jicc | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

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The Arabic-Hebrew Studies Center in Jerusalem – Beginning of the 2008-09 class

On the week of October 26, 2008, we began another year of the language courses at the Arabic-Hebrew Studies Center.

These intensive courses are intended for professionals and leaders who need language skills in order to be more culturally competent in their work and activities. Participants include Jewish-Arab facilitators and project managers, Jewish lawyers who help Arab residents to gain their rights, Arab activists who work with Jewish NGO partners, people from the business sector who seek cross-cultural collaborations, and more. This project is funded by our strategic partner, the Jerusalem Foundation, with whom we share the belief that whoever works in an Arab-Jewish environment must have adequate knowledge of the two languages. Regrettably, up until now this approach is not well acknowledged in Israel. However, in Jerusalem, thanks to this project, we can see a significant shift.

Indeed, after only a few years, the results are noticeable. Jerusalem is probably the only city in Israel where most Jewish-Arab staff members have a good command of both languages. This transition has also affected the JICC itself – all our staff, including administrative staff, has elemental knowledge in both languages. Not many Jewish-Arab organizations can be proud of such an achievement – and remember that the JICC is not a Jewish-Arab organization, its West Jerusalem-East Jerusalem work is just a part of its undertakings

This year, in response to high demand, we opened two beginners’ classes instead of one and still had to screen the candidates. The intermediate course, which two years ago hardly had enough participants, filled up very fast, and the advanced course is also almost full. Just a year ago this group was half empty – there were simply not enough candidates for the higher level. The intermediate and the advanced groups are populated mainly by graduates of previous years.

One of the Arabic Beginners Course 2008-2009

This year we also added another aspect to the courses – although we focus on the spoken dialect, the participants will learn to read Arabic. The formal Arabic (Fus’kha) is very different from the spoken Palestinian dialect, which is taught in all our courses, so the students will not become readers of formal Arabic. However, they will be able to read names, signs, newspaper headings and similar – literacy at its best. This will be the next significant shift, as most Arabic-speaking Jewish professionals are unable to recognize their own name written in Arabic.

jicc2014-04-05T05:07:56+00:00November 5th, 2008|Blog, Courses, Cultural Competence, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Language Center|

Clalit HMO, East Jerusalem – adapting clinics to Arabic speaking patients – November 2, 2008

Kupat Holim Clalit, who is also the largest Israeli Health Management Organization in East Jerusalem, was the first to join the Jerusalem Cultural Competence in Health Project of the Jerusalem Inter-Cultural Center and the Jerusalem Foundation. As part of the process two steering committees were formed to tackle cultural competence issues in East Jerusalem and in the Ethiopian community.

Today the first meeting of the steering committee focusing on East Jerusalem was held in the Sheikh Jerah Clalit HMO clinic. This is the central clinic in East Jerusalem serving around 200,000 people. The committee drafted a list of many challenges in this clinic and in other parts of the East Jerusalem health system. It was decided that the JICC staff, together with Clalit staff, would map the main cultural competency issues in the Sheikh Jerah clinic towards the next meeting. In parallel, we will examine some of the issues related to Arabic-speaking patients who are sent to experts in West Jerusalem, most of them are Hebrew-speaking Jews. Language was found to be an important barrier, but also other cultural barriers were identified as central to the quality of health care.

Next meeting of the committee will proceed with the planning of the cultural competence project in the Clalit HMO.

jicc2014-04-04T12:54:43+00:00November 2nd, 2008|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Palestinians/Arabs|

Medical Interpretation Training – Alyn – October 30, 2008

Today, the first ever medical interpretation training in Jerusalem has commenced (see report on YNET, in Hebrew). This training is part of our efforts, together with the Alyn Hospital’s management, to transform Alyn into a cultural competent hospital, probably the first of its kind in Israel. The work with Alyn is a component of the Jerusalem Cultural Competence in Health Project initiated by the Jerusalem Inter-Cultural Center and the Jerusalem Foundation. The three days training is offered to ten staff members of Alyn hospital and four national service volunteers from Hadassah Ein-Karem Hospital. The cultural competence program in Alyn also includes training to medical, para-medical and non-medical staff (a pilot training was held a month ago; improving the hospital setting and signage towards different identities; raising awareness about these issues in the hospital; and appointing staff who will be responsible for promoting cultural competency throughout the hospital. The cooperation of the Alyn management in the process is of great help.

Alyn Medical Interpretation Training November 2008

The medical interpretation training encompasses theoretical lectures on translation and interpretation, presented by Prof. Miriam Schlesinger and Ms. Michal Schuster from the Bar-Ilan University, simulations, and language-specific training on medical terms and usage, in this case in Arabic, Russian and Amharic. The Alyn hospital currently formalizes regulations on how to effectively utilize its trained staff as interpreters.

Alyn Medical Interpretation Training November 2008

jicc2014-04-05T05:03:44+00:00October 30th, 2008|Blog, Courses, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services|

Synagogue set on fire in Lod – October 30

Unknown vandals hurled a Molotov cocktail into a synagogue in the city of Lod on October 29, 2008, sparking a small fire. No injuries were reported but the structure sustained a minor damage. While the police began its investigation the next day, the Mayor understood that such an event can spark Arab-Jewish riots in the city, and immediately called for a meeting with key officials and with members of the Lod Multicultural Forum. The Forum was initiated last year by Orit Yulzari, the Lod community worker, and is operated with the JICC’ day-to-day support. The Mayor has just recently, a few days ago, met the forum for the first time (read here about this meeting) and quickly realized that this group of committed community leaders can be pivotal in preventing events similar to the riots which broke out in Acre from happening in Lod. This was the first time for the forum to be summoned to help in such an event and the members were most helpful in delivering calming messages to their communities.

Arson in a Lod Synagogue

Later on the police arrested two Arab brothers who denied any connection to the case. The Lod Multicultural forum now has to ensure that peace remains in Lod in the coming days.

jicc2014-04-05T05:00:53+00:00October 30th, 2008|Blog, Outside Jerusalem|

Community Dialogue Course – Third face-to-face-meeting

On October 28, the third face-to-face national meeting of the community dialogue course took place. During the meeting the 20 course participants presented a written summary about the community dialogue tools that they have been investigating in the literature. This process continues the online discussion of the tools on the distant- learning platform of the course. The analysis, to be completed on the next meeting, serves to concertize the community dialogue approach and principles. Following this process, working in peer groups, the participants began to analyze their own community dialogue processes.

jicc2014-04-05T04:57:52+00:00October 28th, 2008|Blog, Courses, Gishurim - Israel Community Mediation Centers, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue Course|

The Lod Multicultural Forum – Meeting with the Mayor – October 27, 2008

Rarely does the Jerusalem Inter-Cultural Center agree to help creating community dialogue outside Jerusalem. The condition for such an involvement is the presence of local professional assets who can empower and facilitate the process. In Lod, Orit Yulzari, the municipality community worker, is supported by the JICC in creating a multicultural forum in the city. In the last two years, with our consultation, Orit succeeded to form a vivid group of local leaders and professionals from almost all the identities in the city: Muslims, Christians and Jews, all religious denominations -including Ultra-Orthodox, and almost all immigrant groups and ethnicities. On October 27, this group met for the first time with the Mayor, who was assigned to the post by the Ministry of Interior following the dismissal of the non-functional elected council. The forum members, who filled the Mayor’s chamber, updated him about the forum and suggested to make use of this asset in solving issues and tensions in the city. They also proposed to make Lod the first Cultural Competent City in Israel.

The Mayor, after meeting with the forum members, said how happy he was to see such an effective and diverse group in the city and asked if the forum would agree to meet with him monthly to discuss the many local issues related to identities and inter-cultural rifts. He asked Orit to write up a proposal for the forum’s work in the city and for its cooperation with the city council. He was especially interested in the Cultural Competent City idea and asked for a written proposal. Following an approval by the city council he would be happy to lead such a process.

The forum will soon discuss its meeting with the Mayor and based on this development decide upon its next steps.

jicc2014-04-04T12:54:43+00:00October 27th, 2008|Blog, Cultural Competence, Outside Jerusalem|

Gishurim Annual Conference – October 27 2008

On October 27, 2008, the Gishurim Program, which is a program to help Community Mediation Centers in Israel, had its annual conference. 300 participants from all around the country attended the conference, definitely the largest ever meeting of the community mediation centers in Israel.

Gishurim Conference Assembly 2008

The conference was implemented through the Open Space Technology and was facilitated by Daphna Barashi-Aizen, an organizational psychologist, and Tal Kligman, from the JICC. The conference focused on how community mediation centers can become more culturally competent in serving their diverse target audiences, and also in responding to the diversity amongst their staff and volunteers. Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir, the JICC director, gave the keynote presentation about the case study of cultural competence in the health system also in reference to the mediation centers. Following this presentation the participants discussed insights and initiatives in smaller groups. The summaries of the discussions were presented and follow-up initiatives were formalized for the coming year.

Setting Discussion Topics for the Open Space Sessions

A main discussion topic was the Acre riots and “the day after” – in all multicultural cities and communities in Israel. A few dozens activists and mediators came from Acre and helped the others to understand the background, the events and the probable consequences in Acre. Many other discussions touched upon the incorporation of new immigrants and different religious denominations into mediation centers. The discussions provided important insights for the activists in Acre as well as for those active in other places. The context of cultural competence offered an important framework for these discussions.

Open Space Discussion Group

All discussions and follow-ups will be documented on the Gishurim website and through the help of the Gishurim program, some of the initiatives will be implemented. The Gishurim program is being operated by Mosaica and the Jerusalem Intercultural Center.

jicc2015-11-01T18:09:21+00:00October 27th, 2008|Blog, Cultural Competence, Ethiopian Jews, Gishurim - Israel Community Mediation Centers, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Outside Jerusalem, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Acre Riots – October 10, 2008

Two days after the eruption of the riots in Acre, which began on Yom Kippur, October 8, 2008 (read here, here and here), we felt it was essential to reassess the situation in Jerusalem. Here there aren’t really any mixed Palestinian/Arab-Jewish neighborhoods, so our hope is that the events in Acre will not stimulate events in the city. Nevertheless, a few weeks ago there were some incidents in Neve-Yaakov and Pisgat-Zeev, two Jewish neighborhoods in North-East Jerusalem where Palestinians have recently bought apartments. We will have to keep up our attention in these areas, and probably also in other sensitive places where Jerusalemites might encounter each other on Succot and Simkhat Torah.

At the same time, since we have a role in the region as a consultant for inter-cultural issues, we talked today with officials in the Acre Community Work Department about their next steps there. In Lod, where the JICC consults regularly to inter-cultural processes and issues, we suggested that the multi-cultural forum of lay-leaders that we helped create in the last two years, will meet on Sunday, analyze scenarios for the coming week and suggest proper response. This forum also works with the local police.

We all hope that the events will soon be over. Most important of all, we do not want these events to deteriorate, as happened in October 2000. Although the formal mandate of the JICC is in Jerusalem, we feel responsible to share our expertise with other mixed cities in Israel.

jicc2014-04-05T04:51:18+00:00October 10th, 2008|Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Outside Jerusalem|

Distance Learning Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue Course

As a part of the Gishurim Program, which is an Israeli program supporting Community Mediation Centers in Israel, an Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue Course is offered to 21 professionals and activists from all over the country. The Community Dialogue approach, developed by the Jerusalem Inter-Cultural Center, is taught by Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir (Director, JICC) and Dr. Orna Shemer (Department of Social Work, Hebrew University). The course is heavily based on a distance-learning platform, and the participants research, learn and discuss through the internet, which is a great way to improve learning, overcome geographical barriers and enhance internet skills that are nowadays very helpful in community work. In addition, there are face-to-face meetings that add another important learning opportunities.

The curriculum focuses on methodologies for deepening democracy in a community, creation of better community partnership and solidarity, defining a community public sphere which is more just, and defining the conditions for a flourishing multicultural community. The course that began in September 2008 is taught in five units of two weeks each.

The Gishurim program is jointly operatied by Mosaica and the Jerusalem Inter-Cultral Center.

jicc2014-07-11T05:06:47+00:00October 6th, 2008|Blog, Courses, Gishurim - Israel Community Mediation Centers, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue Course|

Bridging the Gap – a training on Effective Activism

“Bridging the gap” is a project of the Jerusalem Foundation that aims to connect Jewish youth of various religious denominations. Originally it was described as follows:

This program brings religious and secular youth together to overcome stereotypes and work together in the community. Operating in 10 neighborhoods the program encompasses religious, secular and traditional youth movements, from various points on the political spectrum. They meet for mediated workshops, to plan together community activities, and to commemorate and celebrate national holidays and memorial days. On a citywide level the program uses a wide variety of arts – poetry, theater, photography, music and more – as tools to advance understanding among the diverse groups. These young people come together with common goals of creating a community and bridging gaps in society.

In 2008, the Jerusalem Foundation asked the JICC to help redefine the project objectives. This process resulted in the decision to move gradually toward teaching youth of various religious denominations how to recognize and define social change challenges, and engage in effective programs that would actually make a difference. Protests are not enough. Creating awareness to a problem is not enough. Even the youth doing the work themselves is not enough. A real change on the ground, even just a small one, is the main measure of success. You can read more about the project in this report. A major success was achieved this year when one of the groups, using docu-activism, managed to convince the owners of a mall to improve its disabled accessibility. Feel free to read more about this exciting success (in English) or watch part of the movie the youth made (in Hebrew). The story was also published in the popular youth weekly “Rosh Echad“.

On October 5 and 6, 2008, the JICC hosted youth coordinators from three organizations – the staff of the “Bridging the Gap” project – for training in effective activism. Using case studies, examples and discussions, the young leaders found effective activism to be a most relevant tool for their intended projects in the upcoming year of activity.

Guest speakers were Naomi Tsur, the director of the Jerusalem branch of the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel, and Shmuli Bing, from BeMa’agaley Tsedek (Circles of Justice). Naomi has succeeded, using effective activism methods, in bringing about many changes and having a significant impact on environmental issues in Jerusalem. Shmuli recruited youth to a social change struggle that strived to improve working conditions and salaries of low-wage cleaning staff in their schools. In addition, “Bridging the Gap” projects from last year were analyzed, and insights were drawn with regard to best practices in multi-identity effective activism. By the end of the training we all felt that the youth coordinators were now much better equipped to engage their youth groups with activism. Time will tell….

jicc2014-07-11T05:09:26+00:00October 6th, 2008|Blog, Bridging the Gap - a Jerusalem Foundation Project, Effective Activism, Jewish Religious Denominations|

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