Playing together for a peaceful society. Face-to-face: young Arab-Israeli citizens and young Jewish-Israeli citizens.

ABSTRACT for RC27 This “field case study” (developed on collection and analysis of primary and secondary data) offers a picture of the complex Israelian reality that, up to today, appeared less known and studied. In fact, to a large extent, investigations and reflections on the Israeli context are in regard mainly to the relationship between Israelis and Palestinians. In depth political and socio-political studies, interesting reviews on the Palestinian minority that, however, don’t touch the core of the problem - as urgent and, in our opinion, precursor of useful strategies also on the macro-social level - as the one that we explored: the relationship between Jewish-Israeli citizens and Arab-Israeli citizens in Israel. To be considered significant subjects inside the universe of reference of an investigation, represented for both the Arab and Jewish young people the beginning of a mature attitude towards a different “content of cultural belonging”, useful in order to give sense to the “formality of their official recognition” (the nationality) within the Israeli society. The evident “invisibility” of the Arab minority resides, however, in a historic development in which, as we saw, the Arab-Israeli collectivity has been subject to a process of cultural assimilation by the Jewish collectivity. The latter is in fact strong of a political power which is possible to recognize everywhere, in the streets as in the institutions and, therefore, in the mentality of the citizens. Confronted therefore with a very complex situation, sports appears as a possible common cultural horizon, through which to “interiorize democracy” (intended as an act of sharing and common responsability), to become actors and not only witnesses of the development of a “coexistence practice” between the two national groups - the Jewish one and the Arab one - inside the Israeli society. The sports associations movement, if better connected with the local context, could become the ideal terrain to create a privileged observatory and a permanent laboratory in which to elaborate and experiment with a “localized” pedagogy, “on the street”, through which to: gather the problems of the young people and “return to them” their experience through the elaboration on the side of the trainer-educator.