Middle East Initiative Student Life

Ready to be Surprised

In the 2018-2019 academic year, the Middle East Initiative, jointly with the Center for Public Leadership, offered funding to 14 of 65 students from the region to study at the Kennedy School. In addition to fellowship funding, MEI provides formal and informal assistance to students from the region, from encouraging student initiatives to career counseling. With the region producing seemingly daily news headlines throughout the year, students remained remarkably active on campus and MEI continued to offer support to these emerging leaders.

MEI spoke with Ariel Dloomy MC/MPA ’19, a recipient of the Sammy Ofer Fellowship and co-executive director of AJEEC-NISPED (the Arab-Jewish Center for Equality, Empowerment and Cooperation), a non-profit based in Beer Sheva, Israel dedicated to social change and Arab-Jewish partnership, about his time on campus and his plans after graduation. The Sammy Ofer Fellowship for Emerging Leaders from Israel and Palestine was established to support promising students from Israel and Palestine. Sammy Ofer, the Israeli businessman for whom the Fellowship is named, believed that education is an integral component of sound leadership and of promoting peace and coexistence in the region.

What did being an Ofer Fellow mean to you?

As an Ofer Fellow, this year-long experience far away from Israel and Palestine brought two vital advantages. First, I had a unique opportunity for cooperation, exchange, and friendship with Palestinian students. Second, I gained a fresh perspective that really only distance can offer. As a student at HKS, I was in the same position as my Palestinian classmate, with similar concerns and goals. I was able to interact with him not just as a representative of the “other side,” but in everyday circumstances. Furthermore, in Boston I had the opportunity as a foreigner to take a step back from the intensity of my life in Israel and look at the situation—and consider other points of view—through different eyes. In particular, the weekly discussion group on the conflict that my Palestinian classmate and I launched allowed everyone to talk through our ideas and reactions with our peers and learn from one another, in a very productive and neutral setting.

What was your favorite course at HKS and why?

One of the biggest benefits of the program was that I could take courses at other schools. Actually, it was an HBS course that made the biggest impression on me—“Business at the Base of the Pyramid,” focused on how to apply business strategies successfully in the poorest communities. The curriculum and discussions were really relevant to the social context in which AJEEC-NISPED operates in the Bedouin community, and I look forward to introducing some of the concepts that I studied.

What was your most meaningful experience outside of class?

I was really struck when my Palestinian friend from Gaza said that it was the first time in his life that he felt on equal terms with an Israeli. That is an experience that I never could have back home—were we to meet in Israel or in Palestine, we would be in fact legally unequal, regardless of how we treated one another. I only wish that more Israelis and Palestinians could have this opportunity.

How did your experience as AJEEC Co-Director influence your time at HKS?

My whole career has been based on cooperation: between colleagues but also between different groups in society. I need to understand the opinions and perspectives of other people, to learn from them, and to help them to learn from me in turn. This background was important preparation for my encounter with the diverse people at HKS.

You organized an event on campus to talk about your work at AJEEC. Why host this event and what were some of the challenges and opportunities you faced in hosting it and other dialogues at HKS?

It’s important to develop partnerships with people around the world, with different experience and perspectives. We all can learn from one another and we all can provide mutual support. Frankly, the biggest challenge was that the program was only one year. It takes a while to get to know people, and then all of a sudden, it’s over. And because of the short period, many students were reluctant to delve into truly combustible topics like the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for fear of creating misunderstandings that couldn’t be resolved quickly. Creating trust takes time. For me, though, the biggest victory was that over the past year, my Palestinian colleague and I did take the time to establish a relationship and get to know one another. And our dialogue group helped us to extend the conversation to our peers.

Are you still working with AJEEC now that you’ve graduated?

Yes, I’m back at my desk in Beer Sheva now, re-energized and excited. And I’m bringing new ideas from HKS to the field. Of course, know-how and experience on the ground can never be replaced, so I expect that some of these new initiatives are going to evolve. That’s an important part of the process—combining the best of theory and experience.

Did MEI affect your time at HKS? If yes, how?

I had the opportunity to attend many MEI activities that would not have been possible in Israel. The four-session study group with former Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad was the only chance that I have had to interact with a Palestinian leader and hear first-hand his perspective and vision. I very much enjoyed his study group on democracy in the Middle East.

What are you most looking forward to after HKS?

The end of the program doesn’t have to be the end of the friendships and partnerships I made. I’m looking forward to staying in touch with fellow MC/MPA alumni, and even to working with them. I’m part of an initiative developed by some classmates to combat extreme poverty in Uganda, emphasizing agricultural and community development. It’s an exciting project and I’m looking forward to seeing the results of our engagement.

What advice would you give to incoming students?

Mid-career students should remember that they have not been in school for many years. Success in the workplace is not exactly like success in the classroom. You need to give yourself space and not overload. And expect the unexpected—be ready to be surprised.

Innovating Past Intractability

Reem Jafari MC/MPA ‘19 is passionate about bringing opportunities and independence to her native Palestine. She came to the Kennedy School from a career working to find sustainable solutions for marginalized communities around the globe, including building the foundations for a future Palestinian state. The summer 2019 issue of Harvard Kennedy School Magazine profiled her time at the Kennedy School building her skills in leadership and negotiation, and the impact of the newly-established Rawabi Fellowship for Leaders from Palestine, instituted by Palestinian American businessperson Bashar Masri, on her journey.

Growing up in Deheisheh Refugee Camp on the outskirts of Bethlehem, Jafari has seen the challenges for Palestinians up close, particularly youth who face unemployment of around 35 percent. This spurred her to ask, “How can I give more opportunities to Palestinians to pursue further education, to reach their full potential, and to have a dignified life?” For her, “Achieving Palestinian independence and providing economic opportunities are crucial.” So, while a Rawabi Fellow at HKS, she focused on developing her ability to mobilize people toward a common goal and to conduct constructive multistakeholder negotiations, learning in particular from Kennedy School Lecturers Brian Mandell and Kessely Hong.

In addition to her classroom training, Jafari sees an important role for informal education, both in Palestine and at the Kennedy School, in making progress in Israel-Palestine. In Cambridge, she sensed the significance of putting a face to Palestine’s challenges, pursuing conversations with classmates within the unique intellectual crossroads of the Kennedy School. She also wants to bring her learning home, to build Palestine’s civic culture on a foundation of problem-solving, teamwork, and consensus building. In doing so, she is meeting Masri’s goal for the fellowship, to connect emerging Palestinian leaders to Harvard’s unparalleled network and empower them to tackle the challenges facing Palestine today and in the future.

Read the full HKS Magazine article online at hks.harvard.edu/alumni/hks-magazine/breaking-mold