{"id":27212,"date":"2021-05-10T10:16:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-10T10:16:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/eng\/?post_type=news&p=27212"},"modified":"2021-06-07T11:53:00","modified_gmt":"2021-06-07T11:53:00","slug":"pioneering-disabilities-program-highlights-the-human-connection","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/friends\/news\/pioneering-disabilities-program-highlights-the-human-connection\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneering disabilities program highlights the human connection"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The website Israel21c profiles one of Ono Academic College\u2019s most exciting programs\u2014a pioneering two-year course on disability studies which is breaking barriers for both the disabled in Israel, and the very diverse Arab and Jewish students participating.<\/p>\n

A snapshot of psychologist Noorit Felsenthal-Berger\u2019s first Disability Studies class at Ono Academic College\u2019s Jerusalem campus shows a variety of skin shades, bare heads and religious head coverings.<\/p>\n

Undergraduates in this pioneering two-year pilot course simultaneously broke down two barriers: one separating them from fellow students of different ethnicities, faiths and cultures; the other separating them from Israelis with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Participants gained the knowledge and hands-on experience necessary to promote inclusion and education in their own communities. In the process, they formed personal bonds with classmates who they may previously have eyed with suspicion or fear.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll the masks fell away,\u201d one ultra-Orthodox Jewish student told Felsenthal-Berger at the completion of the course in June 2018.<\/p>\n

At first she hated sitting at the same table with Muslim and Christian Arabs, modern Orthodox and secular Jews. But the self-described \u201cright-wing settler\u201d found her antagonism quickly \u201cmelting\u201d as she listened to an Arab classmate speak with extraordinary compassion and sensitivity about people with disabilities. One by one, her admitted prejudices disappeared.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo this day I am still in contact with the [Arab] girl from Abu Ghosh who made sure there was a kosher shelf in the refrigerator for me,\u201d she told Felsenthal-Berger. \u201cYou provided a place where everyone could connect personally around a common goal \u2026 where it wasn\u2019t possible to hate, only to love.\u201d<\/p>\n

The full article can be found at https:\/\/www.israel21c.org\/pioneering-disabilities-program-highlights-the-human-connection\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Dr. Noorit Felsenthal-Berger (standing, left) and her Disabilities Studies students at Ono Academic College. Rasha Aliyan is in headscarf in front of the instructor. Photo: courtesy Israel21C<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The website Israel21c profiles one of Ono Academic College\u2019s most exciting programs\u2014a pioneering two-year course on disability studies which is breaking barriers for both the disabled in Israel, and the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":27213,"menu_order":30,"template":"","class_list":["post-27212","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/27212","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ono.ac.il\/friends\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27212"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}