Focusing on differences to promote tolerance of others is just one of the activities students involved in the Tri-Wizard project are being asked to do.
The two-year project is sponsored locally by the Youngstown Area Jewish Federation's partnership with Israel.
In all, 10 Israeli high school students, including five Jews and five Arabs, met up at the Jewish Community Center Monday. Ursuline High school students and local Jewish teens joined them.
"You really can't judge people at all," said Ursuline High School student Philip Monrean. "Even if they are so far away. Really they could be very similar to how you are."
One Israeli teen said Arabs and Jews don't normally study together in Israel and often have no idea about what the other is really like.
"That's not normal for Arab kids and Jewish kids because before Tri-wizard I didn't know any Arab kids," said Bar Beniashvilli.
In fact, before Tri-Wizard, Bar had a totally different opinion of Arab people.
"I thought that Arab were terrorists," he said. "That's if someone says, 'He's an Arab' I thought of someone with a gun or something like that."
Shattering those stereotypes is exactly why this program was put together. One student believed the only way people can do that is through each other.
"By talking and seeing each other as a human being," said Arab-Israeli student Osama Jarrar.
The International Tri-wizard project is a program that's designed to connect teens in Israel, whether Arab or Jewish, with teenagers in the U.S.
