As we get ready of Jerusalem Day, and “A Different Day in Jerusalem,” we’ve been very active in promoting the great variety of events that are going to take place.

Now our Director, Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir, weighs in in an Op-Ed piece that was published on the NRG web site on Thursday, June 2. Click below for the full article in Hebrew:

Article from NRG

 And here’s an English translation:

We Can Change the Culture of Hate on Jerusalem Day

The fight for tolerance must be waged throughout the year. But we must not desist from fighting for tolerance on Jerusalem Day. When the hatemongers try to turn the national pride into an opportunity for incitement, we must re-claim the message of tolerance in the city.

One, two, three or four Jerusalems; Israeli, Palestinian, French or international sovereignty. In any future scenario, the metropolis called Jerusalem will need to function, both in the short and long term. But without tolerance and without a consistent fight against hate and racism in Jerusalem, the city will decline and collapse. It will be bad for the Palestinians, it will be bad for the Jews, it will be bad for those who are more religious and even for those who are less so. It will be bad for the citizens, it will be bad for the permanent residents, for asylum seekers and for tourists.  Even if we disagree on the “correct” future for the city, we must come together and raise a voice for tolerance and calm in the city – today.

After 49 years, Jerusalem is a city torn apart. Arabs, Jews, Ultra-Orthodox, Reform, immigrants from Ethiopia, France, Russia and USA, asylum seekers from Eritrea, millions of Christian pilgrims. In other cities in the western world, this diversity is seen, alongside the challenge, as an asset. As an opportunity to create a lively, interesting, attractive city, rich in human, social and cultural resources, a place for the development of the arts, a place for the development of thought.

In Jerusalem, on the other hand, a culture of hate, incitement, racism and violence causes us, residents of the city, to look around us in fear and ask, what will our next trip on the light rail look like? What political maneuvering will be done tomorrow in the Municipality by the groups that hate me? Who will be my scary neighbor next year?

There are those for whom hate is good. Most of them don’t live here. Politicians who sacrifice Jerusalem for their fight for a seat and along the way create divisions among us. World leaders who get involved in Jerusalem matters that they don’t understand. Official armies and terrorists whose job it is that we hate one another.

We, who live in Jerusalem day by day, pay the price. The fire of hate is lit within us all too easily. We become committed to incitement easily, too. We don’t feel how racism and violence hurt us and eat away at us – from the inside.

And then comes Jerusalem Day – a day that is oh so tense, socially and politically. This year it comes on June 5, a day on which the Palestinians, one third of the city’s residents, commemorate, Yom Hanaksa (Day of the Defeat). Defeat creates hate – one doesn’t need to be a brain researcher to know this. Simultaneously, the Jews celebrate the liberation of the city, often in a way that rejoices in the others’ defeat.  And their joy is mixed with anger, since despite the perfect victory, we still watch our backs when we’re walking in the street, in case someone comes at us with a knife.

And there are many on the Jewish side who are ashamed of the atmosphere of gloating, and lower their heads in hopes that the day will be over. And I know a significant number of Palestinians who are ashamed that the atmosphere of defeat causes a caustic hate on their side.

Of course, the fight for tolerance must be waged throughout the year. But we must not desist from fighting for tolerance on Jerusalem Day. When the hatemongers try to turn the national pride into an opportunity for incitement, we must insist, even on Jerusalem Day, to re-claim the tolerant message of the city.

Yes, we will continue to argue over liberation or occupation, if an open button is considered too immodest for a woman, and on shops closed on Shabbat. We will debate in sign language and in Braille, in Arabic, in Tigriniya, and in Hebrew. But on Jerusalem Day we, lovers of Jerusalem, will demonstrate that in our special city, one like no other in the world, there is a strong and stable core of tolerance that stubbornly declares: “Jerusalem will be all that we dream for it, for us all!”

Ahead of Jerusalem Day and “A Different Day in Jerusalem,” (and also here) we were written up in the Jerusalem Post. Click here to view the PDF version. (Click here for the online version.)

Jerusalem Post article

And here’s the text of the article:

A different day for the capital
By LAURA KELLY
June 3, 2016
Spearheading alternative initiatives for this pivotal day in an effort to show ‘Jerusalem knows how to be tolerant.’

The first time Michal Shilor attended the Flag March – the annual parade on Jerusalem Day from the city center to the Western Wall – she was horrified.

“There’s this image that on Jerusalem Day, the city gets bombarded by all these foreigners,” Shilor says in an interview with In Jerusalem, “and then they leave, and we’re left to pick up the pieces of the ‘wars’ that happen here during that day.”

While the day is supposed to celebrate the reunification of Jerusalem, it highlights deep divides in the capital. As thousands of revelers march through east Jerusalem, many Arab residents feel the parade is a provocation – the message being that Israel is for the Jews, and Arab residents are not welcome.

Last year, a petition to change the route of the parade to avoid Arab neighborhoods – where instances of vandalism, racist chanting and violence have been documented in the past – was rejected by the High Court of Justice. However, the judges did write in their decision that there should be a zero tolerance policy for racist acts.

Shilor, 26, works at the Jerusalem Intercultural Center and this year, is spearheading the first A Different Day for Jerusalem program as an answer to the Flag March.

From Saturday evening to Sunday evening, A Different Day for Jerusalem has a roster of nearly 50 events by grassroots organizations and activists who want to show the tolerant side of the city. Events range from neighborhood tours, parlor talks in bars and restaurants around Jerusalem, a public tent to hear stories of the bereaved families from both sides of the conflict, to street debates, community theater and even an Iranian embassy. All seek to give Jerusalemites and visitors an opportunity to see the patchwork of people that make up the city.

“The idea is to say on Jerusalem Day – which is something that most of the civil society in Jerusalem just doesn’t know how to deal with – that we want everything we’ve been doing all year to come together on this day specifically because this is the most important day to show that Jerusalem knows how to be tolerant,” she asserts.

In addition to her work at the JICC, Shilor is the founder of 0202, a Facebook page that translates Arabic news from east Jerusalem into Hebrew and English.

Shilor says the idea for 0202 was born out of frustration, simply wanting to know and understand a third of the population she was living with.

The organization has a staff of 20 people, all of whom are working partly on a volunteer basis – “I’m volunteering completely,” Shilor says – that follow 150 Arabic Facebook pages. They include some of the bigger news media, such as the Gaza-based Shahab news agency or Al Quds Aulan [Jerusalem First]. But more interesting, says Shilor, are the community-based pages.

One in particular is Mini-Active, a group of 1,000 women from east Jerusalem who document municipal failings in their community, bring it to the attention of the municipality, and then post on Facebook when the problem is resolved.

The challenge, says Shilor, is to be able to develop a comprehensive picture of what people are really concerned with in east Jerusalem.

“If you look at daily life in east Jerusalem, it consists of very basic needs that aren’t being met, but you’re not going to read about that in the news. You’re going to read about how ‘The Occupation Forces did this and this and this.’” Most difficult for the group were the months leading up to October 2015, the start of more than six months of terrorism that saw attacks by Palestinians – shootings, stabbings, car rammings and a bus bomb – targeting Israelis. Thirty Israelis and four foreigners were killed in such attacks, and more than 200 Palestinians were killed while carrying out attacks or in other violent confrontations with the IDF.

As they continued to follow the media, the cycle of violence became increasingly clear. With an attack came the coverage by the media. The sharing on social media of graphic images, often without context, would incite more people to undertake attacks. While in the Hebrew and English media there is more background information, in the Arabic media this is lacking.

“They [the Arabic media in east Jerusalem] also don’t say why people were arrested. When people are released, they don’t say what they were arrested for,” Shilor explains.

She adds that no matter what the facts are, it’s the divergence in narrative that is significant. She gives the example of an east Jerusalem Palestinian friend who’s afraid she’ll be accused of having a knife on her, and an Israeli-Jewish friend who’s afraid to walk in the street or go to the Old City.

“Whatever the facts are doesn’t really matter because it affects people differently.”

Shilor’s vision for the project, however, goes beyond the Jewish-Arab divide.

Eventually she would like to open up two other translation pages – a Jerusalem page following the ultra-Orthodox community and one for the more secular or modern-Orthodox west Jerusalem.

“The same event can be seen through so many different lenses, and it affects different people in so many different ways. We don’t have to agree with the other people, but we have to understand that they see it differently,” she maintains.

“That’s the first step toward living better in this city.”

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

We’re working hard to bring you “A Different Day in Jerusalem“ – an alternative way to celebrate Jerusalem – in just a few days. In the process we’ve found that the energy generated around the ever-growing list of events is truly inspiring! Looking at the list, there is a vastly broad spectrum of events – from tours of neighborhoods to inter-faith and intercultural events to events for families and discussions with Likkud politicians. Something for everyone.

Jerusalem Day 2016: A Different Day in Jerusalem

As part of our preparations, this past Friday we were mentioned in the Jerusalem Post, in the In Jerusalem Magazine (Click here for the electronic version):

Jerusalem Post article

Many thanks to reporter Peggy Cidor on the mention. Looking forward to seeing you at the activities!

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