Former assistant coach pursues passion for international relations

By Steve Daniel

With the seemingly endless headlines announcing the latest violence in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one might be surprised to learn about an experiment in peace that has been quietly taking place for nearly three decades just off the main road between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Allison Greene (M.A. ’97, Ph.D. ’03) had not heard of it until she came across a job opening posted on the Internet by American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, whose Hebrew/Arabic translation is “Oasis of Peace.” But she liked what she was reading. A couple of weeks later she was working for the organization.

For the past year, Greene has served as assistant executive director of American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam. Founded in 1972 by Father Bruno Hussar, who was born to Jewish parents in Egypt, a Muslim country, and who later converted to Catholicism, Oasis of Peace was inspired by the Old Testament prophecy “My people shall dwell in an oasis of peace” (Isaiah 18:32) and is the manifestation of his vision to create a community where Jews, Arabs and Chris-tians could live together in an atmosphere of mutual respect.

Today, this 60-acre village is home to 50 families, half Jewish-Israeli and half Palestinian-Israeli, who continue to prove day in and day out that this Utopian-like community is indeed a successful alternative to the hatred and violence outside its doors. Another 300 families are on a waiting list. All of the families in the village are of Jewish, Muslim or Christian faiths, and it is governed by a democratically elected mayor and council. Oasis of Peace has been awarded peace prizes by organizations in six countries.

“What an amazing commitment this was for those families to make,” said Greene, “to take their toddlers, their spouse, and go and build a village on a barren hill because this priest had a dream.”
The first five families moved there in 1978 and the oldest residents of the village are now in their 50s. “They are truly pioneers who have remained committed to this concept. It is awe-inspiring,” she noted.

American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam was established in 1988 and today is one of a dozen similar organizations located throughout North America and Europe. The mission of American Friends is two-tiered: first, to raise awareness of the village, including its educational and conflict management programs, and second, to raise money to support these efforts. The village receives only 20 to 30 percent annually in municipal support – to help pay for such services as water, electricity, sewage treatment and garbage collection – from the Israeli government.

Greene, 36, who works out of the American Friends’ New Jersey office, is one of only three national staff members. The other two, one of whom is the executive director, are based in Los Angeles. The philanthropic agency reports to a board of 22 people as well as an honorary council that includes such luminaries as Elie Wiesel and Zbigniew Brzezinski. The organization raises $1 million a year, 85 percent of which goes to the village.

“I get to wear a lot of hats, which is typical of the nonprofit sector,” said Greene, a former assistant basketball coach for the Lady Monarchs. “You’re the same person writing a grant proposal for $200,000, taking out the trash, meeting with top donors and stuffing envelopes.”

Writing grant proposals is a significant part of her job. The agency submits up to 40 applications a month for small and large grants. Its three staff members also take part in outreach efforts, giving presentations to groups across the country. Greene, in fact, returned to Hampton Roads in February, making seven presentations in five days. Twice a year the agency sponsors a national two-week tour where it brings two residents of Oasis of Peace – one Jewish and one Palestinian – to the United States to accompany the staff on their talks. It literally puts a face on the positive things happening at the village and encourages financial support.

“We have so many donors who give $10 to $25 that keep us alive,” Greene said. “That’s why it’s so important for us to do grass-roots outreach. It’s gifts like these that buy books for the children.”
The village’s bilingual, bicultural Primary School enrolls more than 300 students, most of whom are bused in from 30 communities surrounding the village, and its School for Peace brings over 5,000 Jews and Palestinians together annually for encounter workshops and courses. Additionally, the village’s Center for Spiritual Pluralism and 41-suite Guest House attract people from all backgrounds for special events and educational opportunities.

Hearing Greene talk about the village, one comes away with a sense that she’s not just out to raise money for a good cause. She is truly passionate about world peace and believes that the way to achieve such a lofty goal is to start with the children. “I’m definitely an optimist with both realistic and idealistic tendencies,” she affirms.

In the 16 years it has existed, the village’s School for Peace has reached 35,000 people through its workshops and courses. Some are adults, but most are Jewish and Palestinian teenagers from high schools all across Israel.

“For some, this is the first time they are meeting a Palestinian or a Jew face to face, where they can have a conversation and talk about issues. That’s affecting change, affecting a whole new generation of future leaders,” Greene said.

“The kids who go through the workshops leave with a new-found understanding of their role in the conflict, and with tools they can use to elicit change. They can’t just go back to their segregated high school and not have a greater understanding, even empathy for the other side and what it has gone through, because they might never have heard it presented to them in the biased textbooks that both sides read from.”

It is in the Oasis of Peace’s Primary School, however, where the seeds of peaceful coexistence are best planted, Greene believes.

“You stop the cycle of hatred by reaching out to the children, because they’re not as biased, they’re more open-minded, they’re sponges. They accept each other’s differences. They have no idea of their parents’ cultural differences as they’re sitting in class drawing with crayons.”

The work to reach both children and teenagers, Greene says, is the key to peaceful coexistence. “We might not see it for another generation or two, but it is going to make a difference when these people are adults and in politics or other influential positions.”

As for the adults who have lived in the village for more than two decades now, Greene has nothing but admiration.

“The residents of the village do not proclaim that what they are doing is the only answer or the only solution to the conflict. In fact, interestingly enough, the politics of the residents are very diverse, but what they have in common is that the status quo was no longer acceptable and they wanted to provide an alternative living environment for themselves and their families.

“They don’t say that everyone should live in mixed villages. They’re just saying, ‘This is what we’re going to do, this is how we’re going to approach an alternative.’ And, basically, the bottom line for them is, that through dialogue, cooperation, mutual respect and understanding, they have been able to provide a model of peace, a model of coexistence.”

While theirs is not a Utopian existence in the strictest definition, the residents’ common desire for peace, their willingness to accept each other’s religious and political beliefs, their agreement to let go of old grudges or blame for real or perceived transgressions in the past, certainly makes Oasis of Peace an idealized society.

“You can have differences, you can even be adamantly opposed to someone else’s views, but the way to deal with these differences does not have to be violent,” Greene said.

Those who know Greene well were not surprised when she left collegiate coaching behind three years ago to finish her doctorate in ODU’s Graduate Program in International Studies (which she labels a “blue-ribbon program”), nor surprised that she turned down the 14 coaching offers she received since leaving the Lady Monarchs, promising salaries of up to $120,000, more than twice what she earns now. Her faculty adviser, Steve Yetiv, called her decision refreshing and described her as “a rare soul who truly gave up a major salary in order to pursue her intellectual dreams. Kudos to Allison.”

Greene, who was an All-Ivy League forward at Dartmouth and played one year of professional ball in Portugal, does miss coaching, however, and the ODU program certainly benefited from her 10 years on the staff under head coach Wendy Larry – seven years as a part-time assistant and three full time. She played a significant role in recruiting six future All-Americans, including Ticha Penicheiro ’97 and Clarisse Machanguana ’97 – who would lead the Lady Monarchs to the 1997 national championship game – thanks in part to her fluency in Portuguese.

Greene, in fact, also speaks French fluently and has studied both Russian and Spanish. She is now “dabbling” in Arabic and Hebrew as a result of her current position.

“Allison has exceptional people skills,” noted Larry. “Her ability to communicate with student-athletes, their parents and the general public was invaluable to our program.”

While Greene’s ultimate goal is to work in the realm of public diplomacy, where she can use her knowledge and experience in cross-cultural bridging to promote better understanding between the United States and other parts of the world, she is thrilled with the opportunity she now has to play a role in the pursuit of peace and understanding in the Middle East.

“I’m not Jewish and I’m not Arab, so it’s easy for me to be neutral and to see both sides,” she said. “At least in my heart, I believe both sides ultimately would like something other than the status quo, which would be some type of peaceful resolution to the conflict. No matter what your politics or what solution you think is the right way to go, I think both sides would be happy with something other than what’s going on now. At least I want to believe that, or if I don’t I’m in the wrong business.

“Not to believe that things are going to improve would be too dismal for me even to imagine. Some might ask, ‘Why bother?’, but if we sit back and don’t bother, then it won’t happen. We’ve got to at least try. There’s no excuse not to try to make things better.”

For more information about American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat al-Salam, go to www.oasisofpeace.org.