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Hello!

My name is Beniamin, I am from Poland, I came to EMIS this August. On behalf of my colleagues, I would like
to say that we are all honoured by an opportunity to be here today. For me, however, it is a special pleasure to celebrate my eighteenth birthday in the house of President of Israel.
 
I can clearly see how different adult I am becoming in EMIS, than I would if didn’t come here. In the last six months, I have acquired new knowledge, perspectives and experiences. Classes, however, are only a small part of this process. I quite often catch myself on doing things I would never expect me to do. From celebrating Lunar New Year, to swimming in a pond somewhere in the middle of the desert, to sleeping on the shore of the Dead Sea. In EMIS, my horizons have been broadened. I realised how pointless are fears of people of other cultures or religions, I learnt to appreciate values that are at stake in contemporary world: tolerance, respect, open-mindedness, and yet there is a long way to go, a lot more to understand. I am grateful that I can live and learn with all the inspiring students, especially my roommates: Sebas from Ecuador, Yoav from Israel and Osaid, Palestinian living in Israel.
 
One of the factors that brought us all together is EMIS’ mission. Having it in mind, we are all trying to encounter the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In the last days, I had a chance to experience it, during the project that we conducted as a second part of the Jerusalem Week. My friends and I explored the topic of education, economics and infrastructure in East Jerusalem. For me, it was the first chance to interact with Palestinians outside the school, to hear their voice and to see the reality through their eyes. We had an opportunity to meet representatives of both Israeli and Palestinian organisations, which try to support people living in Eastern part of the city. To support the society, that – as we discovered – faces many difficulties. We met people from different backgrounds and with different experiences, people who lost their hope, people who feel anger but also people who wake up every day with new energy to work for others. Me, my friends and people we met believe that future can be better than present. Here, we get back to our mission.

Through educating – children, youths and adults – people in both Israel and Palestine are making change, right here and right now. For example, in October, I saw students from our school connecting both sides of the conflict during the YOCOPAS conference. I believe that their efforts will bring results. Yet they need support from us and our leaders, that we hope you to be, Mr. President.  
 



Honorable President, fellow EMISers, esteemed guests,

My name is Ameen Haj Yahia, a 17 year old 2nd year student at EMIS, and I am honored to have the ability stand here and present both myself and the Eastern Mediterranean International School today in front of His Excellency, President Reuven Rivlin.

Sir, I am Palestinian and I am Israeli, and that is not an oxymoron. I’m proud of being both Palestinian and Israeli, being part of societies that have so much development and culture embedded within them.
I come from a village in the center of this country called Tayibe, but I was born and raised in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Shuafat, and so I, like you Mr. President, am a proud Jerusalemite. This city that both our peoples share is marred by conflict and scarred with a lasting pain, paid for by the lives of our innocent civilians, the likes of my close friend Muhammad Abu Khdeir, whose fate we all know too well.  

To me, this school is an opportunity. With the amazing opportunities and multicultural people you are surrounded by at EMIS, you are encouraged to leave your comfort zone: to venture far and deep into your stretch zone where you are able to experience the wonders of life and to expand your horizons. No matter who we are or where we come from each of us is a part, of something greater, more consequential than we individually are.

The mission of the school enables us to see that education is not only bound to the classroom but to the whole academic experience. I can say with certainty that I have learned much more about myself and others through late night discussions and random conversations than I would have ever learned in a traditional classroom. I have been exposed to a myriad of opinions on various issues, something I am proud of associating with and internalizing. Sir, with our unity and cooperation in EMIS, we do big things. We create opportunity through unity. Because we dare to dream. We realize that our destiny is our choice. We share common hopes, common creed, and we don’t give up.

Finally, I endow you, Mr. President, with the responsibility of fostering the vitality that both sides, the Palestinian and the Israeli, begin the initial contacts towards building a lasting peace, based upon the same values our school stands upon: coexistence, sustainability, freedom, equality, education, and innovation. Sir, we must realize the importance of shared economic opportunities and startup ventures as a means of cooperation and development to reach common satisfaction and a valuable interdependence. Only when both sides work together through educating one another, sharing personal experiences, and helping each other develop will we pave a road towards a lasting peace.

One issue that was conveyed repeatedly through interviews with people from Members of Knesset to Jerusalemite shop owners during Jerusalem week is that the persistence of this arduous and burdensome conflict is due to the shroud of fear that envelopes this region. This shroud blinds us from seeing and deafens us from hearing the experiences of the other side. “Prolonged conflict indicates that both sides are inherently mistaken,” and as such, Mr. President, our human nature binds us to find the long-overdue solution to this strife.

In the end of the day, we all seek freedom, equality and purpose, and we would all like to see this land flourish. The great Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish said, "  "على هذا الارض ما يستحق الحيا or “On this land there is what deserves living for”. Maybe a solution to this conflict will enhance the reasons as to living on this splendid land.

Thank you 
 

Honorable President, fellow friends and esteemed guests,

I am Trang Nguyen, a Vietnamese girl who just turned 18 last month. Becoming 18, studying in the Middle East, I find a pressure of knowing. You have to be exposed, you have to get engaged because you are living in the place that every action can refer to a political drive, because you are a part of a society where jokes are not always pure jokes. However, today, I have to admit the truth: I know nothing.

I don’t know how it’s like to be in the middle of an inter-regional conflict. I don’t know what it’s like to be called terrorist or to pass through a check point every morning. 6 to 5. All winter. I don’t know what it’s like to be tore apart between sides and religions. When I say I’m from Vietnam, people expect me to get acquainted with war, but the biggest fighting I’ve ever had is with my mom on putting on braces.  

Strange as it may sound, the biggest lesson my lovely school EMIS has taught me is the lesson of Economics. As I am enrolling in IB Economics course, I start to think economics. In short words, economics is a game of maximizing benefits out of resources. Sadly, all resources are scarce and choices always go with opportunity cost which mean you have to give up on one thing in order to have another. The cost of being active is paid by less than 6 hours of sleep per day.

The cost of going to an international school, being constantly exposed to multicultural ideas and perceptions are measured by late night doubt about self-identity and national pride. But to choose again, I would still choose to be in EMIS. Because at the end of the day, we are all winners for stepping out of our comfort zone, trying to understand different perspectives and most importantly, for looking at each person as an individual. Regardless of their nationalities, socioeconomic status or political statement.

Regardless of judgments, schemas and prejudices. Because at the end of the day, the fruit of mind opening will outweigh the cost of constant stress, social arwarkness and cultural shock. I feel stronger since coming to EMIS, and I bet we all feel the same.
May I know nothing, but I try to understand, little by little. I know nothing, but I understand that the Palestinian – Israeli conflict is as complex as any single conflict in the world.

We all know it’s frustrating, but the fact that we are here proves that we haven’t given it up yet. The taste of peace will surpass the cost of effort and sleepless nights. Peace matters, peace is worth it.