peacecamptexts

Triffst du einen Fremden, sprich mit ihm
peacecamp 2018 in Lackenhof und Wien

33 Jugendliche – jüdische und palästinensische Teenager aus Israel, ungarische Schüler und Schülerinnen aus Budapest und eine bunt gemischte Gruppe aus Wien, darunter Schutzsuchende aus Iran, Syrien und Afghanistan – verbrachten in der Abgeschiedenheit des wundervollen Ötschergebirges zehn gemeinsame Tage, die dem gegenseitigen Kennenlernen, dem Besprechen sozialer und politischer Gegebenheiten in den teilnehmenden Ländern, der gemeinsamen Suche nach kreativen Problemlösungen, dem Abbau von Vorurteilen und der Bildung gegenseitiger Wertschätzung und Vertrauen dienen sollten. Dabei wurden sie von einem 14-köpfigen Expertenteam begleitet, unter ihnen die Schauspielerin Anna-Sophie Fritz und der Musiker Lukas Hauptfeld, unter deren Leitung das Erlebte zur einer fulminanten show4peace zusammengefasst wurde.

Im Mittelpunkt stand die Begegnung mit „Anderen“ und die Bereitschaft, „fremden“, wenig geliebten, vom eigenen Bewusstsein ferngehaltenen Aspekten der eigenen Person sehenden Auges zu begegnen. So kam es in den täglichen, vom Gruppenanalytiker Thomas Jung geleiteten Großgruppengesprächen, an denen alle, Jugendliche wie Erwachsene, teilnahmen, zu bewegenden Momenten, in denen sich manch unliebsame, da Angst machende Persönlichkeitsmerkmale offenbarten, die sonst durch Verleugnung, Verdrängung oder die Projektion auf andere aus der bewussten Wahrnehmung der eigenen Person ausgeschlossen bleiben. Dies führte nicht nur zu so mancher Selbsterkenntnis, sondern zu höchst emotionalen Augenblicken, in denen auf Selbstenthüllungen statt der erwarteten Ablehnung empathisches Verstehen und Solidarität, Anteilnahme und Akzeptanz folgten.

Vier „Kulturabende“ boten jeder Teilnehmergruppe die Möglichkeit, die eigene Gruppe mit ihren religiösen, kulturellen, nationalen und anderen Charakteristika vorzustellen; hier stach die neunköpfige österreichische Gruppe hervor, in der alle bis auf eine Teilnehmerin sogenannten „Migrationshintergrund“ hatten, was sie aber nicht daran hinderte, als geschlossene Gruppe „typisch Österreichisches“ zu zeigen – Idiome, Tänze, Musik sowie „typisch österreichischen Humor“.

In den „talks4peace“ wurde Ernsthaftes besprochen: Fragen der persönlichen Identität, Minderheiten, Umweltschutz, sowie die Vorstellungen davon, wie eine „friedvollere“ Welt aussehen könnte und woraus sie beschaffen sein müsste.

Persönliche „life story books“ – eine Dokumentation der eigenen Familie – wurden in Kleingruppen vorgestellt; dies machte es möglich, einander wirklich kennenzulernen und zu erfahren, welche schwierige, ja traumatische Lebenserfahrungen sich hinter lachend-fröhlichen oder ernsten Gesichtern verbergen können – eine weitere Gelegenheit, Nähe und Mitgefühl aufzubauen und Vertrauen entstehen zu lassen.

Am letzten Tag wurden Urkunden verliehen: der von dem uns fördernden Erasmus+ Programm ausgestellte „Youthpass“ und das von uns verliehene Zertifikat „Ambassador of Peace“.

An der show4peace im Wiener Dschungel nahmen Oberrabbiner Arie Folger und die stellvertretende Botschafterin des Staates Israel, Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein teil; beide richteten bewegende Worte an die jungen FriedensbotschafterInnen, die,
das sind wir uns sicher, ihre Mission als Friedensbotschafter erfüllen und die in Lackenhof gesäten Friedenskeime in ihre jeweiligen Bezugsgruppen weitertragen werden.



show4peace/Vienna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPDV0DWl8HI&feature=youtu.be
pc 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mmHQOSRjm0
kiku: https://kurier.at/kiku/analoge-you-tube-friedens-performance/400065734
NÖ heute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQE4Vh8f0So&feature=youtu.be
haGalil: http://www.hagalil.com/2018/07/peacecamp-2018/

peacecamp 2018 wurde von Erasmus+ Jugend in Aktion unterstützt

Evelyn Böhmer-Laufer
Juli 2018

If you meet a stranger, talk to him
peacecamp 2018 in Lackenhof and Vienna

33 teenagers from four delegations – Jewish and Palestinian Israelis, Hungarians and Austrians, amongst those a small group of asylum seekers – spent ten days in the solitude of Lackenhof at the Ötscher mountains in Lower Austria. The encounter was meant to enable them to get to know one another on the individual as well as on the national, cultural, religious level, to talk about prevailing social and political issues of their respective societies, to try and find creative solutions to problems, and, last but not least, to replace racist prejudices and misconceptions with a more realistic perception of the respective other based on personal experience and own judgement.

The participating youth were accompanied by a team of professionals, amongst them the actress Anna-Sophie Fritz, the musician Lukas Hauptfeld and twelve other adults – (art-)therapists, group psychoanalyst, psychologists and four group coordinators, one per group. At the end of the encounter each participant was appointed “Ambassador of Peace” and a show4peace was put on stage, at which the young people showed a larger audience in a theatre in Vienna what peacecamp had been for them. This was attended by Vienna’s chief rabbi Arie Folger and deputy chief of mission of the State of Israel Hadas Wittenberg Silverstein who both addressed the young with profound words apt to encourage them to follow the path of peaceful coexistence and of non-violent ways to cope with conflict and problems.

The focus of peacecamp was the encounter with the “other” and the readiness to perceive others with one’s own eyes. Daily large group-analytical sessions led by group analyst Thomas Jung and attended by all, young as well as adults, enabled to become aware of unconscious, unpleasant or anxiety-provoking feelings, attitudes or traits which tend to be warded off by defence mechanisms such as repression, denial or projection on others; moments of self-disclosure and deep personal insight followed by emotional and empathic responses from the group threw new light on how participating individuals now perceived themselves and were now perceived by others.

Four culture evenings enabled each group to present their own group with its national, cultural, religious and other characteristics; the Austrian group, with only one of its nine participants an “autochthonous” Austrian while all others with so-called “migration background”, staged and stood together as a group, showing what they considered “typical Austrian” dance, music, folklore and humour.

In the “talks4peace” workshop, serious topics were addressed, such as a person’s identity, composed of, and formed by many different parts and influences; the teenagers discussed complex issues such as minorities, environment protection, women’s rights and what a more peaceful world would look like and be made of.

Personal “life story books”, a documentation of each participant’s own family history, were shared in small groups; this allowed getting to know, feeling close and establishing bonds. The knowledge of the difficult, often traumatic parts of people’s life history enabled to understand what funny, smiling or serious faces of peers would not necessarily reveal at a glance and to feel and express sympathy or solidarity with those who have suffered.

The “Ambassador of Peace” awards as well as “Youthpasses”, issued by the EU-programme “Erasmus+: Youth in Action”, were handed out within the last day’s show4peace in Lackenhof in the presence of public figures, filling all with pride and joy and giving hope that these young people will multiply the seeds of peace they have collected during their stay in Lackenhof.

show4peace/Vienna: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPDV0DWl8HI&feature=youtu.be
pc 2018: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mmHQOSRjm0
kiku: https://kurier.at/kiku/analoge-you-tube-friedens-performance/400065734
NÖ heute: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hQE4Vh8f0So&feature=youtu.be
haGalil: http://www.hagalil.com/2018/07/peacecamp-2018/

this peacecamp was sponsored by Erasmus+ Youth in Action

Evelyn Böhmer-Laufer
July 2018

assessment4peace17 (pdf, 446 KB)

If you meet a stranger talk to him
peacecamp 2018 in Lackenhof and in Vienna
July 3rd. – 13th, 2018

peacecamp 2018 will bring together teenagers from two conflicting groups of the Middle East (Jews and Palestinians) and youngsters from two European nations (Hungary and Austria), including minorities (Romes, refugees). They will be given preparatory assignments meant to trigger thoughts about the relevant social and political issues which impede peaceful coexistence within their communities and to encourage them to think about how people, groups or even themselves could contribute and enhance peaceful coexistence within their countries.

The contemporary social and political issues relevant to the participating groups will thus be brought to the encounter by the participants. These topics will be elaborated and worked through in various ways - through reflection, art and action and in different - playful, cognitive, introspective or other modes.

A number of workshops led by experts (artists, historians, teachers, psychologist, group analyst) will be offered to allow insights, learning, experimenting with, and experiencing new perspectives about oneself and others.

A final show4peace on stage will demonstrate the power of cooperation and of the resources inherent in multiculturality and joint action.

At the end of the encounter, within a formal act, all participants will be awarded the certificate “ambassador of Peace”

peacecamp 2018 will be filmed; each participant will take home a video to be shown to family, friends and peers. The film will be shown on several occasions (show4peace, Jewish film festival, schools, etc.).

peacecamp 2018 will be evaluated and assessed by external researches – a statistician and two clinical psychologists.


peacecamp is being sponsored by Erasmus+ Youth in Action

November 2018
Evelyn Böhmer-Laufer
Initiator and director of the peacecamp project