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Israel Independence Day - Introduction
Table of Contents
Introduction
56 years on from the establishment of the State of Israel what makes
the country tick?
Has there been any substantial change in gradual or dramatic terms? Does
anything remain as it was, in reality or in the eyes of the beholders
- those living here or in the Diaspora - in terms of agenda and ambience?
While we reflect on these questions - and even produce the issues which
depict Israel in the eyes of the world: peace agreements, obstacles to
peace, terror, or those in the eyes of world Jewish communities: problems,
politics, strength - we overlook the people at the heart of matter. Not
only are their opinions important if we are to understand the processes
at work in Israeli society and the tapestry of issues, but they are essential
if we wish to bring Diaspora and Israeli Jewry closer to each other.
A true cross-section of Israeli society would afford some relevant and
interesting perspectives, but it would represent the more established
viewpoints. Instead, we have chosen to focus on Israeli youth - teenagers
graduating in the next year from high school, and their outlook on the
world - with the goal of exploring and understanding the individual in
society and introducing the Israel-Diaspora perspective on how young people
relate to the Jewish world and Israel.
The theme and context are presented through "Identity Cards" in which
each student is defined according to a certain number of questions - personal
information, preferences and attitudes.
We bring to your attention, however, that these are in fact composites:
they comprise elements of different types of young people in Israeli society.
While not exactly stereotypes in the traditional interpretation, they
have been built in order to polarize debate or enable coalition-building.
Together with the additional background material, these role cards are
designed to stimulate and facilitate some lively debate around a series
of dilemmas.
We would like to acknowledge the valuable contribution made to this collection
by Ilan Ezrachi and the staff of the Mifgashim ["Encounters"] Project,
supported by the Charles L. Bronfman Foundation.
At the time of commencement of this project, Mifgashim was filming interviews
with young Israelis and kindly agreed to address additional questions
to their forum in order to provide us with raw material from which to
extrapolate in terms of role cards and the discussion dynamics.
This material was conceived by Barbara Weill and was written and compiled
by Gila Ansell Brauner and Dr. Dov Goldflam. The program was developed
with the help of Geulah Rosenak, Naftali Armon and Esther Carciente.
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