Blog | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

MiniActive Women – New First Aid Course

MiniActive is affecting women’s lives – and the lives of so many other Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem – in so many ways – from fixing public nuisances, helping the environment, learning Hebrew to better communicate with service providers, baking, exercise, and more. Now, they’re learning first aid.

Learning first aid

There have been first aid courses in the past, and this is an important part of their involvement in improving life in the community. There are currently 25 women in this class.

First lesson

The post from the MiniActive Facebook page in Arabic:

More recently they learned about preventing accidents in the home

The dangers of home accidents

And the beginning of CPR:

Beginning the principles of CPR

Here’s another post from the MiniActive Facebook page:

Naomi Roff2016-06-12T11:12:25+00:00April 17th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

First Time Ever! Training for Cultural Competence at a Hospital Chain

As we’ve developed our programs in cultural competence over the years, one of our goals has been to reach a point of being able to build capacity within each organization, so that cultural competence becomes an inherent part of their DNA.

Thus, a few days ago, for the first time ever, we began working with a chain of hospitals and health clinics. On April 11, we began working with the Assuta Medical Center, a network of four hospitals and six medical centers throughout Israel, in the first of three workshops.

First workshop with Assuta

This workshop included 60 facilitators, from all disciplines at Assuta, who will lead cultural competency workshops for all Assuta employees. It is taking place in Assuta’s School of Professionalism, which opened two years ago. After the training these facilitators will hold cultural competency workshops for all of Assuta’s 2,800 employees in the upcoming 6 months.

Congratulations Assuta! We’ll keep you posted on the additional workshops.

Naomi Roff2016-06-12T11:03:41+00:00April 16th, 2016|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

MiniActive Youth Project Finale

Did you ever think that a school guard’s hut could look like this?

Guard hut

This is one of many pictures that we can share with you from the new MiniActive Youth project decorating public areas in East Jerusalem. (Click here for more information.)

Plastic bottle planters

From planters made from plastic bottles, to decorative electrical cabinets to painted garbage dumpsters, this group of 17 teenage girls from all over Jerusalem – Jebel Mukaber, Ras al-Amud, Silwan, Issawiya, Beit Hanina, Sur Baher and the Old City – have used recycled objects to make a range of projects. This project seeks to focus on recycling and the environment.

Hard at work

The group’s last meeting was on April 10. Congratulations to all the participants!

We still never tire of these Minions

And here’s the post in Arabic from the MiniActive Facebook page:

Naomi Roff2016-04-15T11:28:33+00:00April 14th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Continuing to Develop Jerusalem Railway Park

We began our involvement in resident initiatives along the Jerusalem Railway Park more than two years ago, together with the Baka’a, Ginot Ha’Ir and Gonenim Community Councils and a number of local organizations and active residents. This was very soon after the entire length of the Park, which runs from the First Train Station near the city center south toward Malcha and out of the city, had opened.

Since then, the Railway Park has become one of the liveliest centers of activity in Jerusalem. Each month more initiatives are developed to enhance life in, on and along the park. Some examples include: MusiKatamon:

MusiKatamon Festival in August 2014

Meeting Point: Under the Bridge (Meaning, under the overpass that leads from the Katamonim neighborhood to Beit Safafa.) Led by the Muslala Group, but included a broad range of local institutions:

Meeting Point: Under the Bridge, Spring 2015

Chalk Festival, also in 2015:

Chalk Art Festival April 2015

Reading Station, an old bus stop that had been re-configured with bookshelves. People drop off and take books freely. (The video is in Hebrew)

BaRakevet (both “At the train” and “Train Bar”) Community Cafe

We continue to accompany the leaders of these initiatives, many of which are resident-led. On April 5, we held a meeting for all those interested in developing new, and refining older, ideas and initiatives. There were some 20 active residents there, some who had initiated the idea of the park, some who are operating social initiatives in the park, some were residents who live along the park, and others were youth from the Telem Scouts movement, from all over the city.

Meeting to discuss resident initiatives

At first we heard some updates of existing initiatives – BaRakavet, Reading Station, local treasure chests (places where people drop off unwanted items and pick up stuff for free). We also discussed several new initiatives – meetings with senior citizens, corner for petting and adopting pets, musical Kabbalat Shabbat at the Reading Station, jam sessions for Jews and Arabs, juggling and music at the Reading Station, a second-hand swap, and more.

Developing ideas, finding partners

Good luck to all the initiatives! We’ll keep you posted here on their development…

Naomi Roff2017-05-02T07:17:57+00:00April 13th, 2016|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Larger Baka Community Council, New Immigrants|

MiniActive Event for Families

On March 29 MiniActive held an event for the women and their families. This year, there were 350 women at the event, which was held at the Abnaa al-Quds Community Center in the Muslim Quarter. Program director Intisar Qaraeen praised the women’s accomplishments and encouraged them to continue their amazing work. She later presented cluster coordinators with certificates of appreciation. They are the ones who keep pushing the program forward in the neighborhoods – congratulations to all!

The program also featured a Debka traditional dance performance by young women.

Dancers in traditional garb

There was also a lecture by our own Atta’a Center for Rights Realization for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. Daud Alian, Attaa director introduced the volunteer-based service, which helps Palestinian resident obtain their legal rights and benefits, and gave a few examples of rights that can be claimed from the National Insurance Institute or the Ministry of the Interior.

Atta’a lecture

A third highlight was a lecture on religion. The lecturer discussed a number of passages from the Quran – from the commandment to take care of the environment, to the bases of faith, to the importance of women as educators in the family. He spoke about the importance of keeping personal as well as public space clean and well-preserved as an integral part of the Islamic faith.

This annual event seeks to thank the women and their families for their hard work and persistence throughout the year. Now it’s our turn – thank you, shukran!

Naomi Roff2016-06-12T11:08:09+00:00April 12th, 2016|Attaa, Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Atta’a – Helping Palestinian Residents of East Jerusalem Obtain their Rights

‘Awareness is the first step toward change,’ is the adage that guides Atta’a, the Center for Rights Realization for Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem. Atta’a was founded in 2005, and recently came under our aegis. There is much work to be done, and we’re excited to build on the hard work and network that have been put into establishing the rights center.

Over the past few months Atta’a has been busy building its infrastructure. First there was the web site (in Arabic):

Attaa screen shot

The Facebook Page (also in Arabic) has grown to more than 1,400 likes in the past four months alone:

A few weeks ago we told you here about the brochure that they published. And more are on the way.

Cover of rights booklet

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

Naomi Roff2016-05-13T14:19:33+00:00April 12th, 2016|Attaa, Blog, Cultural Competence, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

New Neighborhood Tolerance Team in Talpiot!

How do you celebrate Shabbat? Tell us your Shabbat story…

Telling different Shabbat stories

This is what the newly-formed Talpiot Tolerance Team did in their opening event, which took place on Friday afternoon, April 1.

Event with Jerusalem’s diversity

Shabbat means different things to different people. For a short time on that Friday afternoon, Ultra-Orthodox (Chabad), Ethiopian, secular and traditional Jews all experienced together their own Kabbalat Shabbat, enjoying the traditions as well as their own interpretations.

Traditional taking of Challah before baking Challot

Advertisements to this event were prepared in Amharic as well as Hebrew, and there was a true Jerusalem mix of people at the event.

Amharic poster

The Talpiot Tolerance team is one of a growing network of Neighborhood Tolerance Teams that are being formed throughout Jerusalem. Each team is acting independently, and advancing tolerance in ways that the team members feel are most appropriate for them. There are currently teams in French Hill, Abu Tor / Al-Thuri, Katamonim, Katamon-German Colony, Baka’a, Rehavia, Nahlaot, and more are being formed each week.

Everyone’s hands knead the Challah

Many thanks to the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jerusalem Foundation for their support in promoting tolerance in Jerusalem.

Many forms of Challah

Here are some more pictures from the Facebook post on the event from the Hebrew-language Jerusalem Tolerance Facebook group:

Naomi Roff2016-04-15T11:16:48+00:00April 10th, 2016|Blog, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

MiniActive – Horticulture Therapy Course Takes a Trip

We’ve proudly shared here and here the progress that’s being made by the MiniActive women involved in the first-ever Arabic-language horticulture therapy course that we’re operating in cooperation with the David Yellin Academic College of Education.

Horticulture therapy course at Ramat Hanadiv

As the course nears its completion, participants received an extra treat – a trip to Ramat Hanadiv, a large complex of carefully-groomed gardens located between Zichron Ya’akov and Benyamina in the north of the country.

In the gardens

In addition to touring around the beautiful gardens, participants had an opportunity to create their own projects.

Looking at new projects

What fun!

Creating their own designs

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of this program. Here’s the link from the MiniActive Facebook page in Arabic:

Naomi Roff2016-04-09T11:03:50+00:00April 8th, 2016|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Blue Line Blues – Public Discussion about New Light Rail Line in Gilo

We’ve talked before about planning light rail lines in Gilo. There’s going to be both the Green and the Blue lines there when the project is finally finished, so there are several processes taking place at the same time.

Learning about the blue line

The Blue Line will run from Gilo to Ramot, and meet up with the Green Line, which will also run between Gilo and Mount Scopus. On March 21, some 20 residents, staff of the Gilo Community Council, staff from the transportation master plan, and the regional planner from the Municipality came together to discuss the new line, its planning principples, and to raise different concerns. Residents received all the relevant information and asked important questions. We were there to facilitate the process and help the Gilo Community Council staff.

Light rail illustration

This was the first meeting regarding the planning of the Blue Line, after we began the process of being involved in the Green Line.The first step in the Green Line process was submitting dozens of objections and requests for changes to the existing plan. Residents will be involved in all the steps along the way, until the Green and Blue lines are actually running, some 10 years from now. We’ll be ready to help the Community Council staff help them throughout the process.

Event poster

Naomi Roff2016-04-09T11:00:42+00:00April 4th, 2016|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Effective Activism, Gilo, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations|

Just in Time for Springtime! Planning New Playgrounds in Gilo

Just in time for springtime – we’re helping residents and professionals plan more playgrounds.

After the outstanding success on Afarsimon St., we, together with the Gilo Community Council staff, began an additional public process of planning public playgrounds in Gilo. This time, it’s on Harduf St.

Meeting in Gilo

Unlike the first playground, this time the initiative for the playground came from a Gilo resident, who complained to the local city planner about the noise that was coming from a neighboring playground. This began a long process in which the planner went through the appropriate channels in the Municipality while the resident recruited additional community members willing to fix the playground. On March 21, 18 residents, half of them children, as well as the Gilo Community Council staff and the regional planner from the Municipality, began planning a new playground. Residents raised ideas and discussed their needs, and drew up and prioritized design principles. The children actively participated in the discussion, in a most productive and inspiring way.

List of design principles

Examples of some of the principles:

Appropriate for ages birth – 12
Landscaping appropriate for senior citizens
Planning that prevents crowds gathering
Multi-purpose equipment (e.g. one piece of equipment that includes ropes and swings and bridges, etc.)
Hourglass clock to time turns on the different equipment
Expanding the playground instead of passageways
Planting to enable shaded areas
Soft, environmentally-friendly pavement

The list will be sent to the Municipality and will form the basis for its planning. The next meeting will take place with residents and Municipality representatives in the playground in order to present a number of alternatives and to reach agreement on the best planning for the playground.

It was a fascinating and effective meeting, and we are proud to be assisting the Gilo Community Council staff and residents in this process. Next month – a similar process on Shamir St.

Naomi Roff2016-04-09T10:59:02+00:00March 31st, 2016|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Gilo, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, New Immigrants|