| With the school year beginning, the students and teachers of the AETP project in Eilat and Aqaba will also be renewing their activity as the project enters its second year.
"Aqaba-Eilat: One More Step Towards Peace" is a project funded by the European Community (Project code: Ref. EUROPEAID/122385/C/ACT/MULTI) to encourage cooperation between countries in the Middle East. Recognising that the true way to implement peace is through the civil society, mingling and recognising each other's equality, similarities, and ‘being people just like us' in spite of cultural, political, or religious differences, this EU project brings together students of the Rosary College of Aqaba (Jordan) and the Rabin High School of Eilat (Israel) for a 3-year project. Through sharing activities and companionship, respect and deeper knowledge of each other's cultures is achieved by the students, leading to better communication and understanding between the two groups. This can in turn be spread by the young people, who become ambassadors for understanding and cooperation.
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The project involves students from each country visiting the others' school and doing activities and studies together with their hosts from across the border. 450 students (225 from the Jordanian school mixed sexes, both Muslims and Christians and 225 from the Israeli school mixed sexes, both Jews and Muslims), and 24 teachers who received training and to organise and supervise the meeting sessions, are involved in the project. The students share activities in an arts group, theatre group, a website, summer camps, and more. Through doing things together and discovering a common language in many matters, the barriers between the two cultures are dissolved.
More detailed explanations as well as updates about the European Union's "Aqaba-Eilat: One More Step Towards Peace" project can be seen at the AETP website: http://www.aetp-project.org/
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