Blog | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

Record-breaking Numbers as Arabic Courses Open

Before you learn another language, it often sounds like this:

However, Arabic is an official language of Israel, and the fact that relatively few Jewish Israelis are able to communicate in Arabic creates gaps in understanding and communication, right from the get-go. Since we believe that learning the language of the ‘other’ enables one to gain insight and understanding of his or her culture, we at the JICC have been operating Arabic-language courses for over 10 years. They are indeed, one of our longest-running programs. We continue to be the largest Arabic school in Jerusalem, and maybe the largest in Israel.

Studying Arabic

On September 1 we started up the Arabic classes once again, with our veteran teachers Anwar and Suha, and our newer addition, Gali. This year we had another record-breaking year – 16 classes over 5 levels – some 240 people registered! That is definitely a new high.

And here’s where studying Arabic with us can take you. As we were gearing up for the year our long-time teachers Anwar and Suha were in contact with some of their veteran students. Anwar called one of his students, Anat, who had been in his class from level 1 through level 4, but who hadn’t signed up for level 5 this year. “Anwar,” she said, “Because of the Arabic I studied with you at the JICC, I’m in Greece for the year, helping Syrian refugees. I’m actually able to communicate with them, and help them. Thank you for opening up this opportunity.”

Anat, we’re so happy you’re able to put your Arabic to good use.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of this program.

Naomi Roff2017-05-02T07:06:07+00:00October 16th, 2016|Blog, Courses, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Language Center|

On Our Way to Making the Entire Jerusalem Municipality Culturally Competent

If making Jerusalem a culturally competent city is to continue to be one of our main goals, then making the Municipality Culturally Competent is one of our major tasks. The task is huge – there are dozens of municipal departments and thousands – if not tens of thousands – of municipal workers.

Slowly but surely, we’re working our way through. In the summer we began in-depth processes with the Community Services Administration, one of the Municipality’s main arms. You can read more about it here. We’ve also begun working with the Comptroller’s office.

Learning about Mt. Zion from a Window to Mt. Zion perspective

Last week, on October 6, staff from the Comptroller’s office had an intensive learning experience in cultural competency, with Mount Zion as a case study. They first had a tour of Mount Zion by Merav, coordinator of our Window to Mount Zion project, with an emphasis on some of the many stories of cultural competence that the project has facilitated over the past year, from enabling Christian pilgrims to enter David’s Tomb for a short time during the Orthodox Christian Pentacost (in years past this has caused violent reactions by Jewish devotees), to sharing the Mount on the during the weekend when the Jewish holiday of Purim and the Catholic and Protestant celebration of Easter. (You can read more about the Window to Mount Zion project here and here, and about Purim / Easter here.)

After learning about the uniqueness of Mount Zion and the Window to Mount Zion project, we presented the Comptroller’s office staff with a general overview of the principles of cultural competency at our home on Mount Zion. This began the discussion on how to integrate these principles into the everyday work of the Comptroller’s office.

They told us how excited they were to see these areas in person. They’d dealt with a lot of issues on Mt. Zion, but had never had the introduction and explanations that we gave them. They were happy to get that different perspective.

We’ll keep you posted on future developments.

Naomi Roff2016-11-04T14:34:05+00:00October 15th, 2016|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

0202 – a Haredi Viewpoint – Launches

The largest population of Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) Jews in Israel lives in Jerusalem. Yet, ask any non-orthodox Jerusalem resident about burning issues in the Haredi community, and they will only be able to tell you about them from what they hear from the mainstream, secular media.

0202, a project begun in March 2015, aims to provide all Jerusalem populations with a window into the ‘other’s perspective, from their perspective. 0202 began translating news items from the Palestinian viewpoint. The Hebrew and English pages can be seen here and here. Today they have over 50,000 ‘likes’ combined and reach over 100,000 people weekly. As part of the 0202 philosophy, 0202 – A View from Haredi Jerusalem, began in September 2016. Many of its 2,300 ‘likes’ were received in its first two days on line; today the page reaches 10,000 weekly. Like its sister pages, 0202 – A View from Haredi Jerusalem reaches key stakeholders regularly: journalists, municipality figures, activists, journalists, Israelis and Palestinians, in and beyond Jerusalem.

0202 – A View from Haredi Jerusalem

Unlike its sister pages, 0202 – A View from Haredi Jerusalem does not need to translate. (0202-A View from East Jerusalem translates items from Arabic to Hebrew or English.) However, it does bridge a vast cultural divide between the ‘general’ (secular and modern orthodox) Jewish population and the Haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) population of the city.

First, it breaks a few stereotypes of how information is transferred. Many believe the main avenue is through pahskevilim and print media.

Reading pashkevilim

While this practice still continues, today there are a number of web sites and Facebook pages that serve the Haredi community of today. Here are some examples of interesting posts over the past month.

Here is a recent post dealing with discrimination of girls from a non-Ashkenazi origin:

The Haredi press dealt with this issue at length at the beginning of the school year as well:

This issue has been a recurring problem at the beginning of the school year for several years. Click here for an article from the secular Ynet news on the subject, from a few years ago.

Two different perspectives of a cultural event – which featured women singing – that was disrupted by members of the Haredi population. The post reads, “Dozens of activists break into a missionary conference in Jerusalem.”:

And here’s the way the organizers presented it:

Event with Armenian choir

And the Times of Israel (secular) coverage of the event.

And here is what others are saying about the page:

From the excellent people at 0202-A View from East Jerusalem, introducing the next project: “A View from Haredi Jerusalem.” They continue to bring items from the Haredi world from outside our Facebook sound box. Here, there might not be a language barrier, but how many of us seriously follow the Haredi media? I promise that it’s fascinating. Congratulations to Michal Shilor, Hagai Agmon-Snir and everyone else working on the project…P.S. Waiting for the completion of the set, “View from West Jerusalem” in Arabic.

Here’s the post in Hebrew:

Welcome to the world, 0202-A View from Haredi Jerusalem. May your posts and the discussions they raise serve to increase understanding among the populations of Jerusalem.

Naomi Roff2019-11-16T12:12:52+00:00October 12th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Our Cultural Competency Training for Police Makes Walla! News Site

Did you hear about the time when the police came into an tempestuous situation involving Ethiopians/Haredim/Arabs, and they succeeded in calming the waters, without incident and without anyone getting hurt?

Not usually your top headline. However, that is what we, together with the Israel Police Force, are striving for. We’ve been working with the Police over the past year to instill principles of cultural competency into the everyday training. You can read about this work with both officers and trainees, at the National Police Academy and at different police stations, here and here.

Recently, this ongoing training was covered by Walla! news in Hebrew, a major Internet news site in Israel. Click here to for the link to the entire article and accompanying video in Hebrew. Click here to view a PDF version of the article.

Walla article

How will this training affect police officers’ responses to everyday incidents? David Shoshan, one of the officers in the training course, noted in the video above, that:

The training basically opened my eyes to the different populations we serve. That, when we’re called to an incident, I might need to act a little differently, try to respect the people’s particular customs. Our main goal is to try to ensure that the incident is over as quickly as possible, that it’s been dealt with in the most professional manner as possible, in the calmest way possible, so that we can do our jobs as best as possible.

Thanks David. Let’s hope the other tens of thousands of police officers throughout Israel were paying attention as well.

Naomi Roff2016-10-22T15:32:56+00:00October 10th, 2016|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Police, Ethiopian Community - Talpiot Community Dialogue, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

MiniActive Youth – Leaving their Mark on East Jerusalem

Our MiniActive Youth continued to leave their mark on East Jerusalem, in only the best of ways. This past week they finished several new decorating projects in the Wadi Joz neighborhood.

Where is that path leading to?

They painted part of a wall

One of several undergoing a facelift

As well as a number of garbage receptacles.

And yet another one

It’s never been so fun to take out the trash!

And yet another

Many continued thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their ongoing support of this project.

They didn’t paint only garbage receptacles

Here’s the original Facebook post in Arabic:

Naomi Roff2016-10-23T16:10:53+00:00October 7th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Dreaming the Future of Jerusalem – A Panel of Experts

How does a day in future, tolerant, open Jerusalem look?

According to Yair, in his dreams (which, he claims, will come true in about 2-3 years), Jerusalemites will speak to each other in the ‘other’s’ language. An East Jerusalemite Arab woman will meet a West Jerusalemite Jewish man, she will speak in Hebrew and he in Arabic. Jerusalemites find ways to meet in the middle and communicate with one another.

Shmuel Drilman, another participant, said:

I explained the difference between a melting pot philosophy and a multicultural philosophy that encourages mutual tolerance and respect for others’ world view. It is difficult for me to respect ‘values of tolerance’ that call for wars against Haredim living in Kiryat Hayovel, events adapted to the religious community, or even the sale of materials that call people to ‘return to the fold’ in local supermarkets. I believe that this is not multi-culturalism, it is culture war. On the other hand, it is difficult to deny that the challenge for the Haredi population in establishing a multi-cultural space as required for life in the 21st century is greater – are we really able to come to terms with secular people living in Haredi neighborhoods? Civil marriages? Breaking of the Sabbath with our tax money? Somehow I was left with the feeling that the challenge of Tolerant Jerusalem is far from being overcome.

Yair and Shmuel were part of a panel entitled, “Jerusalem – Tolerant City” that we organized, together with the Ahuzat Beit Hakerem sheltered housing residence. Some 300 residents listened intently and asked panelists difficult questions.

Panel members pose for a group picture

Moderated by our own director, Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir, panelists included:

Inbal Cohen, Director of Yeru-Shalem: The Coalition for a Pluralist Jerusalem
Shmuel Drilman, one of the Founders of “Haredim for Peace” and a social activist in the area of religious-secular relations.
Yair Kochav, Founder and Director of the Tahrir Middle Eastern Culture Bar
Yakir Englander, Director of Kids4Peace International
Ahmed Maswadeh, one of the founders of Jerusalem Art
Michal Shilor, JICC Coordinator for Grassroots Campaign for Tolerance and founder of 0202 – A View from East Jerusalem (Hebrew and English), 0202-A View from Haredi Jerusalem

Here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew on the Jerusalem Tolerance Facebook page, about the entire panel:

Here’s what Shmuel had to say about the panel in his Hebrew Facebook post:

Naomi Roff2016-10-22T09:51:57+00:00October 5th, 2016|Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

The People are the Story – Katamon-Moshavot Tolerance Group Meets in the Public Sphere

The people are story…..

That’s the main principle behind our work to promote tolerance throughout Jerusalem. Beyond preventing acts of verbal and physical violence against the ‘other,’ in our view tolerance can be displayed not only towards those very different from you (Arabs, Haredim, etc.), but those closest to you in physical proximity – your neighbors. And the first step is to get to know those neighbors as people, not only the way we tag them.

Last year our Katamon-Moshavot Tolerance Group, Neighborhood Stories, met a number of times to share neighbors’ stories. This past Saturday (24th of September), they kicked off the activity year with a charming meeting outdoors, on the Jerusalem Railway Park.

The People are the Story at the Reading Corner

Tamar, one of the organizers of the meeting, described how it went:

“Wow! What a meeting of Neighborhood Stories we had on Shabbat afternoon at the Moshava Reading Corner! Geto told about his aliyah to Israel with his mother from southern Ethiopia and shared the pain of this adolescence, Rami from Beit Safafa shared how he found himself both as a professional soccer player in the Palestinian league and a firefighter in the Israeli system, on his way to becoming a social worker. Eliezer Ben Yehuda (the grandson) told about his childhood in Katamon in a 4-room apartment with a Christian family and a Muslim family in a common kitchen….and more and more. And to think that this was a spontaneous meeting on the grass, neighbors passing by and sharing their stories and many more stopping and listening. Many thanks to you all!”

Here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew:

Many thanks to the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jerusalem Foundation for their support of this project.

Naomi Roff2016-10-13T11:19:42+00:00September 30th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

Nutrition and Exercise – Integral Parts of Healthy Living Course through MiniActive

Nutrition and exercise run hand in hand in healthy living. This is what some 50 Palestinian women are learning in a 4-month course in nutrition and healthy living, developed by MiniActive. In addition to lectures on nutrition, and important part of the course is showing the importance of physical activity.

Getting ready to improve health

As part of this element, some of the participants took part in an exercise session on the soccer pitch at the Abna al-Quds Community Center last week.

Ready, set, go!

Way to go!

Here’s the Facebook post in Arabic.

Naomi Roff2016-10-07T13:16:21+00:00September 26th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Bon anniversaire, Santé Israël! Happy Birthday Santé Israël!

Bon anniversaire, Santé Israël!

Happy first birthday, Santé Israël!

Just one year ago on September 1, 2015, Sante Israel, www.sante.org.il, which we developed in partnership with the Pharmadom Foundation and the Rashi Foundation, and the first web site that makes Israel’s health care system accessible to French speakers, went live. The site is a treasure trove of information about all aspects of the Israeli health care system, and enables French speakers to more easily navigate the system.

The Sante Israel web site

Over the year some 10,000 people visited the site, most from Israel but also 2,000 from France. The most popular page on the site was and continues to be the database of French-speaking professionals and clinics in different fields in Israel. Other popular pages include contact numbers, the page that directs you to the nearest clinic or hospital via the Waze mobile app, the page that tells you what your favorite medication is called in Israel, and more. And if you had any questions that weren’t on the site, you can ask the Director of Santé Israël, Marie Avigad, and she answered every query very quickly.

This past year Santé Israël did not stay behind the screen, and went out into the community to continue to make Israel’s health care system more accessible to French speakers.

Discussing health under the stars in Baka’a

They held a number of community meetings throughout Jerusalem, in areas such as Bayit Vegan, Baka’a and Har Homa, which have sizable Francophone communities.

Sante in Har Homa

They developed a Facebook page, which provides updates on a variety of health-related issues, as well as news of the Santé Israël community. They spread the word about new Israeli inventions relating to health care:

New developments by the different HMO’s

As well as health warnings and updates from the Ministry of Health (such as recent salmonella warnings and other potential health hazards).

They participated in the Jerusalem as a Culturally Competent City Conference that was held in cooperation with the Jerusalem Foundation on May 17, 2016.

Sante Israel together with other health care organizations at the Cultural Competency conference

And they participated in the “Olimpiada” Aliyah information fair for French-speaking new immigrants, which was held at Sacher Park in the middle of town and was organized by Qualita .

“The first site to respond in French to your questions about the Israeli health care system”

In addition, Santé Israël just began a partnership with AMI Israel, which helps French-speaking Olim in Israel. And Santé Israël has its own page on the AMI Israel web site. Here’s the Facebook post from Santé Israël:

So Mazal Tov to Santé Israël! May you have many more happy birthdays.

Naomi Roff2016-10-07T13:04:48+00:00September 20th, 2016|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts, New Immigrants, Santé Israël - French internet platform on the Israeli healthcare system|

From Zion Square to Tolerance Square – And the Winner Is…..

The journey has been a long one. From the summer of 2014, with its mass, violent demonstrations and individual demonstrations of violence, in Zion Square, like we described in this blog post.

To the summer of 2016, with its mass demonstrations of support and dialogue, like we described in this blog post.

Speaking in the Square July 21

In March, we reported here that, as a result of these processes, of which we, and our partners in action including Speaking in the Square have been a part, the Jerusalem Municipality decided to refurbish and re-design Zion Square. And the criteria in the competition included design elements intended to increase dialogue and encourage tolerance.

Last week, the winners of the competition were announced! Here’s the way it’s supposed to look when it’s finished. The photo is from Ha’aretz.

The New Zion Square: “An Urban Forest that Invites People In”

You can read about the winners and the runners up in the Hebrew article in the Ha’aretz daily here.

Speaking in the Square, which we have been mentoring since its establishment in 2014 and which has had a major role in transforming the nature of Zion Square, responded with this post:

“This week we received the very good news about the new design for Zion Square. The understanding that Zion Square is part of the beating heart of Jerusalem and what happens there reflects and in many ways influences what goes on in the city (especially with regards to its youth), makes us very happy. Zion Square can be a center for hate, and in the last two years it has proven that it can also be a center for tolerance. In preparing for the design competition, the organizers asked us for our input – tolerance organizations and initiatives in the Square put together a position paper on the role of the Square and the desired use of public space. We are happy to see that the winning architectural plan indeed reflects the spirit of this paper. We believe that Zion Square, the city square, needs to be a place for sitting and for discussion, and not for violence. A place for human interaction and not for hostility, and the new design will indeed enable this. We wish the architects and the Jerusalem Municipality much success, and hope to see this project come to fruition as soon as possible.”

The original post in Hebrew:

Below is a second article from Ynet. May the new square continue to encourage tolerance and dialogue like its design.