Important note regarding the copying of programmes

Aims / Objectives :
Aims

To get the chanichim to empathise and sympathise with groups on both sides of the struggle.
To look at the paradox of having both land and peace.
To consider the complexity of the situation, rather than the media simplicity or judgement of friends/family on very little evidence or empathy.
To interact with the issue and have loads of fun doing it.
To make people realise Wales exists.

Trigger :
Trigger

This peulah is acted through as real incidents happening in real time. Madrichim must convince the chanichim of the breaking news and personal opinions with enthusiasm and realism for the programme to succeed.

Main part of the programme :
Breakfast::

At breakfast, an announcement is made at camp in the cheder ochel and the iton that overnight there has been a coup in Wales by the Welsh Liberation Front who want to give Wales its own government. In response to this, the British army was mobilised and invaded to restore peace and ensure the security of all civilians.

Ruach:

In the middle of Ruach, one of the Roshim will come in with an ‘email’ and whisper in the ear of the leader. The leader will announce that after Ruach has finished Nechalim must stay behind. When they do, the tzevet explains that as Nechalim are old enough to understand and act responsibly, they have decided that they should be kept updated on the situation mounting in England and on the borders. They are told that a very important article that had just been posted on the BBC website that out lined all the details of what was going on in Wales. This article will then be read out (written by me in language 12 year olds can actually grasp). A map will then be taken out to illustrate the actualities. It will also be told that many countries have come out in support of Wales (basically all of Europe lets say) and only a few for England (ahem America). One madrich/a will begin giving their opinion on the situation, and another will interrupt saying they can’t believe they’re pushing that view in front of Nechalim…it’s clearly the other way around. From there, the Rosh will intervene, saying we shouldn’t be having this conversation in front of the chanichim because they must make their own minds up by talking to the Madrichim themselves, and that we’re late for the outing. The aim of this mock argument in front of the kiddies is to get them interested and wanting to know more…generally when Madrichim can’t tell, people want to know.

Outing:

Throughout the outing there will be more news bulletins, and certain madrichim began to come out more in support of England or Wales. Clear ringleaders appear for each position, and the arguments for and against build.

e.g. the English occupation is wrong. It restricts welsh people from leaving the country, some of whom work in England, and there are reports of abuses by the army. Also, the welsh deserve the chance of independence, they are their own country and have been ruled by England for long enough…blah blah blah.

e.g England has been forced to, once again, sort out the instability of another nation. Wales has been a part of England since it was conquered in the middle ages and having a party like the WLF in power on English borders is dangerous to civilians of both countries…blah blah blah.

Throughout the outing the madrichim will be pushing their agenda on different groups of kids. Talking to them from their bias perspective and trying to win them over.

Aruchat Tzorayim

At lunch, the Madrichim will come in wearing badges they have made that say things like “Free Wales”, “support England” etc. These are worn by everyone, even if they’re not on nechalim, just to add to the effect. Hopefully the kids will want to wear them too, and so more will be made and given to the Madrichim, who can hand them out at every opportunity. Hell…go with it, make banners if you want.... “Save our little welsh nation”…

Free time:

Yep, it’s free.

Trading land for peace peulah:

At the beginning of the session, the very pro Welsh madrich/a call out a list of kids (the minority) to come and meet them in a different room. When they arrive they are told by the leader that they were brought together because over the day it has become apparent that they are they could be sympathetic to the Welsh cause. The madrich/a explains that they have welsh family, and they are part of the WLF, their ancestors have been fighting for their own country for hundreds of years. Encourage discussion from the group as how they should respond to the crisis.

The group left over is told by the other leader that the first group was taken away because the other half of the madrichim want to encourage support for welsh freedom. Because they think those chanichim are better than them. They are then pushed to realise that the English are doing what’s right. Given background history etc. Especially the idea of having a hostile neighbour on the border. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so bad if they hadn’t won wales fair and square, and if a moderate party wanted to take over. How can they let someone that wants all of England and won’t admit its right to exist have control? Encourage discussion from the group as how they should respond to the crisis.

Now we bring this all down to a micro level – play it out via a hyper-reality at Bramcote Lorne School. A rosh enters each room and hands the leaders a piece of paper. They read it, and explain that the Roshim have decided that as this is such an important issue, they have tried to come up with a way of getting Nechalim to understand how serious and difficult the situation is. They have decided as the senior tzevet (with Jenny and Jordan) that as there seem to be clear sides of supporters emerging, before everyone makes their final choice, they should put themselves in the shoes of who they are standing by.

Each group reads out the piece of paper they were given. This outlines the areas of Bramcote Lorne that they have under their control (classrooms, fields etc.) and the money they have at their disposal. They also have a military force listed. The piece of paper includes an agenda that their nation is trying to push.

e.g. Wales: Promote our cause. Promote our message. Push under the others. Make everyone understand the hardship and problems of the welsh as a sub nation and now there is an occupation of the british. Life is less important than liberty.

e.g. England: Ensure the safety of our borders and our citizens. Do not allow disruption to our daily life. Control those people that would threaten it. Use our strength to stress that life is important. Push the fact Wales is rightfully ours.

The rest of this peulah plays out like a strategy game. Begin by discussing what methods England/Wales should use to get what they want (England – both countries, wales – both countries, but basically, England – safety, wales – their own country). What do they think might be considered in reality?

The must select a first move each out of a collection: e.g. England: remove the army immediately and wait and see how it goes, try to establish talks with the WLO. wales: rally forces to fight the British army knowing you will lose, try to deal politically…etc.

These decisions are passed back and forth between the rooms by a UN delegate. With them comes the consequences: e.g.

England chooses to try and establish political talks and Wales tries to rally support from the country : both sides are told that sympathetic English people have been lost as supporters because the WLO isn’t willing to cooperate, but some support is gained by the WLO meaning less people are helping the British army….

This game has been carefully calculated so that by the end of the simulation each team will issue an ultimatum to the other which they are not willing to budge on. This will either be on the side of moderacy or extremeism, but come down to:
I’ll give you land if you have an election
I’ll begin to think about leaving you alone if you get out of my country

Once the ultimatum has been issued, the groups are brought face to face around the United Nations Table. The Madrichim take it from there, with two sitting in the middle like a fish bowl. They present to the two countries the options they forsee, which will be along the lines of:

I’ll make your life hell if you don’t recognise my right to exist
I’ll make your populace live in fear if you don’t give me my own country.

Clearly there will be a lot more, and the language will be kid friendly and less aggressive…

The sides must then vote for the solution they want, hopefully voting moderately, as opposed to in favour of occupation and terrorism…the sikkum will then look at all this in light of the idea that with someone else’s land cannot come peace, and in general with giving up a little land mean you get a lot of peace, and giving up a lot of land means you get a lot of peace.

Conclusion :
We’ll then see who clicked first by linking it all to Israel-Palestine. From there, we will clarify the fictitious nature of the situation, and how it was indeed a simulation of the current situation in Israel. We will briefly outline the reality, and have a short discussion looking at the complex nature of the real situation.

Resources:
all

Notes:
None