More difficult than Noah's Ark

In Jerusalem, a mixed Arab-Jewish school is causing discomfort in the conservative Jewish neighbourhood of Pat. The School, which was built by an organisation with the name Hand in Hand, is the third school built and managed by this organisation. The schools allow Arabs and Jews to grow up together paving the way for a better understanding of each other.
However, the problem is not with the children, who, if left alone, would create a generation of people who are willing to live peacefully and put aside the petty differences and racism that roam this place. It is with the older generations who have these racist tendencies entrenched in their mindsets.
One woman from the neighbourhood where the school is built tells Haaretz "I've got nothing against Arabs, but why do they have to go to school with Jews?" Another resident says "It's the mixing between Jews and Arabs that's the problem. The rest pales in comparison."
Well, to any intelligent observer, it is the separation rather than the mixing that creates the problems we end up having to live with. If both people were raised to feel that they are equals then why would any of them discriminate against the other when they have the power to decide?
In the words of the school's co-principal, Ala Khatib, "It's harder than populating Noah's Ark." So is solving this ridiculous conflict which has taken way too much effort, time, money and more importantly, lives. But it remains an endeavour worth pursuing and an effort well placed.