![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.midnighteast.com\/mag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/02\/KevinSalemPeterYarrowclass_ElizurReuveni.jpg\" "\\"KevinSalemPeterYarrowclass_ElizurReuveni\\"")
<\/a>Peter Yarrow, of the folk trio Peter, Paul and Mary, performed at the 1963 march on Washington, when Martin Luther King Jr. gave the historic \u201cI Have a Dream\u201d speech. Before singing \u201cWe Shall Overcome\u201d at the Al Rashadiya School in Lod, Yarrow said, \u201cWe sang it with love and inspiration, America at the time did not allow blacks to vote, now we have an African American President. I sang with Martin Luther King Jr. in 1963. I saw this dream come to pass\u2026my dream is that all the children will be friends and will embrace each other, right here in Lod.\u201d Obama is indeed President of the US, but Martin Luther King Jr. was killed by an assassin\u2019s bullet. To quote Peter, Paul and Mary: No easy road to freedom.<\/p>\n The excitement of the children, educators and performers at both Ganei Ya\u2019ar and Al Rashadiya was touching and contagious. As the loudspeakers played \u201cDon\u2019t Laugh at Me\u201d while the musicians set up, a boy came up to me and said, \u201cI know this song!\u201d The song has been translated into both Hebrew and Arabic, and children at both schools know it well, singing it for their guests. Their eyes shone as they gazed at the famous musicians visiting their school, some even daring to approach them after the performance. Lod, one of Israel\u2019s few mixed cities shared by Arabs and Jews, is a city burdened with multiple problems \u2013 the interconnected loop of poverty, drugs, crime and violence. Any hope of change requires a sustained collaborative effort. The principals of these schools \u2013 Eduardo at Ganei Ya\u2019ar and Amin at Al Rashadia, along with the teachers and parents \u2013 are the ones who bear the brunt of the burden and on their shoulders lay the responsibility.\u00a0 The warm rapport they have with the students is an inspiring source of hope.<\/p>\n There is a potential for programs such as this to have an impact. \u201cWe also come from a place where there is hatred,\u201d said Iman Huni, a member of the Voices of Peace Choir, led by Idan Toledano, who performed with Yarrow that day. \u201cThe choir is half Arab, half Jewish. When we first joined the choir we saw the Jews as something strange. I had participated in leadership programs and other workshops at the Arab Jewish Community Center in Jaffa. The director suggested I try to come to the choir. It really connects people. We\u2019ve toured abroad \u2013 eating together, sleeping together. We\u2019re really connected. At first it was strange, but now, it\u2019s hard for me to hear people saying \u201cArabs\u201d or \u201cJews\u201d.<\/a><\/a>
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