Hisham*, an Arab, and Miriam*, a Jew, are both 16. They grew up in Israel in a climate where suspicion, even full-blown hate, has set the tone of each towards the other.
The boy and girl are friends now – their friendship has this one thing in common: a Christian faith alien to the predominant core of their respective cultures.
They have come to know each other through Musalaha, an organisation working in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. True to its name, Musalaha – Arabic for “conciliation” – aims to bring Israelis and Palestinians together through the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.
Established in 1990, the charity runs camps where both Jewish and Arab teenagers can meet in a new place and learn new things about themselves and the “others”.
Recently, 10 Jewish and 10 Arab teenagers, all living in Israel – together with four leaders – journeyed together. All describe themselves as followers of Christ: the Jewish youths are part of Messianic congregations – ethnic Jews who maintain their faith in “Yeshua” (Jesus) as the promised Jewish Messiah – while the Arabs are members of their community’s Christian minority.
Read the article from World Watch Monitor on Sight Magazine.