Attaa | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

Atta’a – Awareness-Raising Workshops to Improve Access to Rights

Atta’a is much more than a web site and Facebook page. An important part of Atta’a’s work is also giving lectures and workshops in the community.

Daud, Atta’a director, giving a workshop

During the past few months, Atta’a has been busy giving workshops – sometimes twice a day – on a number of different subjects. These include:

Rights from the National Insurance Institute in general
Rights from the National Insurance Institute on payments for the elderly, welfare payments, unemployment payments
Discounts on municipal property taxes
Rights from the Ministry of the Interior
Rights in health care

Sometimes he gave lectures by himself

And sometimes he gave lectures with Nadine, who is developing the health rights section of the Atta’a web site:

Lecturing with Nadine

All over East Jerusalem, from Sur Baher to Wadi Joz to Beit Hanina:

In the Wadi Joz Community Center

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and the Leichtag Foundation for their support of Atta’a.

Naomi Roff2020-01-10T20:51:32+00:00December 25th, 2019|Attaa, Blog|

Atta’a – Helping Residents Claim their Rights

What’s in a number? Sometimes little, sometimes a great deal. Especially if it’s an Israeli ID number (Teudat Zehut), that is given to all residents of East Jerusalem, which enables them to receive social, municipal, and welfare services.

Helping residents receive Israeli ID numbers

The Atta’a Assistance Center for the Rights of East Jerusalem Residents helps Palestinians from East Jerusalem on an ongoing basis. A few weeks ago we began helping a woman receive her Israeli ID number. This is crucially important, as it would entitle her to receive social and public services, and in general, be a registered entity.

We were introduced to this woman through a social worker who works at a shelter that helps disadvantaged women. There was a 25-year-old Arab woman from East Jerusalem who had no Teudat Zehut (Israeli identity card) number. Her parents do not recognize her as theirs and she isn’t registered as a citizen or resident anywhere. She’s lived at the shelter for the past 3 years. She met someone and wants to marry him, but legally she can’t do so because she doesn’ have an Israeli ID number. They tried to find ways around the legal issues, but we suggested she meet with a lawyer, a volunteer with Atta’a. The lawyer explained all sides to the issue and possible directions, as well as their legal, social and personal implications. The woman is working with a second lawyer, also an Atta’a volunteer, to apply to a special committee of the Ministry of the Interior that deals with humanitarian issues, so that she can receive an Israeli ID number, which is granted to all residents of East Jerusalem.

By the way, a lawyer who volunteers with Atta’a, and who also works privately on cases with the Ministry of Interior, told us that through Atta’a, 90% of the cases are approved. And through his private office, only 50% are approved. Great work, Atta’a!

We’ll keep you posted as this case unfolds.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and the Leichtag Foundation for their support of Atta’a.

Naomi Roff2019-11-20T07:07:17+00:00August 30th, 2019|Attaa, Blog|

Cultural Competency Renewing Skills at Sha’are Zedek

In recent years, we, together with the Shaare Zedek Medical Center, have organized two training courses in medical interpreting. Both courses were joined by bilingual workers and volunteers from Hadassah and ALYN hospitals.

It is very important for Sha’are Zedek to maintain the interpreters’ professional skills, who are called on to translate and interpret patient encounters, in addition to their daily work, sometimes several times a day. Therefore, these professional development days are organized, not only to give them additional skills and updates, but also as a way to appreciate their work.

Encounter for Medical Interpreters

In late June we held a meeting that was attended by interpreters who speak Arabic, Russian, Amharic and French.

We started the day with a discussion about advanced technological tools (artificial intelligence) that can help medical interpreters, and the biggest question of all – can a robot replace the medical interpreter? The answer right now is – absolutely not. Artificial Intelligence experts have made great progress in developing automatic translation tools, or tools to assist interpreters during work (currently for conference interpreters only). But these tools are not yet designed to deal with the unique features of medical interpreting – silence, repetition, a great deal of emotion, slang, various dialects and more. Not to mention complex situations and ethical dilemmas (the husband does not want the interpreter to translate into a wife, for example).

In short – artificial intelligence technologies for translating human languages are getting better every day. What looks like science fiction today will probably be a reality in a year. These tools will not replace human medical interpreters, but it is important to follow the developing technologies to see how we can improve the quality of medical interpretation, without fear of being replaced by robots.

Afterward, Shweki Majed, a hospital employee who is also a regular interpreter and who has taken several interpreting courses, shared with the newer interpreters how interpreting changed him personally and professionally. He told stories openly and honestly of dilemmas he encountered. Here’s an amusing story – One day, as part of his job as an interpreter he translated in the first/ second person, as advised in the training (“you should take the medicine” instrad of “the doctor tells you to take the medicine). Afterward, the patient insisted that he was the doctor, and not the actual doctor. After a few months, they met again at a family event and the person again insisted he was the doctor who treated them. No explanations helped …

Shweki Majed speaking to the forum

Ms. Vered Huber – Machlin, Director of the hospital’s Physical Therapy Department, was the third speaker. She has studied the field of patient experience. The health system and physicians are often focused on the illness, and she is bringing the field of medical interpreting to a patient-centered treatment regime – how the disease affects him, his concerns, the basic information he needs to receive, and ways to get him involved in the treatment. She talked about the interpreter’s unique role in this context, as well as its limits.

Interpretation as part of a patient-centered experience

Many thanks to everyone who organized this wonderful day, and especially to Tali Arazi and Efrat Cohen.

And of course, many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation, for its continued support of Cultural Competency over the past decade.

Naomi Roff2019-09-15T15:28:50+00:00July 18th, 2019|Attaa, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services|

Atta’a – Facebook Video on New Location of East Jerusalem Branch of National Insurance Institute Goes Nearly Viral

Atta’a is here to give Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem the information they need to help them in their everyday lives. One of the simplest, but most useful – and most popular – ways to do this is through short videos.

This video, for example, showed how to go to the Municipality.

And the newest video, below, shows how to get to the National Insurance Institute’s new offices in East Jerusalem. The National Insurance Institute is an important national welfare agency, and many residents are eligible for benefits and payments.

Daud at the National Insurance Institute East Jerusalem branch

Here’s the video from the Facebook page. Thus far, we know that some 30,000 people have seen the video, and it’s been ‘shared’ 90 times!!!

Many thanks to the Leichtag Foundation and the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of Atta’a.

Naomi Roff2019-04-06T05:55:52+00:00March 31st, 2019|Attaa, Blog, Palestinians/Arabs|

Atta’a – Success with a Little Help from Our Friends

The Atta’a Assistance Center for the Rights of East Jerusalem Residents has a variety of activities that aim to advance rights realization – from one-on-one assistance, awareness-raising lectures, help online. One of its main channels in recent years has been making the wealth of information accessible to East Jerusalem residents – especially online – via the Internet and social media.

Sometimes it just takes one Facebook post to reach the huge impact you were looking for.

From the Atta’a Facebook page

We were asked by the National Insurance Institute (NII) to write a post about the new location of the East Jerusalem branch of the NII. On the one hand, it was a simple post, basically “The National Insurance Institute has announced that the public will be received at its new branch. The new building is located on the 16 bus line (Highway 1), next to the Sheikh Jarrah medical center. You can reach it via the light rail.”

On the other hand, this information is so important to the 350,000 Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem who need to contact the NII. They posted it on their Facebook page, and over 13,000 (!) people viewed that post on their Facebook page alone! They also posted to other popular East Jerusalem Facebook pages, where even more residents saw it.

Here’s the original post in Arabic:

It’s always great to see when Atta’a’s activities have an impact. You can read more about that impact here.

Many thanks to the Leichtag and Jerusalem Foundations for their support of Atta’a.

Naomi Roff2019-03-22T20:07:21+00:00March 3rd, 2019|Attaa, Blog, Palestinians/Arabs|

Getting to Know your Rights with Atta’a

It’s time, and in fact, overdue, that we brag a minute about the Atta’a Center for the Rights of East Jerusalem Palestinians.

Daud lecturing in Shuafat Refugee Camp

Over the past year, Atta’a has built on its past success, and grown even past its former capacity. Examples of accomplishments this year include:

1,089 one-on-one consultations, 1,004 e-mail, Facebook and telephone consultations. This is a 30% increase in individual consultations over last year.
At least 4,000 entrances to our web site per month. The Atta’a web site is so popular that an Arabic-language Google search for ‘Israel Ministry of Interior’ lists Atta’a second, only behind the official government site.
Our Facebook community has seen a 40% increase, from 14,000 ‘likes’ at the end of 2017 to 20,000 today, a 40% increase. Even more important than the number of likes is the high rate of engagement. Atta’a’s Facebook regularly reach 2-4,000 people, including 50 – 100 likes each (active engagement) and numerous ‘shares’. Atta’a generally has at least 2 original posts each week.

In addition to the regular one-on-one consultations, Atta’a provides lectures in the community. On Tuesday, November 27, Atta’a Director Daud Aliyan spoke in the Shuafat Refugee camp, on rights available from the National Insurance Institute, as well as on how to make an appointment in the Ministry of Interior’s (Hebrew-only) appointment system. Atta’a deals with these issues on a regular basis, both on a micro level – empowering individuals to wade through the ‘system’ by themselves – and on a macro level – advocating on behalf of Palestinian residents of Jerusalem when it comes to issues of status, welfare and health care rights, and more.

As a result of Atta’a’s assistance, residents received over NIS 25 million, through payments from the National Insurance Institute, the Welfare Department, the Ministry of Interior and more; from discounts on property taxes and other municipal fees; from being able to legally work in Jerusalem, and more.

Daud tells of one case, which is representative of Atta’a’s assistance:

A woman recently came to Atta’a because her son, who has CP and is in a wheelchair, was receiving a monthly disability stipend of NIS 1,000. We were shocked that a child with such a severe disability was receiving so little. While she was there we asked her about a number of other rights and subsidies she and her family are eligible for – discount on property taxes (worth several thousand shekels), increased disability payments (given the son’s severe disability), a one-time subsidy of NIS-3-4,000, different health care benefits, and much more. In total, she and her family were able to receive tens of thousands of shekels.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and the Leichtag Foundation for their support of Atta’a.

Naomi Roff2018-12-29T10:40:20+00:00December 16th, 2018|Attaa, Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

Atta’a: Broadcasting its Expertise

We’ve already noted here how Atta’a has become the #1 go-to resource for East Jerusalem Palestinians seeking information about matters having to do with the Israel Ministry of the Interior, coming up first (even before the official site) in any Arabic-language Google search for “Israel Ministry of the Interior, Jerusalem.”

Long lines outside Israel Ministry of the Interior East Jerusalem branch

Now, Atta’a is broadcasting its expertise in mainstream Arabic-language media as well. On February 17, Atta’a Director, Daud Alian, appeared in a 25-minute interview on Palestinian television, describing the situation that many Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem face when trying to deal with the Israel Ministry of the Interior. Here’s the video, from the Atta’a Facebook page:

A few weeks later, a story on the same subject appeared in the Arabic-language East Jerusalem-based Al-Quds newspaper, the largest and most widely read Arabic-language daily newspaper in the Palestinian territories. Here’s a link to the online version of the article, and a picture of the printed version:

Article in the Al-Quds newspaper March 6, 2108

0202-Points of View from Jerusalem translated parts of the article into Hebrew. Here are a few selected quotes:

The Suffering of Those Needing Services from the Israeli Ministry of the Interior is Only Getting Worse

Daud Alian, Director of the Atta’a Center, which specializes in informing residents about procedures of the Ministry of the Interior, the National Insurance Institute and the Jerusalem Municipality, says that the situation at the Israel Ministry of Interior branch in Wadi Joz in East Jerusalem is tragic. He added that the tragic occurrence that happened yesterday, like every day…a long line of people waiting to get into the office, reminded him of the old Ministry of Interior branch on Nablus Road 20 years ago – only suffering and crowding.

Alian noted that the Ministry of Interior shirked its responsibility of setting appointments to complete different procedures. Instead, all appointments must be set through the ‘My Visit’ mobile app, which is not associated with the Ministry of Interior and which is only available in Hebrew and English. In addition, currently the app isn’t working and appointments cannot be made. He added that in most cases when residents try to call to make an appointment, the Ministry of Interior doesn’t answer. And if it does, they only speak in Hebrew.

Alian believes that the only way the problem can be solved is if large numbers of residents flock to the branch every day, like what happened yesterday. Only then, when the Ministry of Interior sees how bad the problem is, will something be done to relieve the situation.

And here’s 0202’s Facebook post (Hebrew):

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of Atta’a and its vital work.

Naomi Roff2018-04-21T09:26:13+00:00March 20th, 2018|Attaa, Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

Atta’a – East Jerusalem’s Go-To for Information and Assistance

Do you know how to get here?

Ministry of Interior Municipality office

This is the Israel Ministry of Interior office, within the Jerusalem Municipality complex, where Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem can go to change their address and register newborns. At the beginning of October, the The Atta’a Assistance Center for the Rights of East Jerusalem Residents posted a short video on exactly where it is inside this rather large complex of buildings, and exactly how to get here. Here’s the video:

This 1 1/2 minute video got over 20,000 views! (11,500 on the Atta’a Facebook page, and the rest as a result of the 138 shares)

Indeed, over the past year, Atta’a has become the go-to source of information for East Jerusalem Palestinians on issues regarding the Ministry of Interior, the National Insurance Agency, and more. Google “Ministry of Interior, East Jerusalem” in Arabic and you would expect to get the government agency. But what really comes up first? Atta’a.

Over the past year and half, since the launch of Atta’a’s new web site, Atta’a has become the authority for East Jerusalem Palestinian residents. Uniquely, Atta’a provides information that is geared to the needs of East Jerusalem residents, providing them with information regarding their Jerusalem residency status, family unification issues, etc., that affect only East Jerusalem residents. There are sites that explain in Arabic but often they are geared toward Arabs who are full Israeli citizens. There are also sites geared for residents of the Palestinian Authority, but these, too, are not relevant for Jerusalem residents. And residency issues affect them not only vis-a-vis the Ministry of Interior, but also in health care, welfare, social security, education and more. Explanations on the Atta’a site seek to be easy to understand, cutting through the bureaucracy as simply as possible. Atta’a provides step-by-step demonstrations in filling out different forms and going about different procedures, and is there to individually help residents when needed, both online and in person.

Likes on Atta’a Facebook page 2017

As we have seen in nearly every parameter, the demand for Atta’a is huge, and we are proud that Atta’a is rising to the cause. Here are some of Atta’a’s accomplishments in 2017:

The number of active entrances into the Atta’a web site increased tenfold! (In 2016, there were 3,631 entrances, and in 2017, 36,760 in 2017.)
The number of likes on the Atta’a Facebook page increased by 300%! (from 5,000 likes in 2016 to over 13,500 in 2017)
425 questions were answered by e-mail or telephone messaging.
In-person consultations at the three assistance centers also increased by 60%, from 500 requests to 800.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its support of Atta’a since its founding in 2004.

Naomi Roff2017-12-08T14:13:03+00:00December 1st, 2017|Attaa, Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive – Continuing to Go International

Do you know where Brno is? Did you know that Brno is the second largest city in the Czech Republic (pop. 380,000) with a considerable population of Roma (est. 15,000 – 17,000), most of whom live in abject poverty?

City of Brno

We reported here about a delegation from an organization from Brno, Czech Republic, who work with the Roma (gypsy) population there, who came to Jerusalem to learn about MiniActive.

In April, Intisar, director of the MiniActive program, and Daud, director of the Atta’a Center, traveled to Brno to provide workshops and hands-on learning to representatives of the IQ Roma organization, one of the largest organizations that works with the Roma population in Brno.

The IQ Roma building in Brno

It was quite an intensive, 3-day trip. The IQ Roma organization has been working with the Brno Municipality for the past 12 years, includes a rights department, a welfare department and a child care / development center. Intisar met with professionals, activists and residents. She learned about the Roma population through these meetings, as well as through a trip to the Museum of Romani Culture, which is housed in Brno. She toured the houses and apartment buildings where the Roma population lives (mainly public housing). She answered questions – lots of questions – about the process of the MiniActive program, about challenges, personal and professional, that she encountered, about achievements that they’ve accomplished.

Meeting with residents

Through these visits, Intisar learned about the similarities and differences between the Roma population of Brno and the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem. They both feel that they are suffering both because of the government actions (or lack thereof) and because of the actions of individuals in their own communities. Both populations have high rates of poverty. However, in contrast to the Palestinian population of East Jerusalem, the Roma population does not have a sense of belonging to Brno or the Czech Republic, nor is education for their children a high priority.

Presenting MiniActive

The latter part of her visit was dedicated to exploring if and how principles learned through MiniActive can be applied in Brno. This included meetings with the person in charge of dealing with the Roma population in Brno and his staff, none of whom were Roma themselves. One of the first recommendations (that was accepted) was to hire a member of the Roma community, to be able to better understand their needs on the ground.

Presenting even in IQ Roma’s in-house cafe

Intisar also became part of municipal policy planning for the Roma community. Most of the Roma receive welfare payments, but are required to do 20 monthly hours of community service in order to qualify. She, together with the municipal staff, began planning a program that would include cleaning public areas as part of the required community service. It is hoped that by starting with small steps and the satisfaction of seeing results quickly, will spurn further action and hope for the future.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of the MiniActive and the Atta’a Center programs.

Naomi Roff2017-06-30T15:29:32+00:00June 2nd, 2017|Attaa, Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Multi-Media Success for Atta’a on Facebook Live Stream

For many Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, issues of residency status are of the utmost importance, and affect every part of everyday life. The rules are many and confusing, and seemingly always changing.

This issue came to the fore recently, when a case that dealt with Palestinians’ Jerusalem residency status reached the Supreme Court of Israel. Often, residents receive residency status and must prove on an annual basis that their ‘center of life’ is in Jerusalem. Residency status is taken away from those who cannot produce this proof. After a 10-year process, the court ruled that no one who was born in Jerusalem and received an Israeli I.D. number could have their status stripped from them, and they do not need to prove ‘center of life’ in Jerusalem on an annual basis.

This new development created even more confusion. In response, Atta’a decided to have a live-streamed video session, with a lawyer who is a regular volunteer at Atta’a, on Facebook. The session included lots of questions and answers, moderated by Atta’a director Daud Alian.

The 1/2 hour session took place on Thursday, March 23. It focused on residency status and Ministry of Interior regulations, as well as other questions that came up.

Atta’a Facebook video March 23

This was the first time Atta’a had ever done anything like this, so we didn’t know what to expect. Indeed, it was a huge success! There were some 100 people who watched the video in real-time – considered a huge success in Facebook terms. 1,800 clicked on the Facebook post, 500 reacted, either ‘liking,’ sharing or commenting. Since that day there have been nearly 5,000 views of the video. It has reached nearly 20,000 people.

As a result, likes on the Atta’a Facebook page skyrocketed, as did clicks on the Atta’a web site. We’re already planning the next time we do it again.

Here’s the explanation that accompanied the video that was covered by the 0202 – A View from East Jerusalem Facebook page:

The Atta Center provided legal advice to residents of Jerusalem on matters of national insurance and the Ministry of the Interior and Health Services. They broadcasted a conversation with an attorney about residency and family reunification. This comes after a Supreme Court decision recognizing the special status of Jerusalem residents as “native-born residents” and non-immigrants.

———–
0202 Editors’ Note:
For the previous post about the Supreme Court decision regarding residency, see:
https://goo.gl/AkJvGr

To read more about the decision, including the status of residents of East Jerusalem, see the Haaretz article:
http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium-1.777750

#Residency #Law

https://www.facebook.com/AttaaCenter/videos/1347773378612508/

And here’s the video, in Arabic, from the Atta’a Facebook page (Click here for the original post in Arabic):

Congratulations to Atta’a for adding video to its toolbox of one-on-one consulting, seminars, lectures, through Facebook and its Internet site, to help East Jerusalem Palestinians navigate the quagmire of rights realization in East Jerusalem.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continued support of Atta’a since its founding in 2004.

Naomi Roff2017-05-19T16:11:48+00:00April 25th, 2017|Attaa, Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|