Our first visit of the day was to a vista above the Haifa harbor, above the Baha’i Hanging Gardens, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. We learned a bit about the Baha’i faith and the history of Haifa.
From here, we traveled to a semi-private high school, The Hebrew Reali School to meet with teachers and administrators about their curriculum. There are not many private schools in Israel and this was an interesting opportunity to see examples of how they are teaching English literature, making global connections, and embedding technology. There are some great opportunities to connect next year!
Then it was on to Beit Hagefen Jewish-Arab Cultural Center for an interfaith panel, with a member each from the Jewish, Muslim, and Baha’i communities.
The Muslim community in Haifa is largely Achmedian. This branch of Islam began in the Punjab region of India in 1889 and believes in non-violence and pacifism. The Baha’i began in Persia but one of their founders fled in exile to Haifa in the late 19th C, which became their world headquarters. Most Baha’i who live in Haifa come as volunteers from around the world on 2-3 year rotations and are not Israeli citizens.
In the afternoon, we went to Nazareth to visit the Church of the Annunciation. This is a church in honor of The Virgin Mary and the annunciation, the Christian celebration of the Angel Gabriel’s announcement to Mary that she would conceive and give birth to Jesus. I particularly loved the art of Mary from countries around the world that was found throughout the church. Also, it was interesting to see the stations of the cross in Arabic, since the parishioners of the church are Arab Christians.
On a more controversial note, our guide showed us the following signs, which greet visitors going to the Church of the Assumption.
This follows a debate between a radical Islamic group, Islamic Movement, the Vatican, and the Israeli government. Islamic Movement planned to build a mosque big enough to dwarf the church, which the Vatican fought and the Israeli government blocked. Today, a park was built by the government for all and Islamic Movement has a small prayer center with these -not so subtle- signs. Islamic Movement also built their large mosque farther away, up on top of a hill.
This post was originally posted at my travel blog Israel 2014: an Educator’s Study Tour