Final Toast

To make the last toast is a big honor but on the same time also a big challenge. So instead of trying to describe a trip which is indescribable we decided to take you to another trip.

Meeting highschool kids in Rishon de Zion

There seem to be a lot reasons to look closer at Rishon de Zion, a very industrious town south of Tel Aviv. We heard a lot about city planning and in some way conditions for people in Rishon de Zion seem to be almost ideal for prospering and growth. Where other cities have to cut back substantially on spending due to the economical slowdown worldwide, Rishon de Zion has merely frozen next year’s budget at this year’s levels. That alone would be remarkable enough. What stuck to our minds the most however, was meeting with the town’s highschool kids. After being greeted by the school’s principal, we split into smaller groups and started our conversations.

Here is what some of the German participants – Bilkay, Rene, Knut and Annette – had to say about their experience.

Hi, my name is …

„Hi, my Name is Asaad J. and I’m from the Israeli Delegation.“ What has become a running gag in the course of the GIYLE 2008, today was the introduction to a most interesting journey into the life and experience of one of the group members. Asaad took us to Akko, his home town, where he lived until the age of 16, not only in a mixed Jewish, Muslim and Christian neighbourhood but even in a mixed apartment building.

Silent Germans?

Soon after this meeting with the three Golan locals the issue of German participation in the discussions was brought up, with the contention being made that the Israelis were more involved and talking more and contributing more to the discussions.

Fogs of ideology on contested plateaux

Today we traveled to Kidmat Zvi, a serene country village in the northern part of the Golan Heights, in the north east of Israel, a volcanic plateaux above Lake Kinneret, i.e. the Sea of Galilee, i.e. the place Jesus allegedly walked on. Just before that we stopped off at Mount Bental, an outlook point where you can see into the Golan, Syria and Lebanon.

Meeting friends at the airport and history on a rock

We kicked off the second leg of our German-Israeli young leaders exchange program this Thursday when the Israeli group greeted the Germans at the airport. Some of the Israelis traveling from Jerusalem were late as their was a settler protest cutting off the exit to the capital, but we got there, and it was great to have the group together again. Some of the Germans were a little tired from the day’s travel, but once they put on their free Bertlesmann T-shirt with “Haven’t we suffered enough” written on the back, and got their first taste of Israeli cappuccinos, the color came back to their cheeks, and so did the smiles. It’s quite amazing that for some of the Germans this is their first trip to Israel – well, the Israelis found that interesting because obviously this is the most important country in the world and if you haven’t been here yet then you haven’t really lived yet, right?

What a day

Today has seen the embarkment to another extraordinary journey together.

The rest only the “Sprinkler dancer” will tell

Breakfast started with a lot of stress: Everybody was very busy trying to figure out which tour through Berlin one should take. Quite a challenge after one week of personal and group interaction in the set framework of the program! This is what we did:

Can we rub our shoulders more often?

We meet Dr. August Hanning from the Ministry of Interior (In Bertelsmann’s Berlin residence). Although he is an expert for internal German security question (he was formerly the coordinator of all of Germany’s intelligence services at the German chancellery – a very important man), we find ourselves once more talking about Iran, its nuclear program and what to do about it.

Assisted Cooking

It’s evening, I am watching the whole group cooking in a wonderful, creative and relaxed atmosphere. Although we had an interesting day with meetings in the chancellery, in the parliament and within ourselves, still I am moved by the intensive and emotional discussion we had yesterday afternoon between Israeli and German participants in the information centre of the Holocaust memorial and a dinner speech I held subsequently in the evening.