Activities Session Two – Ethics & Tools

Introduction
Exploring General Ethics/Note
1. Society Rules
  1. Rules & Codes
  2. Alternatives:
2. Legal Dilemmas
  1. Ambulance
  2. Yosef Begun & Anatoly Schcharansky – Prisoners of Zion
Bridging/Purpose
1. Role Play – The New Student

1. Introduction

This is a short bridging session before addressing the main issues.

Purpose:
To address some of the ethical issues raised in relation to the disengagement process; through exercises in a more neutral, abstract or historical context;
To discuss accepted values and behaviours in the general and contemporary context;
To enable participants to try out and address modes of behaviour and values, in general;
To open and ventilate issues of principle before the focus activities;
To raise questions of extrapolations and parallels.

Note:
While contract needs to be renewed at the beginning of the session, this should be done carefully, as it may be questioned, once the potential parallels become clearer to the participants. This is particularly true for settings where participants hold strong views or have a personal connection to the disengagement process.

2. Exploring General Ethics

Note:
Society has rules, which is a point to make in the review of these three exercises to explore rules, law & order, democracy:

A] Society Rules (abbreviated) – options as follows:

1] Rules & Codes

By Schlomo Balsam

Two groups of 7-15 members work in parallel.

Each group must think up three secret rules about accepted behaviour that are non-verbal and can be used immediately, e.g. a group acknowledgement signal, dress code, permission to interact… They vote on the options and select 3 by majority [three minutes].
Practice this for a couple of minutes.
Each group selects 2 scouts to visit and observe the other group for two minutes, and try to determine what their rules are. Exchanges occur simultaneously and groups continue practicing their secret rules.
Scouts return to their groups and describe what they saw and whether they think they have worked out the rules, as far as they have managed [two minutes].
A second set of scouts are exchanged with the mission to try work out the rules fully and integrate into the other group's life [three minutes].
Scouts report back and say whether they managed their mission, how they were received and whether they would be happy "living" in the other group. The group summarises how the other group's scouts behaved in their group [three minutes]
All together, both groups present in turn what they believe to be the other group's rules, without response. Groups respond with the real rules only afterwards. Each group presents their experience of scouting in turn. Each group presents its perception of the way the other group's scouts functioned [six minutes].
Discuss the dynamics of rules and how we obey them.

2] Alternatives:

Simon Says; Yes/No/Black/White; 2-8 word languages…
Same discussion point.

B] Legal Dilemmas

1. Ambulance

Your mother has had a heart attack, you didn't call an ambulance as the nearest hospital is only 4 blocks away, but there is a red light ahead. Do you:

i] Stop at the light
ii] run the light ?

Discussion:
Do you have any other options?
What is the Law?
Think of a law that is important to you and say why?
Are there exceptions to the law? What are they?

2. Yosef Begun & Anatoly Schcharansky – Prisoners of Zion

Yosef Begun was sent to a Soviet prison camp because he broke the law in the USSR: he studied and taught Hebrew.

Anatoly Shcharansky (Natan Sharansky) was involved in the Human Rights Movement in Moscow and active in Jewish circles, too. He was imprisoned on trumped-up charges of being an Israeli spy and sent to the exile and forced labour in the camps, until released in a prisoner exchange.

Were their actions illegal?
Can a law be illegal?
Did they have other options?
What happened to the laws that sent them to prison?

Discussion:
What is the purpose of Law?
What are its limitations?
What is an "unconstitutional" law?
What happens when a law is in conflict with other systems?
What happens when we are in conflict with the Law?

3. Bridging

Purpose
To explore ideas related to the "day after" Disengagement, using the above group dynamics experiences.

A] Role Play – The New Student

The start of the new school year brings the news that there will be a new student in the class.
Split the group into small groups of four participants, where one is the new student. The other three have to try ways to make the new student feel welcome.
Each group discusses what works best, what is least helpful.

All the groups come back together and present their recommendations.

Review & Discussion:

What was learned from the previous exercises about being an outsider in the group?
Was this knowledge applied in finding ways to make the new student welcome?
After Disengagement, there will be lots of schools and communities with new students, new people: How will they be feeling?
How can they be made welcome – ahead of time, and after the fact?
Can we make a contribution?
What appear to be the main issues for the "day after"?
[Hint: Housing, employment, community & friends, education, status…]

Information Round-up
There may be a lot of questions about how people will acclimatize after Disengagement. Since it is difficult to prophesy the outcomes, we need to address the known facts:

Over 1,000 of the 1,700 families in the Gaza Strip settlements/N. Samaria have already applied for some kind of compensation arrangement, mostly including temporary housing and options to move into specific areas in and around Ashkelon and the Negev. (This proportion will probably rise.)
Experience with the settlers who were evacuated from Sinai in 1982 shows that those who retained a substantial group or community structure were most likely to find a new purpose in life and acclimatize over an intermediate period.
On the other hand, a significant number of those who relocated individually were most likely to have difficulties in finding employment and a new social identity; their children suffered displacement problems and the teenage drop-out rate from education was also high, affecting their chances of success in life – personally, professionally, socially.