This document summarizes the activities of MEET, a program that aims to educate and empower future Israeli and Palestinian leaders. It discusses various projects completed by MEET students, including apps and websites created to tackle issues like media bias and emergency response coordination. The document also highlights stories from MEET students about how the program helped them develop understanding between Israelis and Palestinians despite political conflicts, by providing opportunities to communicate across divisions and gain new perspectives on issues.

1. MEET
Summer
2014
Sights
and
Sounds
from
Jerusalem
MEET
aims
to
educate
and
empower
tomorrow’s
most
promising
Pales<nian
and
Israeli
leaders
to
take
ac<on
towards
crea<ng
posi<ve
poli<cal
and
social
change
in
the
Middle
East.

2. Year2
students
send
an<-­‐racism
message
to
their
peers,
based
on
their
Deeper
Understanding
sessions
and
project

3. A
moment
of
humor
during
rigorous
project
work
on
the
final
day
of
Year2

4. Lean
business
canvas
prac<ce
in
entrepreneurship
class:
Minimum
Viable
Product
demo

5. Teams
reflect
the
diversity
of
Israeli
and
Pales<nian
students
from
within
Israel,
East
Jerusalem
and
the
West
Bank

6. More
about
team
dynamics
As
part
of
building
our
network,
MEET
hosted
groups
of
10-­‐20
visitors
throughout
the
summer
program.
Ben
Wiener
is
a
venture
capitalist
focused
on
Jerusalem-­‐based
startups.
ATer
his
visit
to
a
Year3
computer
science
lab
and
a
round
table
discussion
with
MEET
alumni,
he
commented:
“The
part
that
was
unexpected
and
so
interes3ng
was
how
frontal
the
program
is
about
forcing
dialogue
about
‘the
big
issues’
rather
than
glossing
over
it.
I
mistakenly
assumed
that
the
methodology
of
something
like
this
would
be
to
have
kids
get
to
know
each
other
and
work
on
projects
in
order
not
to
deal
with
the
big
issues,
or
to
avoid
or
bypass
them;
this
is
far
more
interes3ng
and
probably
more
effec3ve.
The
highlight
for
me
was
when
I
asked
the
group
I
was
with
whether
they
argued
more
over
poli3cs
or
over
the
app
they
were
building
and
they
all
laughed
and
said
‘the
app!’
”

7. MEET
alumni
like
Yasha
(right)
were
champions
this
summer,
stepping
up
as
Teaching
Assistants
to
MIT
Fellow
Michele
(leT),
instructors,
and
more

8. Mustafa
(top),
Student
Rela<ons
Manager,
takes
a
peek
at
Year2
projects

9. More
about
why
they
MEET
MEET
aZracts
Israelis
and
Pales<nians
who
might
not
be
otherwise
drawn
to
dialogue
or
peace-­‐based
programs.
Natalie,
an
Israeli
Year3
student,
first
applied
to
MEET
because
of
the
top-­‐notch
entrepreneurship
and
computer
science
educa<on,
not
because
she
would
meet
Pales<nians.
Now,
she
has
become
a
voice
for
cri<cal
thought
among
her
Israeli
classmates
in
school.
“Even
though
I
don't
agree
with
all
the
opinions
of
[people
at]
MEET,
whenever
there
is
a
poli3cal
argument
with
my
class,
I
always
make
sure
to
bring
up
the
other
side...
I
want
everyone
to
doubt
what
they
think
they
know.”

10. Focus
is
essen<al
when
students
are
working
with
world-­‐class
curriculum
designed
by
MIT

11. Two
Year3
students
make
every
moment
count
in
the
five
days
before
they
graduate

12. Waseem
and
Noga,
Year3
graduates,
share
personal
stories
of
MEET
values
like
this
one
at
MEET
Gradua<on
2014

13. More
about
Wissam
One
of
the
most
emo<onal
sessions
for
students
this
summer
was
listening
and
talking
about
the
hatred
they
witnessed
from
both
communi<es
during
the
Gaza
war.
Since
most
MEET
students
chose
to
friend
each
other
on
Facebook,
they
are
in
the
rare
-­‐
and
difficult
-­‐
posi<on
of
seeing
comments
and
videos
from
the
wider
Israeli
and
Pales<nian
network
of
their
MEET
friends.
As
Waseem,
a
Pales<nian
Year3
student
shared,
“I
got
hurt
from
my
team
members,
and
my
team
members
got
hurt,
too,
from
the
Facebook
posts.”
The
fact
that
they
had
a
final
project
to
complete
propelled
them
to
communicate
and
ul<mately
reach
a
greater
understanding.
Waseem
had
faced
cri<cism
from
his
friends
about
coming
back
to
MEET.
ATer
this
summer,
he
found
new
resolve
in
why
it
was
important
to
work
together
with
Israelis
to
make
a
change
in
the
region.
He
encouraged
his
younger
brother
to
apply
to
MEET,
and
shared
his
experience
in
front
of
300
Israelis
and
Pales<nians
at
gradua<on:
“Whoever
is
going
to
face
me
in
the
future
and
ask
me
about
MEET,
I
am
just
going
to
say
my
story.”

14. EXPOSE
is
a
Year3
graduate
project
tackling
media
bias
by
providing
bi-­‐na<onal
news
features

15. The
video
of
EXPOSE
presented
at
gradua<on:
a
website
built
on
people’s
opinions,
which
shows
two
ar<cles
about
the
same
event
from
two
different
perspec<ves
(Israeli
and
Pales<nian),
and
gives
people
a
stage
to
debate

16. More
about
media
bias
Media
bias
was
a
prominent
theme
in
students'
discussions
and
projects.
Yarden,
an
Israeli
Year3
graduate,
did
not
stop
at
changing
her
own
behavior
with
media.
"First,
when
we
were
talking
about
the
events
this
summer
it
was
very
hard.
But
here
I've
learned
to
listen
to
the
other
one,
I've
learned
to
appreciate
the
other
approach.
When
I
talked
about
the
situa3on
here
at
MEET
with
my
Pales3nian
friends
I
realized
that
we
have
different
facts
of
it.
They
are
following
the
Pales3nian
media
and
I'm
following
the
Israeli
media.
Then
I
started
to
follow
also
the
Pales3nian
media.
I
discussed
this
at
home
with
my
parents
and
now
they
are
also
watching
the
Pales3nian
media,
something
that
never
had
occurred
to
their
minds
before."

17. AidMe,
Year3
graduate
project,
is
a
GPS
based
app
that
connects
first
aid
givers
with
people
who
need
emergency
aid

18. NoBS,
Year3
graduate
project,
is
a
website
in
which
informa<on
on
current
events
is
presented
solely
through
videos
uploaded
by
eye
witnesses

19. Friends
for
Tour,
Year3
graduate
project,
is
an
app
where
people
who
fit
certain
standards
from
Israel
and
Pales<ne
can
volunteer
to
guide
tourists
on
a
one
day-­‐local
life
experience

20. More
about
bi-­‐na<onal
rela<onships
Costas
is
a
tall
Pales<nian
student
who
graduated
this
August
from
MEET.
He
was
nervous
to
be
one
of
the
six
students
who
shared
his
story
at
gradua<on
as
he
did
not
think
of
himself
as
a
public
speaker.
Before
he
came
to
MEET,
the
only
way
he
knew
Israelis
“was
from
checkpoints,
as
soldiers.”
He
spoke
about
an
important
moment
from
this
summer:
“My
Israeli
friend
at
MEET,
Aviv,
talked
about
his
cousin
who
lives
near
Gaza,
and
is
five
years
old,
who
has
to
go
to
the
shelter
and
has
to
have
a
psychiatrist
to
deal
with
the
situa3on.
But
what
he
said
aTer
was
he
was
truly
sorry
that
the
children
of
Gaza
do
not
have
sirens,
shelters
or
psychiatrists.
I
knew
that
I
had
to
talk
with
Aviv
aTer
the
session.
We
did
not
solve
the
conflict,
what
we
did
is
that
we
reached
an
understanding.
And
that
inspired
a
lot
of
hope
in
me.”

21. UnforgeZable
gradua<on
speech
by
Angelina
and
Yarden
on
behalf
of
the
en<re
bi-­‐na<onal
class

22. meet.mit.edu
rd@meet.mit.edu