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MEET: Sights and Sounds from Jerusalem 2014

Eva Vander Giessen
Eva Vander Giessen

This document summarizes the activities of MEET, a program that aims to educate and empower future Israeli and Palestinian leaders. It discusses various projects completed by MEET students, including apps and websites created to tackle issues like media bias and emergency response coordination. The document also highlights stories from MEET students about how the program helped them develop understanding between Israelis and Palestinians despite political conflicts, by providing opportunities to communicate across divisions and gain new perspectives on issues.

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MEET Summer 2014 Sights and Sounds from Jerusalem MEET aims to educate and empower tomorrows most promising Pales<nian and Israeli leaders to take ac<on towards crea<ng posi<ve poli<cal and social change in the Middle East.
Year2 students send an<-足racism message to their peers, based on their Deeper Understanding sessions and project
A moment of humor during rigorous project work on the final day of Year2
Lean business canvas prac<ce in entrepreneurship class: Minimum Viable Product demo
Teams reflect the diversity of Israeli and Pales<nian students from within Israel, East Jerusalem and the West Bank
More about team dynamics As part of building our network, MEET hosted groups of 10-足20 visitors throughout the summer program. Ben Wiener is a venture capitalist focused on Jerusalem-足based startups. ATer his visit to a Year3 computer science lab and a round table discussion with MEET alumni, he commented: The part that was unexpected and so interes3ng was how frontal the program is about forcing dialogue about the big issues rather than glossing over it. I mistakenly assumed that the methodology of something like this would be to have kids get to know each other and work on projects in order not to deal with the big issues, or to avoid or bypass them; this is far more interes3ng and probably more effec3ve. The highlight for me was when I asked the group I was with whether they argued more over poli3cs or over the app they were building and they all laughed and said the app!
MEET alumni like Yasha (right) were champions this summer, stepping up as Teaching Assistants to MIT Fellow Michele (leT), instructors, and more
Mustafa (top), Student Rela<ons Manager, takes a peek at Year2 projects
More about why they MEET MEET aZracts Israelis and Pales<nians who might not be otherwise drawn to dialogue or peace-足based programs. Natalie, an Israeli Year3 student, first applied to MEET because of the top-足notch entrepreneurship and computer science educa<on, not because she would meet Pales<nians. Now, she has become a voice for cri<cal thought among her Israeli classmates in school. Even though I don't agree with all the opinions of [people at] MEET, whenever there is a poli3cal argument with my class, I always make sure to bring up the other side... I want everyone to doubt what they think they know.
Focus is essen<al when students are working with world-足class curriculum designed by MIT
Two Year3 students make every moment count in the five days before they graduate
Waseem and Noga, Year3 graduates, share personal stories of MEET values like this one at MEET Gradua<on 2014
More about Wissam One of the most emo<onal sessions for students this summer was listening and talking about the hatred they witnessed from both communi<es during the Gaza war. Since most MEET students chose to friend each other on Facebook, they are in the rare -足 and difficult -足 posi<on of seeing comments and videos from the wider Israeli and Pales<nian network of their MEET friends. As Waseem, a Pales<nian Year3 student shared, I got hurt from my team members, and my team members got hurt, too, from the Facebook posts. The fact that they had a final project to complete propelled them to communicate and ul<mately reach a greater understanding. Waseem had faced cri<cism from his friends about coming back to MEET. ATer this summer, he found new resolve in why it was important to work together with Israelis to make a change in the region. He encouraged his younger brother to apply to MEET, and shared his experience in front of 300 Israelis and Pales<nians at gradua<on: Whoever is going to face me in the future and ask me about MEET, I am just going to say my story.
EXPOSE is a Year3 graduate project tackling media bias by providing bi-足na<onal news features
The video of EXPOSE presented at gradua<on: a website built on peoples opinions, which shows two ar<cles about the same event from two different perspec<ves (Israeli and Pales<nian), and gives people a stage to debate
More about media bias Media bias was a prominent theme in students' discussions and projects. Yarden, an Israeli Year3 graduate, did not stop at changing her own behavior with media. "First, when we were talking about the events this summer it was very hard. But here I've learned to listen to the other one, I've learned to appreciate the other approach. When I talked about the situa3on here at MEET with my Pales3nian friends I realized that we have different facts of it. They are following the Pales3nian media and I'm following the Israeli media. Then I started to follow also the Pales3nian media. I discussed this at home with my parents and now they are also watching the Pales3nian media, something that never had occurred to their minds before."
AidMe, Year3 graduate project, is a GPS based app that connects first aid givers with people who need emergency aid
NoBS, Year3 graduate project, is a website in which informa<on on current events is presented solely through videos uploaded by eye witnesses
Friends for Tour, Year3 graduate project, is an app where people who fit certain standards from Israel and Pales<ne can volunteer to guide tourists on a one day-足local life experience
More about bi-足na<onal rela<onships Costas is a tall Pales<nian student who graduated this August from MEET. He was nervous to be one of the six students who shared his story at gradua<on as he did not think of himself as a public speaker. Before he came to MEET, the only way he knew Israelis was from checkpoints, as soldiers. He spoke about an important moment from this summer: My Israeli friend at MEET, Aviv, talked about his cousin who lives near Gaza, and is five years old, who has to go to the shelter and has to have a psychiatrist to deal with the situa3on. But what he said aTer was he was truly sorry that the children of Gaza do not have sirens, shelters or psychiatrists. I knew that I had to talk with Aviv aTer the session. We did not solve the conflict, what we did is that we reached an understanding. And that inspired a lot of hope in me.
UnforgeZable gradua<on speech by Angelina and Yarden on behalf of the en<re bi-足na<onal class
meet.mit.edu rd@meet.mit.edu

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MEET: Sights and Sounds from Jerusalem 2014

  • 1. MEET Summer 2014 Sights and Sounds from Jerusalem MEET aims to educate and empower tomorrows most promising Pales<nian and Israeli leaders to take ac<on towards crea<ng posi<ve poli<cal and social change in the Middle East.
  • 2. Year2 students send an<-足racism message to their peers, based on their Deeper Understanding sessions and project
  • 3. A moment of humor during rigorous project work on the final day of Year2
  • 4. Lean business canvas prac<ce in entrepreneurship class: Minimum Viable Product demo
  • 5. Teams reflect the diversity of Israeli and Pales<nian students from within Israel, East Jerusalem and the West Bank
  • 6. More about team dynamics As part of building our network, MEET hosted groups of 10-足20 visitors throughout the summer program. Ben Wiener is a venture capitalist focused on Jerusalem-足based startups. ATer his visit to a Year3 computer science lab and a round table discussion with MEET alumni, he commented: The part that was unexpected and so interes3ng was how frontal the program is about forcing dialogue about the big issues rather than glossing over it. I mistakenly assumed that the methodology of something like this would be to have kids get to know each other and work on projects in order not to deal with the big issues, or to avoid or bypass them; this is far more interes3ng and probably more effec3ve. The highlight for me was when I asked the group I was with whether they argued more over poli3cs or over the app they were building and they all laughed and said the app!
  • 7. MEET alumni like Yasha (right) were champions this summer, stepping up as Teaching Assistants to MIT Fellow Michele (leT), instructors, and more
  • 8. Mustafa (top), Student Rela<ons Manager, takes a peek at Year2 projects
  • 9. More about why they MEET MEET aZracts Israelis and Pales<nians who might not be otherwise drawn to dialogue or peace-足based programs. Natalie, an Israeli Year3 student, first applied to MEET because of the top-足notch entrepreneurship and computer science educa<on, not because she would meet Pales<nians. Now, she has become a voice for cri<cal thought among her Israeli classmates in school. Even though I don't agree with all the opinions of [people at] MEET, whenever there is a poli3cal argument with my class, I always make sure to bring up the other side... I want everyone to doubt what they think they know.
  • 10. Focus is essen<al when students are working with world-足class curriculum designed by MIT
  • 11. Two Year3 students make every moment count in the five days before they graduate
  • 12. Waseem and Noga, Year3 graduates, share personal stories of MEET values like this one at MEET Gradua<on 2014
  • 13. More about Wissam One of the most emo<onal sessions for students this summer was listening and talking about the hatred they witnessed from both communi<es during the Gaza war. Since most MEET students chose to friend each other on Facebook, they are in the rare -足 and difficult -足 posi<on of seeing comments and videos from the wider Israeli and Pales<nian network of their MEET friends. As Waseem, a Pales<nian Year3 student shared, I got hurt from my team members, and my team members got hurt, too, from the Facebook posts. The fact that they had a final project to complete propelled them to communicate and ul<mately reach a greater understanding. Waseem had faced cri<cism from his friends about coming back to MEET. ATer this summer, he found new resolve in why it was important to work together with Israelis to make a change in the region. He encouraged his younger brother to apply to MEET, and shared his experience in front of 300 Israelis and Pales<nians at gradua<on: Whoever is going to face me in the future and ask me about MEET, I am just going to say my story.
  • 14. EXPOSE is a Year3 graduate project tackling media bias by providing bi-足na<onal news features
  • 15. The video of EXPOSE presented at gradua<on: a website built on peoples opinions, which shows two ar<cles about the same event from two different perspec<ves (Israeli and Pales<nian), and gives people a stage to debate
  • 16. More about media bias Media bias was a prominent theme in students' discussions and projects. Yarden, an Israeli Year3 graduate, did not stop at changing her own behavior with media. "First, when we were talking about the events this summer it was very hard. But here I've learned to listen to the other one, I've learned to appreciate the other approach. When I talked about the situa3on here at MEET with my Pales3nian friends I realized that we have different facts of it. They are following the Pales3nian media and I'm following the Israeli media. Then I started to follow also the Pales3nian media. I discussed this at home with my parents and now they are also watching the Pales3nian media, something that never had occurred to their minds before."
  • 17. AidMe, Year3 graduate project, is a GPS based app that connects first aid givers with people who need emergency aid
  • 18. NoBS, Year3 graduate project, is a website in which informa<on on current events is presented solely through videos uploaded by eye witnesses
  • 19. Friends for Tour, Year3 graduate project, is an app where people who fit certain standards from Israel and Pales<ne can volunteer to guide tourists on a one day-足local life experience
  • 20. More about bi-足na<onal rela<onships Costas is a tall Pales<nian student who graduated this August from MEET. He was nervous to be one of the six students who shared his story at gradua<on as he did not think of himself as a public speaker. Before he came to MEET, the only way he knew Israelis was from checkpoints, as soldiers. He spoke about an important moment from this summer: My Israeli friend at MEET, Aviv, talked about his cousin who lives near Gaza, and is five years old, who has to go to the shelter and has to have a psychiatrist to deal with the situa3on. But what he said aTer was he was truly sorry that the children of Gaza do not have sirens, shelters or psychiatrists. I knew that I had to talk with Aviv aTer the session. We did not solve the conflict, what we did is that we reached an understanding. And that inspired a lot of hope in me.
  • 21. UnforgeZable gradua<on speech by Angelina and Yarden on behalf of the en<re bi-足na<onal class