Effective Activism | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

MiniActive – Beginning a Successful Year Studying Hebrew

This year, for the fifth year running, MiniActive women are studying Hebrew. The Hebrew they learn will enable them to better navigate municipal and other public bodies, helping them to better self-advocate for their rights to a clean Jerusalem, for proper education, and much more.

MiniActive women studying Hebrew

This year, some 130 women and youth are studying Hebrew, in our long-standing cooperation with the Lissan organization. Most classes take place at the Hebrew University Mount Scopus campus.

Different levels, beginning, intermediate, advanced

Look how much fun they’re having!

Different ages, younger, older – all learning to communicate with the ‘other’

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and Natan for their support of MiniActive.

Naomi Roff2018-12-01T12:51:16+00:00November 7th, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Little Prince – We’re Talkin’ about a Garbage Revolution

At the JICC, it is our mission to ensure that residents from all Jerusalem communities are equipped with the skills and knowledge necessary to effect change, on a local and larger level. The Little Prince – Cleaning Up Jerusalem Together seeks to do this, focusing on cleaning up Jerusalem. This past week we had two such opportunities – and we raised public awareness along the way.

The Jerusalem Garbage Commando

Last Friday (October 26) we held the first of a series of ‘expert training’ meetings, which aim to engage residents to become a part of the Garbage Commando. Gilo resident and the official record-holder for reports to the 106 municipal hotline (where you report excess garbage and other hazards), Dan Krakow, explained the ins and outs of reporting hazards, whom to turn to in the Municipality, and more. This was the first such meeting, and we intend for there to be many more. The meeting was covered in the local Hebrew Jerusalem newspaper, Yediot Yerushalayim (article above).

Little Prince activists not only made news locally – they were also in national news. The article pictured below, “Rich Trash, Poor Trash,” (see here for the article in Hebrew) which was published on the national news web site YNet, describes the gap in response time between rich neighborhoods and poor neighborhoods after trash and other hazards are reported. In [the well-to-do] neighborhood of Ramot, hazards were cleared away only 1 /2 hour after being reported,” notes the article. “While in the [less well-to-do] neighborhood of Nahlaot…reports from October 9th had still not been handled.”

What’s for sure is that Little Prince’s activists, from all sectors and all groups in Jerusalem, will keep on the watch to make Jerusalem a clean city.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its support of our effective activism efforts and to the Rayne Foundation for its support the Little Prince initiative!

Naomi Roff2019-11-16T11:19:42+00:00November 4th, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, The Little Prince - Cleaning Jerusalem Together|

The Jerusalem Covenant – All Mayors for All People in Jerusalem

We believe that the gospel will come from Jerusalem – how to operate a complex city, with diverse populations living side by side, even if not always together, but in peace with and with compassion for my neighbors from other groups and identities.

Hard at work at the Inbal Hotel on October 28

On Sunday, October 28, a day and a half before the mayoral elections, we held a special meeting for future City Council members and residents from the entire spectrum of Jerusalem to discuss practical implications of the Jerusalem Covenant, and its future influence on our city and our everyday lives. Over 70 people gathered at the Inbal Hotel, and we talked, political opponents and people from all sectors of society. We discussed a range of issues in respectful manner. We reached a number of practical understandings that we believe will guide the future City Council in their work for Jerusalem – and for all Jerusalemites – on an everyday level.

The Jerusalem Covenant

What is the Jerusalem Covenant?

In this local election year, we felt that it is especially pertinent to put tolerance on the public agenda. Not only for all candidates to work to better all parts of Jerusalem, but also for them to see, hear and attempt to understand the needs of all Jerusalemites, no matter their political platform. For this purpose, we have created the Jerusalem Covenant. We brought the Covenant to all four mayoral candidates, who signed wholeheartedly.

All four mayoral candidates signing the Jerusalem Covenant

The Jerusalem Covenant has four parts:

As I begin my term as Mayor of Jerusalem, I promise to adopt the following four principles, which will help me as Mayor to see all Jerusalem residents, and to integrate these principles into all everyday activities of the Municipality:

See everyone. People from different groups need different services. Thus, Jerusalem will be adapted to the needs of all residents and welcoming to all people.
Listen to everyone. In Jerusalem, residents are involved and are an important source of varied initiatives. Thus the Municipality will encourage the partnership of residents. It will be transparent in its actions and will encourage respectful public discourse.
Leader of everyone. Jerusalem has national and international importance, and there are many social complexities among its residents. Thus, Jerusalem will be run in the utmost professional manner, for the benefit of its residents, not by political or identity-driven agendas.
Mayor of everyone. Jerusalem will blossom under a leadership that is respected by everyone. Thus, the city leaders will show integrity and fairness.

“See me” Jerusalem Covenant

We’ve been running a local ad campaign (see above), which also included a video (see further down this post). Since all candidates signed the Covenant, after the elections we aim to have it included on the front page of the coalition agreements, and to continually follow up with city council members to encourage them to operate according to the Covenant.

Ofer Berkowitz and Moshe Lion, running in the second round of Jerusalem’s mayoral elections

The October 28 event, with all the major mayoral and city council candidates and active residents from around the city, was a peak event. “It was pretty amazing that [many of the mayoral and city council candidates] sat together with residents and wrote our future together,” noted our own Michal Sherez Shilor, one of the event’s organizers. “It was an exciting demonstration of democracy that I’ve never seen before, and the best – and most natural – part, is that it took place davka in Jerusalem. Davka the place that everyone thinks is torn and divided, violent, angry; where each sector builds walls. It was amazing how each and every one – both residents as well as candidates – really focused on how he or she could make others’ lives better. To break out of his or her own personal box and think of others.”

Shaike El-Ami, Director of the Ginot Ha’Ir Community Council and one of the initiators of the evening, said, “That so many candidates came out – and just one and a half days before the elections – it was a miracle. It didn’t happen for no reason – it happened because people understand that something special is happening here.”

Journalist Peggy Cidor commented on Facebook, “These are really amazingly positive things….And flowers to you, the organizers…That is how you love Jerusalem.” She even opened her Jerusalem Post column, “This Week in Jerusalem” with a summary of the Covenant’s four principles (see here for the link):

A coveted covenant

A group representing several organizations in the city drew up a declaration of principles to guide mayoral candidates this year. Michal Shilor and Hagai Agmon-Snir of the Intercultural Center on Mount Zion played a leading role in the drafting of the document, whose four key principles are:

1) The mayor should take into consideration and provide for the needs of all residents in terms of municipal services. No resident or sector should be excluded.

2) The municipality should be attentive to initiatives promoted by activists, should encourage activists and include them in its projects.

3) The leadership should avoid being rooted in narrow political interests.

4) The mayor should seek to work with a large team that includes as many parties active in the city as possible.

Only candidates who accepted the covenant would get the support these associations; all four final candidates endorsed and signed it.

Fay Sukenik, one of the facilitators, noted, “To come together around joint needs – because in the end that’s what Jerusalem residents want. It was a fascinating evening. I was happy to take part!”

And here’s the Hebrew Facebook post summarizing the meeting:

As promised, here’s the video with a short but poignant message for the next mayor: “See us!”

Thank you everyone for your support and participation, and to the Leichtag Foundation, Charles and Lynn Shusterman Family Foundation, the Natan Fund and the Jerusalem Foundation for their support for our efforts to increase tolerance in Jerusalem.

Naomi Roff2018-12-05T05:27:55+00:00November 1st, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

One Common Priority: A Clean Jerusalem

“Our standards of what is and isn’t a clean city have gotten confused,” Said our Tal Kligman in this Hebrew article, published on the popular Ynet web site. She continued, “when residents from other cities visit me and say, ‘See how dirty it is here,’ I don’t see it. For me, it’s considered clean. But the truth is that the ground beneath the garbage can on the street isn’t supposed to be black. We, residents of this city, want a clean city.”

‘Garbage Tour’ in central Jerusalem

As we’ve noted here, here, here and here, the Little Prince – Cleaning Up Jerusalem Together is using trash to bring people together. Orthodox, secular and Haredi Jews, Christians and Muslim Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians – all wish to see a clean Jerusalem and all are struggling with the current reality. The Little Prince seeks to empower residents from all sectors to work together and within their own communities to make Jerusalem a clean city. The goal is to build broad networks on the grassroots as well as professional and political levels that can solve problems on both a one-time and system-wide basis.

Concentrating on different areas in central Jerusalem

Over the past year and a half the Little Prince – Jews and Arabs from across the ethnic and political spectrum – has been working to raise awareness about the need for a clean Jerusalem. They have even succeeded in making the subject one of the main issues discussed in the upcoming Jerusalem mayoral elections.

Discussing issues of sanitation and a clean city

Last Saturday night, 15.9.18, we held a ‘Garbage Tour’ of central Jerusalem for activists and for mayoral candidates. Nearly all the candidates or their representatives took part. All promised to take steps to improve the situation. Residents who led the tour stressed a number of crucial points, including: changing the definition of what is considered clean, taking responsibility for a clean city, expanding infrastructure, increasing enforcement, changing the organizational culture with regards to having a clean city, and changing the city’s image. In addition to the ynet article, the tour was also covered on the Hebrew-language Kipa web page, which targets the Orthodox public.

All mayoral candidates signed the Clean City Platform

In addition to the Garbage Tour we, together with our partner activists in action, have written a Clean City Platform, which summarizes the main points needed to improve cleanliness in the city, and all of the mayoral candidates have signed! The Platform holds the mayor responsible for sanitation in the city, through the allocation of resources, through supervision and enforcement, through education and awareness raising for all residents of the city. The Platform raises the standards for accepted levels of sanitation and cleanliness in the city. Here’s a few pictures of candidates signing the Platform:

Minister of the Environment and Minister of Jerusalem and Heritage, Ze'ev Elkin

Minister of the Environment and Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Heritage, Ze’ev Elkin

We also have a picture of former Deputy Mayor Ofer Berkovitz signing:

Ofer Berkovitz signing the Clean City Platform

And a local Haredi weekly newspaper did an article on Haredi mayoral candidate Yossi Deutsch as he signed the Platform:

Yossi Deutsch signing Platform

Here’s the Hebrew Facebook post from the Little Prince Facebook group:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of our effective activism programs!

Naomi Roff2018-10-06T06:37:11+00:00September 22nd, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, The Little Prince - Cleaning Jerusalem Together|

MiniActive Youth – Doing their Part to Improve the Environment

Not wanting to be outdone by the boys, recently MiniActive youth – teenage girls group – began work in the area of the Central Arab Library in Wadi Joz.

Working together to improve the garden

They cleared the leaved and dry grass.

First, they needed to clean up the area.

The filled areas with sand and covered them, forming a solid base.

Building a base for????

They painted tires and filled them with sand, which will be used for planters.

They never get “tired” out!

These girls are not only decorating, they have also had an important hand in designing the plan, together with a trained landscape designers.

Yet another example of MiniActive youth working toward a better environment in East Jerusalem!

Here’s the original Facebook post in Arabic:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and Natan for its continued support of MiniActive!

Naomi Roff2018-10-06T08:27:24+00:00September 3rd, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

The Little Prince Makes Headlines

The Little Prince is making headlines, bringing garbage to the front lines of public discourse.

A few weeks ago, activists’ work – Haredi, Palestinian and religious and secular Jews – was featured on the front page of the weekly local Hebrew newspaper, Yediot Yerushalayim.

“We’re Sick of a Dirty City” says the headline

“Our activities as residents fighting for a clean city caused the Municipality to understand that it needs to invest in that area,” said our own Tal Kligman in the article, speaking after an agreement was signed that increased the municipal budget for sanitation by NIS 10 million. “Our role isn’t to clean instead of the municipal sanitation workers,” Tal explained in the article. “It’s to cause the Municipality to make sure that it’s clean here. For that purposed we [the JICC] brought together residents from all over Jerusalem. Now we have ambassadors in every neighborhood in the city [including Haredi and Palestinian neighborhoods] who report problems, and together we try to work those problems out. Sometimes we meet to plan face-to-face, sometimes we use social media.”

The article tells about initiatives in Haredi neighborhoods such as Meah Shearim, Bucharim and Bayit Vagan (where residents held a meet-up breakfast for local sanitation workers and their managers, trying to solve problems together and improve sanitation). It tells about initiatives in ‘general’ Jewish neighborhoods such as Gonenim, Gilo, Pisgat Ze’ev and Ramot. It tells about the horrible situation in East Jerusalem, and of MiniActive’s efforts over the past 6 years to effect change.

As we’ve noted here, here and here, the Little Prince – Cleaning Up Jerusalem Together is using trash to bring people together. Orthodox, secular and Haredi Jews, Christians and Muslim Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians – all wish to see a clean Jerusalem and all are struggling with the current reality. The Little Prince seeks to empower residents from all sectors to work together and within their own communities to make Jerusalem a clean city. The goal is to build broad networks on the grassroots as well as professional and political levels that can solve problems on both a one-time and system-wide basis.

Here is the link to the online article.

Bravo to everyone who worked to advance the article.

Naomi Roff2018-10-06T06:35:32+00:00August 22nd, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, The Little Prince - Cleaning Jerusalem Together|

MiniActive – Empowering Boys as Well as Girls

Since 2012 our MiniActive project has been empowering Palestinian women – and their families and communities – throughout East Jerusalem. For the past few years we’ve also been empowering teenage girls‘ along those same principles.

And now, the boys working to improve the environment

Now it’s the boys’ turn.

Near the Arab Central Library

In June we began 2 new groups for boys, called “Youth Power,” each group with about 10 boys, aged 10 – 14. One group is from Kafr Aqeb, and the other group comes from throughout East Jerusalem, such as: A-tur, Silwan, Beit Hanina, Issawiya, Ras el-Amud, Shuafat.

They start by cleaning the area

Like the girls, they’re working to improve their environment. Each group is focusing on different projects.

Not forgetting any details

One group is working beside the Arab Central Library in Wadi Joz. The second group is also having clean-up operations in their neighborhood.

Cleaning in different parts of East Jerusalem

The boys are also learning English.

Learning English experientially

Much of the intensive work is taking place during the school summer vacation, but the program will continue into the year – improving the environment with their hands, studying Hebrew, and more.

Great work!

Here’s a short video of the boys in their English class:

Here’s a nice Facebook post from the MiniActive Facebook page:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and the Natan Fund for their continuing support of MiniActive.

Naomi Roff2018-08-31T11:35:47+00:00August 15th, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Celebrating a Year of The Little Prince

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world: indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has,” goes the quote that is most often attributed to world-renowned anthropologist, Margaret Mead.

And this was said without knowing Jerusalemite activists. The only difference between Jerusalemite activists and Rottweiler dogs is that eventually, Rottweilers ease up….

Assessing how far we’ve come

On Wednesday, July 11, the main core of Little Prince – Cleaning Up Jerusalem Together activists – some 70 Palestinians, religious, secular, ultra-Orthodox Jews – got together for a joint meeting. It wasn’t just any joint meeting. It was to celebrate the first full year of activity of the Little Prince project, and to assess where we’ve come, and where we’re going. Many thanks to Muslala, which provided the perfect ambiance for the meeting and the work groups afterward.

Strategizing on where we’re going

It was exciting to see all of Jerusalem’s sectors represented, from at least 10 neighborhoods. It was exciting to see the cross-sector cooperation within and between the different work groups.

Activists broke up into small groups according to project

The members broke up into 4 work groups: Supervision and Enforcement, Sanitation Policy and Infrastructure, R & D, and Education and Awareness-raising.

The conference belonged to the different activist groups, and even though it was a rare opportunity to meet most of the current candidates in the Jerusalem mayoral race (in alphabetical order) – Mr. Ofer Berkovitz, Rabbi Yossi Deutsch, Minister Ze’ev Elkin, Adv. Yossi Havilio, and of course Acct. Moshe Leon. The candidates were polite and according to prior agreement with them, listened to the activists, without giving “opening remarks” or talk during the main session. It showed respect for us and for them. None of them left without promising (of their own accord) to make Jerusalem a symbol of a clean city in Israel, and that it’s top priority for them. The Jerusalem activists will be there in the following months – and afterward – to make sure that this commitment is heard again and again, and is eventually translated into clear outcomes, no matter who wins the mayoral race.

Work emphasized cross-sector cooperation when beneficial

There were a lot of points and ideas that were written in the work groups. In light of the conference a Cleanliness Platform was written, which will be signed by all the mayoral candidates. We would like to thank everyone who showed the activist power of Jerusalem, which can be an excellent resource for the Municipality and the mayor, if they know how to work with them.

All to clean up Jerusalem – together

It never ceases to amaze us how a process that was begun by a group of Palestinian women from East Jerusalem (see MiniActive’s ‘We won’t live in filth!‘ campaign) spread to all sectors throughout Jerusalem, leading to this tidal wave force of activism for a clean Jerusalem!

Leading up to the conference we made a short video:

Here’s the original Facebook post summarizing the conferece:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support for developing activists in Jerusalem!

Naomi Roff2018-08-24T09:27:50+00:00August 6th, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Palestinians/Arabs, The Little Prince - Cleaning Jerusalem Together, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Living Safer, Living Longer in the Palestinian Community

This past month, our Living Safer, Living Longer program, which empowers residents to take control of preventive health and safety in their homes, became fully operational in all sectors of Jerusalem society. We discussed here about the development of the project, and here about the Haredi and general Jewish sectors. Now, the project has begun in earnest in the Palestinian sector as well.

Living Safer Living Longer in Beit Hanina

Here are some pictures of the program in action, where program participants are presenting the principles of the program to seniors clubs throughout East Jerusalem.

In Sur Baher

So what did our MiniActive volunteers think of the Living Safer Living Longer course itself? Here are some of the things they said:

“I learned a lot of things I didn’t know before.”

“I saw I needed to do a lot of things in my own home [and now it’s much safer].”

“The program’s gotten under my skin, and I talk about it everywhere I go.”

“I try and convince a lot of people I meet to make their homes safer, and I even go with them to buy safety aides and help them install them in their homes.”

“The meeting with the firefighter saved me from a large fire in my own home. A fire broke out while I was frying food and I knew what to do and acted in a cool headed manner.”

At the end of the course each volunteer received a demonstration kit with the program’s logo, and a training certificate (with a picture!). Each kit included a number of safety aides, such as: a smoke detector, safety plugs for electrical outlets, safety closures for cabinets (to prevent access to dangerous materials), a door stopper (to prevent doors from slamming on hands and feet), as well as checklists for preventive health tests and home safety.

Here are some more pictures from a home safety lecture:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for their support of the MiniActive program, and an anonymous donor for its support of Living Safer, Living Longer.

Naomi Roff2018-08-24T09:34:13+00:00July 15th, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Living Safer Living Longer, Palestinians/Arabs|

Let’s Boast a Minute about MiniActive Youth

As the school year winds down and children and youth get ready for summer vacation, we wanted to take a minute to boast here about the astounding successes of our leading youth program, MiniActive Youth. We’ve reported about them here and here in the past, but it’s always worth an additional mention.

MiniActive Youth at work in Jebel Mukaber

One of MiniActive Youth’s important achievements over the last year has been the transformation of a bus stop behind the A-Sala’ah School for Boys in Jebel Mukaber. This was no regular bus stop. It was and still is the main place that hundreds of school children were dropped off before school, and waited after school. Before the youth began work, it was dark and dingy, and areas next to it were filled with junk and garbage. After months of contact and follow-up, we engaged the municipality to help clean up the ad-hoc garbage dump. But the youth did most of the work.

They recently made a movie about the whole process. Enjoy! We certainly did.

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and other donors for their continued support of MiniActive.

Naomi Roff2018-07-04T04:45:02+00:00June 20th, 2018|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Previous 8910 Next