Inside Israel's Oasis of Peace, Palestinian and Jewish families are showing the world how the two sides can co-existTucked just behind the tree line in verdant countryside, obscured from the view of passing cars, lies an oddity of Israel.
But leaders of the Oasis of Peace say the community is an outlier against a national backdrop of violence and hostility toward Palestinians. To reach it, you must take an exit off Highway 1, a major artery linking Jerusalem with Tel Aviv, and follow a winding road that leads to a turn-off signposted in three languages."This is the only place I would want to live in in Israel these days," said Eldad Joffe, a Jew who chairs the local council.
In the Oasis, shielded somewhat from the outside world, children have been encouraged by adults to work openly through what they're feeling. Long-time teacher Yael Zaltzman corrals a group of excited children from both Palestinian and Jewish backgrounds in her classroom."We have a history. We know how to deal with difficult times with the kids," said Ms Salaimeh, who is the descendent of Palestinian refugees forced by Zionists from their village in 1948.
Visiting scholars, foreign dignitaries and tourists come to the village to marvel at its success, and remark that such an idea could become a blueprint for the rest of the country to follow.