Blog | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

Mayor Lion to Ma’ariv on Jerusalem Day: Biggest Achievement – Clean City

Last week, on Jerusalem Day, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion met with the Ma’ariv daily newspaper to discuss Jerusalem, Jerusalem Day, and Jerusalem since his election in December 2018. You can read the entire interview in Hebrew here.

Interviewer: We didn’t forget that our interview was scheduled in honor of Jerusalem Day…In celebration of this day, we wanted to know what the city’s significant accomplishments have been.

“My biggest achievement this past year is the clean-up revolution in Jerusalem,” he says. “Jerusalem is not as dirty as it was; it is now a clean city. We’ve privatized some services and also increased budgets. As a result of this transformation, Jerusalem is now completely clean, both East and West.”

Interviewer: You mean, the fact that until now we’ve seen a not-so-clean Jerusalem was due solely to a lack of budgets? Because when I asked senior officials in the past, they answered that it was the local mentality, and that there’s nothing to do about it.

“And here you see that really isn’t true. The proof is unequivocal. I can see it in the number of people who compliment me and say thank you, and that’s really exciting to hear. It turned out to be just the opposite: Many residents in all neighborhoods – the secular, ultra-Orthodox, Arab – cared, just like you, about the situation of clean streets in the city. Most of the public is interested in a clean city. And there was a significant revolution, which, of course, included the allocation of tens of millions of shekels to the sanitation department.

Many of these accomplishments have taken place thanks to the activists, from all parts of the city – secular, religious, Haredi Jews and Arabs – of the Little Prince – Cleaning Up Jerusalem Together initiative. Kol Hakavod, and keep up the good work!

Naomi Roff2020-05-31T15:27:27+00:00May 28th, 2020|Blog, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem, The Little Prince - Cleaning Jerusalem Together|

Santé Israël – Continuing to Provide Critical Information during the Coronavirus Crisis

Since the coronavirus crisis hit Israel – and especially the French-speaking community – in February, we’ve been updating you about the important work that Santé Israël has been doing. You can read about it here and here and here.

Marie interview withQualita

Santé Israël’s Marie Avigad continues to help French speakers in Israel get through the virus. In addition to ongoing work online and through the project’s Facebook page, Marie has also been providing important information via the Qualita organization, which seeks to assist French-speaking olim in Israel. She recently gave an interview, in French, obviously, she spoke about Sante Israel in general, and especially during the coronavirus period:

In a separate interview, Qualita Chairman Gérard Benhamou, thanked Sante Israel for its work (at 2.05)

Many thanks to the Pharmadom Foundation for their continued support of Santé Israël over the years.

Naomi Roff2020-05-31T15:22:05+00:00May 22nd, 2020|Blog, Cultural Competence, Santé Israël - French internet platform on the Israeli healthcare system|

The Coronavirus in East Jerusalem – JICC in Jerusalem Post

“What has changed these last years is the overtaking of the Jerusalemite identity over other aspects,” says Agmon-Snir. “Perhaps because of the security barrier, perhaps because of other things, like the geopolitical situation surrounding us, the understanding that they cannot rely on anyone else, the legitimate yearning for a decent life… all these together have finally ended up in a strong local identity.”

This is how JICC Director, Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir, described the situation in East Jerusalem in the Jerusalem Post on May 14, 2020, and how it reacted to the coronavirus crisis.

East Jerusalem

Earlier in the article he described the kinds of activities:

“There are many such associations – firstly, the local councils and community centers spread out in all the Arab neighborhoods,” says Hagai Agmon-Snir, director of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center (JICC) on Mount Zion. “They do have some problem of legitimacy as they are perceived as representatives of the Israeli authorities – mostly the municipality – but they manage to work with the population nevertheless.”

Other associations make an impact, namely Bahag al-Kalak in the Muslim Quarter, a welfare organization for the needy; the Edward Said National Conservatory; MiniActive, a womens’ empowerment group; and perhaps the largest of them all – Atta’a, which means “giving,” an organization that focus on exercising the rights of workers in regard to the authorities and private employers, he noted.

“Above all these, there are many WhatsApp groups, a lot of them of parents of students, and the ‘Maqdissi’ – literally the ‘Jerusalemites,’ which also has a Facebook page and is very popular. For example, this social media outlet has been extremely helpful and active in explaining to the population the dangers of the coronavirus, so that the closure of the mosques – including al-Aqsa – has been widely accepted. While some of these associations are still strongly opposed to any contact with any Israeli authority, others admit that in order to have a relatively normal life, they need to take into account the presence of the Israeli representatives, and firstly, the municipality. It is important to note that the JICC is not the ‘owner’ of these groups and their activities, but rather serves as a very neutral platform, to enable a cultural competency for the city and its residents beyond their different identities.”

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis the JICC has been and active leader in East Jerusalem, helping to lead efforts to combat the crisis. We are proud to be part of these efforts, and kol hakavod to civil society and its leaders and activists in East Jerusalem for leading the charge.

Many thanks to our partners who help us facilitate grassroots activism and civil society in East Jerusalem, including: The Jerusalem Foundation, the Natan Fund, the Russell Berrie Foundation, the Bader Philanthropies, the US Embassy in Israel.

Naomi Roff2020-05-16T05:51:22+00:00May 20th, 2020|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

Jane’s Talks Features JICC Effective Activism – Little Prince, MiniActive

According to Wikipedia, Jane’s Walk festival “is a series of neighborhood walking tours. Named after urban activist and writer Jane Jacobs, Jane’s Walks are held annually during the first weekend in May to coincide with her birthday.

Jane’s Talks schedule, including Little Prince and MiniActive

This year, as a result of the coronavirus crisis, the Jane’s Walk festival in Jerusalem, which took place May 7-9, moved online, to Jane’s Talks. On Friday, May 8, one of the Jane’s Talks featured a day about cleanliness, and featured our own MiniActive and Little Prince initiatives. They told their story.

Intisar, speaking about MiniActive’s breakthrough activities to advance garbage collection in East Jerusalem

Intisar spoke about MiniActive, how it began as a grassroots network of Palestinian women in East Jerusalem, and especially its “We don’t want to live in filth!” campaign, to advance garbage collection in East Jerusalem.

Tal spoke about the Little Prince

Afterwards, Tal spoke about the Little Prince, which was inspired by the success of MiniActive, and brought together activists from all neighborhoods in the city to work together to make the city cleaner. Moshe Cohen, a Haredi activist from the Geula – Bucharim neighborhood, also spoke about the process of the Little Prince, which began three years ago.

Moshe Cohen about Little Prince processes

Thus far, some 300 people have seen the video, through Zoom and Facebook. Here’s the entire video, in Hebrew, from Jane’s Talks’ Facebook page:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation, the Natan Fund, the US Embassy in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, and the Rayne Foundation for their support of the Little Prince and MiniActive.

Naomi Roff2020-05-23T09:19:40+00:00May 15th, 2020|Blog, Effective Activism, MiniActive, The Little Prince - Cleaning Jerusalem Together|

Managing Diversity and Cultural Competence in a Mixed Society – Workshop for Unistream

We’d been working with the Unistream organization for a few months on ensuring that their programming is culturally competent. When Israel went on lockdown in response to the coronavirus crisis, all (or nearly all) of our previously scheduled workshops and training sessions went online.

Bar Biran, Director of the Shared Living program, Unistream, with Dr. Racheli Ashwal a few minutes before the workshop

So on May 10, we held a Zoom session with Bar Biran, Shared Society program manager at Unistream on Cultural Competence and Diversity Management in a Mixed Society, together with the project’s managers and instructors. Bar had asked us to help her with numerous questions that come up regularly when working with a multitude of identities and ethnicities. To help her and her staff deal with those dilemmas, we designed a workshop that would give special tools and skills to the program’s instructors and coordinators.

The concept that guides us when consulting and advising organizations

The workshop participants learned the guiding principles of cultural competency that should influence everything they do, as they lead programs with participants from diverse identities.

rachelly2020-07-31T09:59:44+00:00May 15th, 2020|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in the Workplace|

Culturally Competent Health Care during the Coronavirus Crisis

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, we at the JICC’s Cultural Competency Desk are thinking about the multitude of communications challenges that require drastic changes in the way we utilize health services.

Cultural Competency Coordinators share experiences during coronavirus crisis

It’s not obvious that everyone can use health services via phone or Zoom. It’s not obvious that everyone knows and understands the health guidelines, even though they’re all over the media. It’s not obvious that someone who needs urgent medical care (especially not related to COVID-19) will seek it at this time. It’s not obvious that a hospitalized person will fully recover, if he doesn’t have extended family to support him. So much new uncertainty that has been added to the general state of uncertainty, which challenges the cross-cultural meeting even more.

On May 5, 2020 we held a professional development meeting (via Zoom, of course), led by our Dr. Michal Schuster, to try to explore these questions and issues, and to examine opportunities and existing responses that will help us overcome these challenges.

There were 30 healthcare professionals from all disciplines and all areas of the healthcare system, as well as those from professional schools for health care. They spoke about the challenges, as well as creative solutions that they’ve used. They shared their insights and original initiatives and noted the importance of cultural competency and adapting the medical response to diverse populations in a situation where the absurd has become the new normal.

One initiative was a “Zoom kiosk” for the ultra-Orthodox who didn’t want to use the Internet at home but needed to receive guidance or participate in different medical committees through Zoom; explanatory videos for populations who have difficulty reading technical documents; a voicemail-based service that made guidelines accessible for those without digital devices; and even purchasing tablets and providing training to connect patients relatives who are unable to visit due to strict guidelines.

This was all so amazing and exciting work, which already shows that while this is an extremely challenging era, it also offers opportunities for innovation and creative thinking, and many of the initiatives should remain with us to provide the best possible response, even after we return to routine. In the end, communication is communication, and caring professionals will find new ways to provide care and services.

We summed up the meeting with a range of practical and conceptual tips and recommendations, and invited all to consult with us further.

One participant noted, “Thank you for allowing me to participate in this amazing meeting, very exciting work.”

Here’s the Facebook post by Racheli Ashwal:

Here’s a Facebook post by our Michal Schuster:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their strategic support of Cultural Competency over the past decade.

Naomi Roff2020-05-31T15:26:53+00:00May 12th, 2020|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services|

MiniActive Helping during Coronavirus Lockdown

Each year for the past several years MiniActive has distributed food packages to needy families in East Jerusalem for the month of Ramadan. (you can read about it here.)

Packaging and distributing food

But this year, in the throes of the coronavirus crisis, with many East Jerusalem residents furloughed or newly unemployed, this distribution was more important than ever. This year, MiniActive worked in close cooperation with the municipal welfare authorities, who were also distributing food packages, to ensure that they were spread evenly.

Collecting huge amounts of supplies – what a project!

As in previous years they distributed a range of food staples – from tea to rice to oil to rice and pasta to tomato paste and more. Some 40 – 50 women helped to sort, package and distribute the packages. More than 220 packages were delivered. They delivered packagaes throughout East Jerusalem – from the Kufr Aqeb in the north (even across the security barrier) to the Old City and Sur Baher in the south. This year, because of the increased demand, MiniActive received special emergency assistance from the Jerusalem Foundation and the Leichtag Foundation’s Jerusalem Model. Thank you!

Also, many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and to Natan for their ongoing support of MiniActive!

Naomi Roff2020-05-16T07:10:49+00:00May 8th, 2020|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Health Care in East Jerusalem during the Coronavirus Crisis – 0202 Spotlight

Since the coronavirus crisis reached Israel – and Jerusalem – in late February / early March, the JICC has been on the front lines in a number of avenues in helping residents of East Jerusalem cope – with helping residents realize their social and welfare rights, with providing important community information and online activities, and, maybe most importantly, helping East Jerusalem’s grassroots civil society’s efforts to fight the pandemic in an area that on the one hand, requires cooperation with the local authorities in order to fight the disease, and on the other, in an area where relationships with any and all local authorities are complex at best, and non-existent at worst.

On Thursday, April 30, 0202 – Viewpoints from Jerusalem held an online session that spotlighted health care in East Jerusalem during the coronavirus crisis, featuring three local activists in East Jerusalem – Fuad Abu-Hamed, Dr. Samer al-Awar, Sameeh Abu Ramileh – who described their efforts amid the sea of complexities in East Jerusalem. The evening was moderated by JICC’s director, Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir.

Health above all else

They all spoke about their efforts, from coordinating medical care and testing in their areas to setting up quarantine hotels for those returning from abroad, and more. They described efforts in Beit Safafa and Sur Baher, in Silwan, and in Kufr Aqeb, a village under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality but on the ‘other’ side of the security fence.

They described an interesting phenomenon. On the one hand, opening statistics in East Jerusalem was not good. The area has more than 350,000 residents, who live in desperate poverty (80%), in poorly kept and crowded conditions, with a healthcare system that is sorely lacking in ‘normal’ times, with a mistrust of the Israeli establishment and the information that it distributes to the public, and often with a feeling that the same establishment is not interested in meeting that population’s needs. In such a state, the coronavirus could potentially spread like wildfire in East Jerusalem, and because many East Jerusalemites work in West Jerusalem, create a public health crisis in all of Jerusalem.

On the other hand, because of this fear, civil society in East Jerusalem organized quickly, with the JICC doing important work in coordinating efforts with the Israeli ‘establishment.’ Results on the ground seem promising – while there are cases in East Jerusalem (including Fuad’s own son, who is on the mend), thus far it hasn’t spread like wildfire as originally feared. And despite the challenging baseline situation, there was cautious optimism, even though the event was held at the beginning of the month of Ramadan, which has the potential of spreading the virus because of the traditional party-like banquets that are traditionally held nightly during Ramadan.

One of the reasons COVID-19 has been contained? According to Dr. Samer, “In East Jerusalem’s traditional society, the whole family lives together, including the grandparents. So when we say, ‘Stay at home, protect your grandparents,’ people take it very very seriously, and heed the warnings.”

This meeting was mentioned in both Hebrew and English articles in the Ha’aretz national daily newspaper. It also quoted JICC Director Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir on the healthcare situation in East Jerusalem:

“The advantage of the coronavirus crisis is that it’s not linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and can be dealt while disregarding political considerations.

“We see a trend in which the old orientalist concept, by which East Jerusalem is made up of villages, clans, and hostile Palestinian organizations, is being replaced by a new perspective – Jerusalem’s eastern part enables a civil society to flourish, and is home to activists and professionals, just like in the western part of the city,”

Hagai added that “It’s not that the old reality has changed, it’s there. But lenses that can see [East Jerusalem’s developing] civil society can see farther,” and can plan long-term processes accordingly.

There were some 100 participants in the Zoom call, and another 1.6 thousand views on Facebook Live. Here’s a recording of the live session, in Hebrew:

Many thanks to 0202 – Viewpoints from Jerusalem for the event, and to the Jerusalem Foundation for its support of our activities. And many thanks to the organizations that enable us to work effectively in East Jerusalem, including: the Jerusalem Foundation, the Natan Fund, the Russell Berrie Foundation, the Bader Philanthropies, the American Embassy in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Naomi Roff2020-05-16T06:08:31+00:00May 5th, 2020|Blog, Effective Activism, Palestinians/Arabs, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

Remote Medical Interpretation during the Coronavirus Crisis

Today’s world of coronavirus has, on the one hand, brought health care front and center. On the other hand, it has raised numerous new challenges, such as in the world of interpreting, especially – but not only – in medical interpreting.

The world of interpreting (oral translation) is undergoing significant changes during this period. Interpreters in meetings and conferences need to adapt to new conditions, such as the fact that they’re not in the same room or hall as the participants. They also do not always have the appropriate technical equipment to translate without interruption – sometime there is an unstable Internet connection, sometimes they need to translate to multiple participants, some of whom have background noise. In general – the overall uncertainty of this entire situation has upended the norms we had been used to.

Zoom on remote interpreting

Medical interpretation has faced significant challenges in Corona times. Since caregivers must provide urgent care to a broad range of communities, medical interpreters are more essential than ever. However, because of the rapid changes in healthcare provision – both for “regular” patients as well as for those with the coronavirus – many problems arise. For example, according to this recent report from the United States, in some cases, minorities who do not speak English receive misinformation or no information at all because there is no easy and available way to communicate with them through translation. In other cases, medical interpreters are exposed to infection because they do not receive minimal personal protective equipment (PPE) such as face masks. Many healthcare services did not prepare in time to provide remote interpretation services, and caregivers are not trained in using telephone or video interpretation.

At the same time, many interpreters are at home, some of them losing their jobs because they were mainly engaged in face-to face interpretation. Alongside the many difficulties, this situation can also be a great opportunity for learning and professional development. In recent weeks there have been numerous webinars about remote interpretation and we decided to be the first to discuss it in Israel.

Over 30 people in meeting

This week we held a special Zoom meeting on “Remote Interpretation during the Corona Period.” At the meeting, we presented the benefits and challenges of remote interpretation (which existed only in healthcare in Israel before the crisis), technology infrastructure necessary for remote interpretation, and tips for entering the field for interpreters who had not performed this kind of interpreting before. More than 30 interpreters: graduates of our medical interpreting courses, freelance interpreters, and students, participated.

Among the participants were representatives of the Tene Briut organization, which operates Voice for Health, the first telephone medical interpreting service in Israel. Iris Malako, a medical interpreter who was a former cultural mediator, presented the difference between face-to-face interpreting, cultural mediation, and telephone interpreting. Remote interpreting is more complex emotionally, technically, and from a communication standpoint, but it does have many benefits – it is immediate, focused, and there is more anonymity for the patient (which is why patients from a small community like Ethiopian-Israelis are happy to use it when discussing sensitive issues).

Iris Malako and Ilan Yavor, a Hebrew-English conference interpreter, helped us illustrate simultaneous remote interpreting, and we introduced several other technology infrastructures that allow freelance interpreters to provide this service from home.

The response to the meeting was excellent, and we hope it will encourage interpreters to learn more about remote interpreting now, and for the future, and broaden their professional skills.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continued support of cultural competency in Jerusalem.

rachelly2020-05-16T05:59:23+00:00May 1st, 2020|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services|

Window to Mount Zion – Virtual Yom Hashoa Commemoration at the Chamber of the Holocaust

Somewhere around 1949, the Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal arrived in Israel with a casket containing filled with vessels of ashes, remains of those who had been incinerated in Europe that he and other survivors had collected from throughout Austria, in an effort to erect a grave and memorial in the young State of Israel.

In those days, Samuel Zangwil (S.Z.) Kahana, Director General of the Ministry of Religion, was developing David’s Tomb and the area of Mount Zion, which, for the first time in history, was in Jewish hands, since at the same time the more traditional holy places (Old City, Western Wall) were on the other side of the border at that time.

On the tenth of Tevet 1950, the coffin containing the ashes was placed on Mount Zion, in a room named the Chamber of the Holocaust. The place quickly began to develop as an unassuming, traditional and religious memorial site that meets the human need for prayer and memory, and doesn’t subject itself to academic standards of historical research.

Chamber of the Holocaust: Zoom Discussion

On April 20, 2020, Israel commemorated Holocaust Memorial Day. This year, because the coronavirus crisis has kept most people at home and people are not allowed to congregate, our program Window to Mount Zion held a special online commemoration event on Holocaust Remembrance Day. The event featured a panel that included: Eli Dan, Director of the Chamber of the Holocaust, Dr. Zohar Maor, Researcher and Lecturer in History at Bar-Ilan University, tour guide Gavri Assouline, and Meirav Horovitz Stein, Coordinator of Window to Mount Zion.

Each of the panelists spoke about different aspects of the Chamber of the Holocaust – from the history of its establishment, to its history since then, to special artifacts that are found there to anecdotes about the unique experience the site provides. Dozens of people participated in the special event. You can watch the entire event here (in Hebrew):

Here is the Facebook post (in Hebrew) about the event, from the Window to Mount Zion Facebook page.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and the US Embassy in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv for their support of Window to Mount Zion.

Naomi Roff2020-05-23T09:19:08+00:00April 28th, 2020|Blog, Mount Zion|