Arab, Muslim Israeli students visit Ripon Thursday

Young Arab Christian and Muslim peace ambassadors from Israel will share their dreams of a peaceful future during a talk at Ripon College on Thursday. The talk will begin at 10:45 a.m. in Bear Auditorium, Farr Hall of Science on the campus.

The visiting students are juniors and seniors at Mar Elias High School in Ibillin, Israel, one of Israel’s top-performing high schools, founded in 1982 by Nobel Peace Prize Nominee Fr. Elias Chacour. They will share stories about their families and villages, their dreams and their experience as Arabs living within the State of Israel.

Goals of the students’ presentation are to serve as bridges of peace and international understanding, to raise awareness in the United States about Israeli-Palestinian history, and to plant seeds of hope for a peaceful future. A number of the students on visit have been skyping with students in Oshkosh through a joint project with the Oshkosh Area School District known as the International Book Club Network.

The visit to Ripon was coordinated in part by Yessra Sankari ’16 of Oshkosh, Wisconsin, a chemistry-biology major.