Ten teenagers, five Jewish and five Arab, chosen from schools in Haifa, will embark on a 15 day wildlife expedition together in August through the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina.

Afterwards they will share insights on what they discovered about life, compassion and each other while traveling, working and playing together during their wilderness expedition.

This is the new Palestinian-Israeli Unity Project, which is a partnership between Outward Bound and Breaking the Ice, that strives to create positive relationships between the two conflicting peoples through a common, rigorous outdoor experience.

The Palestinian-Israeli Unity Project is designed to build understanding and unity among cultures in conflict.
In last year’s Breaking The Ice program, four Palestinians and four Israelis embarked on a 30-day expedition from Chile to Antarctica. The Unity Project aims to set up a similar experience for the Israeli teenagers, including a visit to Atlanta on Aug 25.

Organizers hope the participants will return home with a new crosscultural acceptance and emphasis on peace that they can spread to Haifa and the Middle East overall.

They will continue to meet twice a month to work on service projects, outdoor activities with other students, and discuss peaceful resolutions to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

[Related: Outward Bound, Breaking the Ice]