service, and peace-building that was the second phase of the Jerusalem United States Multicultural Project, or JUMP.

The 16 dancers of the Multicultural Dance Troupe represented Israeli, Palestinian and recent immigrant populations. The 50 youth from WAIT and Service For Peace came from Maryland , Ohio , North Carolina , Virginia and even the new Connecticut WAIT team. Many had already participated in the Middle East phase of the trip, working in Jerusalem with the JUMP team there, doing many projects and educating some 19 audiences there. For the U.S. phase of the exchange, many more youth participated, allowing us to bring the message to a wide spectrum of audiences.

Most significant, the project acted as a nucleus, bringing together many new working partnerships with existing faith, service and humanitarian organizations. The Summer InterFace service network connected some 16 Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Buddhist and Hindu youth service organizations, for instance, in which Service For Peace played a crucial role both by helping organize, but also bringing the Jerusalem group to meet and work with the volunteers of many other faiths. At the United Nations luncheon, Service For Peace brought together UN delegates and international agencies with this living example of youth choosing cooperation and non-violence. In the Congress luncheon, the political leaders of all governmental branches, as well as humanitarian and service organizations working throughout the world, were electrified by the youth performances and messaging-that peace, indeed, comes through the simple actions of individuals and grassroots organizations first, and only later, by the agreement of legal bodies.

What the JUMP project accomplished is, by any measurement, a huge step forward for the situation of peace in the Middle East , and cooperation between people of sincere intent on every side of the spectrum.

--Reported by Kate Tsubata

-- 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 --