Last month, the Abraham Initiatives conducted an internet and in-person survey to examine the views Jewish and Arab students and teachers have towards other cultural groups, according to a letter sent to Education Minister Yoav Kisch on Thursday.
The letter noted that, based on the survey done through the Geocartography Institute, the situation is dire. The results showed an asymmetrical situation where Jewish students and teachers harbor more negative feelings toward their Arab counterparts. This came with a greater belief among Jewish students and teachers that co-existence is not likely.
However, the letter also claimed there was an “encouraging” result: exposing the two cultural groups to one another significantly mitigates the views of each group regarding their counterparts. The letter further claimed that this result “strengthens the belief in peaceful co-existence."
Summary of the results
The first subject that the Initiative’s letter raised concerns regarding hatred between the two groups. According to the survey, nearly half of the Jewish students (40%) reported high levels of hatred. In contrast, within the Arab population, less than a sixth (11%) reported high levels of hatred, and a third (30%) reported medium levels of hate toward their Jewish counterparts.
Among teachers, the figures were lower, with a little less than a quarter (23%) of the Jewish teachers and less than a tenth (9%) of the Arab teachers reporting high levels of hatred.
When asked about the levels of exposure each group has to members of the other group, most (81%) Jewish students reported that they do not interact with their same-age Arab peers. Less than a tenth (9%) reported that they frequently interact with Arab students.
Among Arab students, half of the participants reported frequent interactions with Jewish students. Among teachers, there is a similar gap between levels of interaction, where most (82%) of the Arab teachers interact with Jewish teachers frequently as opposed to only half of the participating Jewish teachers.
In addition to examining levels of negative feelings and interaction with others, the survey also tested for levels of knowledge and understanding of their cultural counterparts. According to the survey, compared to Jewish teachers, more Arab teachers report familiarity with the challenges and culture of the Jewish people.
Moreover, a little over a quarter (26%) of the Arab teachers reported empathy toward Jews, while only a little over a tenth (14%) of the Jewish teachers could report the same thing concerning Arabs.
Cross-cultural perceptions
According to the Geocartography Institute survey, participants who met with people from the other cultural group were more inclined to believe in the possibility of a peaceful life in Israel. The survey further shows that, similar to previous categories, Arab teachers and students were more open to mixed living and wanted to meet members from the other group.
Regarding the desire to learn about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, the gap between Jewish participant’s answers and those of their Arab counterparts was considerably smaller. In both cases, a little over half of the participants reported a desire to learn about the conflict.
However, when asked about learning Arabic or Hebrew, a little less than half (42%) of the Jewish participants expressed interest in learning Arabic compared to most (70%) Arab participants who reported an inclination to learn Hebrew.
The Institute’s letter presented data showing that half of the teachers, both Arab and Jewish, who participated in the survey expressed a need for additional tools to teach about the other cultural group. Furthermore, the same number of teachers also expressed an interest in interacting with teachers from the other cultural group.
Positive effects of interacting
Additionally, “an encouraging result of the survey is a significant positive correlation between interaction and views,” the letter stated.
According to the letter, the percentage of students and teachers who reported that they would feel fine had a family of the other cultural group lived near them was nearly three times higher after they met and interacted with members from the other cultural group.
Participants' views on the levels of hate became considerably lower post-interaction, while levels of affection rose.
The letter summarized the presented data, stating, “the significant positive effects of interaction between the two cultural groups clearly raised the need to dramatically expand interactions between Jews and Arabs that are in the Education system.”
The letter further adds that the Initiative has worked to create such interactions, including teaching Arabic and Hebrew, mixed studies on chosen subjects, and training teachers against racism. However, according to their letter to Education Minister Yoav Kisch, the Abraham Initiative's work was limited.
“Though today, in light of the escalation, the Ministery must expand these programs and implement them throughout the Education system to stop any further escalations,” the letter stated.