Milad Vosgueritchian grew up amid conflict in the Middle East. Instead of being embittered, he is dedicating his life’s work to peace.
This week, Vosgueritchian, the founder of a Waldorf-inspired elementary school near Jerusalem, will give two talks in Eugene, Ore., on the “transformative power of listening with empathy” as a way to resolve conflict.
Vosgueritchian will speak on Wednesday and Thursday as part of a multicity speaking tour to raise awareness about the school, House of Hope, and to raise money for it. The school is in Al-Eizariya, a community in the Israeli-controlled Palestinian territories known as the West Bank.
Ten years ago, Vosgueritchian and his wife, Manar Wahhab, started House of Hope as a community center to help Palestinian children cope with the stress of living amid the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The center became an elementary school in 2014, guided by the Waldorf teaching philosophy that emphasizes the development of a child’s spiritual and creative nature, as well as their intellect.
In an interview, Vosgueritchian, 34, said he has been influenced by the life of Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, Mohandas Gandhi and other leaders who believed in nonviolent resistance to overcome oppression. He also teaches the principles of nonviolent communication, alternatively called compassionate communication, to help young people overcome a tendency to react with hostility to real or perceived injustices.
Vosgueritchian grew up during the Palestinian revolt in the West Bank against Israel, conflicts over three decades that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis.
“As a young Palestinian Christian growing up in the suburbs of Jerusalem, I dreamt of living in peace with all my neighbors — Jews, Christians, and Muslims,” he wrote in an email from Minneapolis, one of the cities on his current speaking tour. “Unfortunately this was not the reality I encountered. I watched people around me from all backgrounds resort to hate, anger, and revenge in order to cope.
“Thankfully, I was mentored by elder community leaders who taught me the transformative power of listening with empathy and approaching each other as brother and sister,” he added. “Since then, I have devoted my life to doing whatever I can to support healing and nurturing the next generation of young Palestinian leaders working for justice and community health.”
Vosgueritchian this week will conclude his nine-city, five-state speaking tour in Eugene.
On Wednesday evening in Eugene, Vosgueritchian will give a talk titled “House of Hope: A Future for Palestine” at the Trauma Healing Project in downtown. On Thursday evening, he will give a talk titled “Love and Power: A Palestinian Reflects on MLK” at First Christian Church, also downtown.
Vosgueritchian and his wife first came to Eugene two years ago to give talks at Temple Beth Israel and First Christian Church. They stayed with Steve Goldman of Eugene, a retiree, who had met the couple on his trips to the West Bank.
Last year, Manar Wahhab spoke at the Village School in Eugene, which uses Waldorf and other arts-integrated teaching methods.
The House of Hope School has about 60 students who mostly come from Muslim families near Jerusalem. The school teaches “music, art, dance and theater to Palestinian children to give them a more hopeful vision of their future,” said Goldman, 68, who is Jewish.
