Identity Groups and Conflicts | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

MiniActive Youth – Getting to Know My City

MiniActive – and MiniActive Youth – never cease to amaze us. You can read here and here and here about their most recent accomplishments.

Group picture on the walls

Now, it’s time for us to show them how much we appreciate them.

Beautiful day for a beautiful walk

Last week, on Sunday, February 19, they had a tour of the Old City by walking the walls.

What interesting things you can see from up here!

Great views!

Like a picture postcard

And lots of fun!

Resting on the grass

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

Here’s the Facebook post in Arabic:

Naomi Roff2017-02-25T10:27:16+00:00February 26th, 2017|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Experts in the Field, Writing the Manual – Cultural Competence in Community Work

We’re proud to announce the publication of a new manual, Cultural Competence in Community Work, that was recently published under the auspices of the Israel Ministry of Welfare. Our director, Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir and Dr. Orna Shemer co-authored the manual, which is available in Hebrew. You can download a copy here.

Cultural Competence in Community Work manual

It seems to be the first extensive manual of cultural competence in community organizing / building / development, including some novel community approaches that are specifically useful for diverse communities. The 150-page manual covers a wide range of the many aspects associated with cultural competency and community work. It discusses the principles from 5 different angles – focusing on the personal – individual worker, on the professional, on the organization, on the community, on the public sphere. And it offers suggested methods in how to work with people from different cultures. Just like the Manual for Integrating Cultural Competency in Health Care Organizations that was published in 2015 (the Hebrew version is here), and the video units, we expect this to be the source of information for cultural competency in community work.

We would like to thank the Israel Ministry of Welfare and Bruce (Baruch) Sugarman, the Director of the Community Work Service at the Ministry, for publishing this manual and hope that it will be helpful to workers and activists in many communities.

Naomi Roff2017-02-25T10:52:01+00:00February 24th, 2017|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Government Institutions, Cultural Competence in Jerusalem Municipality, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Deliberative Democracy, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Inter-Cultural Community Dialogue|

Raising Awareness – and Internet Site Clicks – with Santé Israël in Tel Aviv

It was a pleasant surprise – 106 entrances to the Santé Israël French-language web site on Sunday, February 12, 2017. But why?

And then it became obvious….

Presenting Santé Israël in Tel Aviv

Santé Israël’s director, Marie Avigad, had held a meeting with about 30 French-speaking new immigrants, organized by the immigrant absorption officials at the Tel Aviv municipality. They asked questions about the different HMO’s, supplementary HMO coverage, and private insurance. They also asked what to do and to whom to turn during an emergency, how to reach a specialist, which forms different HMO’s need, how to understand what’s going on in a hospital, and more.

Discussing a range of health care issues

As the numbers show, the presentation hit a nerve. Thank you Santé Israël for your hard work, and the vast amount of information you make available to French-speakers in Israel. Many thanks to the to the Pharmadom Foundation and the Rashi Foundation for their continuing support of Santé Israël.

Mny thanks to Celine and Nicole for organizing the meeting!

Many thanks to Céline and Nicole for organizing the meeting!

Here’s the Facebook post about the meeting:

Naomi Roff2017-02-25T10:50:22+00:00February 19th, 2017|Blog, Cultural Competence, Identity Groups and Conflicts, New Immigrants, Santé Israël - French internet platform on the Israeli healthcare system|

Atta’a – Empowering Residents through Increasing Awareness

Over the last few months we’ve mentioned here and here about the steady increase in the number of ‘likes’ to the Atta’a Facebook page (today it’s nearly 8,500, but it changes frequently) and in the traffic on the Atta’a web site. The site has a wealth of information about health care and other service providers – from opening hours for the various offices to lists of hospitals and clinics with telephone numbers. There is information about the Ministry of the Interior, the National Insurance Institute, and much more.

In January the site, for the first time, published guidelines in plain and concise Arabic on who is eligible for discounts on property taxes and how to go about receiving those discounts. (Since health care, welfare, education and other services are provided based on a resident’s proof of residence in Jerusalem, nearly all East Jerusalem residents seek to pay annual municipal property taxes.)

Saving money, accessing rights

Atta’a also posted notifications on Facebook, with links to the web site.

The result was revolutionary – thousands of people (out of a total adult population of 150,000) clicked through to the information on the Atta’a website in two days! We are very proud of this number, and believe that it enabled a large number of people to work correctly to receive discounts on property tax.

Atta’a posted a reminder a few weeks later:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of Atta’a.

Naomi Roff2017-03-25T09:02:25+00:00February 18th, 2017|Attaa, Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

Read All About Our Work on the Tolerance Train!

We told you here about the unique and exciting tolerance train event that took place on January 19. Well, we were also covered in the press! Here’s the clip to the article, which was published in the local newspaper, Yediot Yerushalayim on Friday, February 10.

Tolerance Train Article

The article read:

Students of the ‘Ruach Nachon’ pre-army program…recently started the ‘Tolerance Station:’ a special [train] station that will host youth movements and school groups and give them a workshop in tolerance. The first Tolerance Station opened in cooperation with the Dror (religious) and Hachmey Lev (Haredi yeshiva high school) secondary schools, and with representatives from Ma’ale Adumim’s Youth Council. During the event musical instruments were distributed, as well flyers that read, ‘Let’s open the heart of Jerusalem.’ Additional materials in both Hebrew and Arabic were distributed, and passages from Psalms (in Hebrew) and the Koran (in Arabic) were hung up around the Station.

Many thanks to the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jerusalem Foundation, who support our efforts to promote tolerance in Jerusalem.

Here’s the post from Facebook:

Naomi Roff2017-02-25T10:55:43+00:00February 18th, 2017|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

Groundbreaking Cultural Competency Work with the National Insurance Institute East Jerusalem Branch

We’ve been describing here and here the long and complicated process of how we’ve been helping the East Jerusalem branch of the National Insurance Institute (NII) become more culturally competent. We’ve also described here and here the efforts of Atta’a to work with different government and municipal bodies to improve access to rights. Last week, the joint efforts of our Cultural Competency desk and the Atta’a program led to groundbreaking meeting between Palestinian Arab residents of East Jerusalem and the National Insurance Institute.

Meeting with the National Insurance Institute

The meeting took place on February 8, 2017, as part of the NII’s process of becoming more culturally competent. The goal was to hear about real experiences of the residents who need to receive services from that branch. Residents described language obstacles, complicated bureaucracy, long waits in several lines, and more. Importantly, resident-participants who were brought in were educated – including a lawyer, a doctor and other medical personnel, a social worker and mothers to children with special needs. This means that, unlike many Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem, these residents are more familiar with Hebrew and more familiar with the rights they are supposed to be receiving, but still, obtaining those rights in East Jerusalem is very, very difficult. Through Atta’a, we – and they – are trying to change that.

Voicing concerns for change

NII representatives listened. When possible they tried to offer specific solutions. The main purpose of the meeting was that they would take these issues back to the entire branch and discuss ways in offering solutions adapted to the specific needs of East Jerusalem residents. Both residents and workers felt that such meetings should become regular encounters.

Can’t wait to see how this develops!

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of both cultural competency processes in Jerusalem and of Atta’a.

Naomi Roff2017-03-25T09:00:40+00:00February 15th, 2017|Attaa, Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Government Institutions, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

Strengthening the Network of Cultural Competence Coordinators

Part of the importance of our work in cultural competency – especially in cultural competency in health care – is sustainability. Helping the coordinators sustain and develop culturally competent practices in their own institutions. We hold period in-service days for coordinators 2-3 times a year. Our latest meeting for Jerusalem-based coordinators was on January 31.

Cultural competency coordinators meeting

The meeting included participants from all 4 of Israel’s HMO’s and four hospitals. They discussed a range of issues that they deal with on an ongoing basis in their respective institutions. One of the major issues discussed was communicating in what is known as ‘plain language,’ or ‘writing designed to ensure the reader understands as quickly, easily, and completely as possible.’ It is especially useful within the context of cultural competency, as a way to enable populations who are not fluent in Hebrew to understand necessary information. Dr. Michal Schuster introduced a number of examples of different forms and medical letters, and participants practiced simplifying language, to bring back to their home institutions.

Plain Language exercises

The staff from the Hadassah Hospitals (both Mount Scopus and Ein Kerem) also presented the “In Your Language” program that offers volunteer medical interpretation. They discussed the benefits and challenges of the program, including recruiting and keeping volunteer interpreters. They also presented 3 volunteers, who discussed the challenges they face, and how they deal with those challenges.

The interpreters described a number of their experiences. One was a situation in which parents came along with their son, who suffered from diabetes. The doctor asked a lot of questions, including many nuanced questions about his everyday life, which were important for him to adjust the son’s medication and return him to everyday routine. Another example was that of a woman who suffered from repeated miscarriages. With the help of the interpreter, she received very specific instructions on different tests she was to take in order to try and prevent miscarriages in this pregnancy. There were many more examples.

One of the challenges the interpreters face is that they are unable to be present at every situation that could be helped by medical interpretation. Another is that many of the doctors prefer in-person interpretation to telephone interpretation. A third is the emotional toll interpretation can take on the volunteers, who are often exposed to difficult situations and difficult illnesses. Thus, the support that Hadassah provides for its interpreters is of utmost importance.

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

Naomi Roff2017-02-25T10:25:05+00:00February 10th, 2017|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

Window to Mount Zion – Praying for Church Unity

Jerusalem has certainly seen its share of conflict – between Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews and Secular Jews, and even conflicts between different Christian denominations. And sometimes, Jerusalem also leads efforts to resolve those conflicts, on many levels. Thus is the rationale behind the Prayer for Church Unity that took place on January 26, 2017 on Mount Zion.

Leading the prayer for church unity

In 1964, Pope Paul VI made his first papal visit to the Middle East since the Middle Ages. In January 1964 he conducted an historic meeting with the Orthodox Patriarch of Constantinople, the first such meeting in 900 years! Since then, Christians around the world hold joint prayer services during the last week of January. In Jerusalem, this includes a special prayer, recited in the Cenacle (Room of the Last Supper), which is formally a neutral place, historically and religiously significant, and a sacred site to almost all the Christian communities in the city.

Some 200 worshipers were present

We first reported about this prayer last year. (You can read here about our experience.) This year, for the second year running the prayer for church unity again ran smoothly, thanks to the volunteers of Window to Mount Zion and their close cooperation with the David Precinct of the Israel Police. Together, clad in their bright yellow vests, Window to Mount Zion volunteers were there to advance tolerance and ensure that all 200 worshipers, members of all different denominations, were able to peacefully take part in the prayer.

Window to Mount Zion volunteers

Worshipers prayed in one of the holiest places in Jerusalem, and we were proud to be part of this effort to build bridges between different groups. Congratulations to Window to Mount Zion volunteers on another job well done!

Here’s the Facebook post (in Hebrew) from the Window to Mount Zion Facebook page:

Naomi Roff2017-03-25T07:36:01+00:00February 4th, 2017|Blog, Christians, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Mount Zion, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

MiniActive – Reaching for the Clouds

We’ve no doubt how far and how high our MiniActive women can go. And now they’ve reached Mount Hermon!

MiniActive reaching for the clouds

We’ve described here and here some of the trips that we’ve organized for the MiniActive women as a way to say thanks to our network of 1,000 Palestinian women throughout East Jerusalem who work continuously on a volunteer basis to improve their environment, and have succeeded fantastically. You can see some of their 2016 successes and adventures in the vido they made:

This time, they went on a trip to Mount Hermon, in the north of the country. 55 MiniActive volunteers made the long trip, the first time they’ve ever gone there.

Starting at the bottom

When they started out, it looked like any other winter day, with palm trees and grass.

Climbing higher

And then they climbed higher.

As if in a winter wonderland

Not what we’re used to seeing, even in Jerusalem!

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its ongoing support of this program.

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

Naomi Roff2017-02-04T13:43:26+00:00January 28th, 2017|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

2016 – What a Year!

As we jump head-first into 2017, we wanted to take a minute to reflect on 2016, and what a year it’s been! Overall, a year of unprecedented growth and development, and we can’t wait to get started in 2017. Here are some highlights:

Cultural Competence

The Jerusalem as a Culturally Competent City conference in May 2016, organized jointly by the JICC and the Jerusalem Foundation as part of its 50^th anniversary celebrations, was a turning point for the JICC. Attended by hundreds of professionals, from Jerusalem and throughout Israel, the conference presented strides that have been made over the past 10 years, and set the stage for the next step of meeting diverse residents’ diverse needs, in all areas of life.
Continued work in the health care system, in Jerusalem and as a model throughout Israel, training in-house coordinators and facilitators to increase sustainability and adaptability within individual institutions. For the first time, work included a national network of hospitals and clinics.
Expansive work in the Israel Police Force, reaching most police stations and present and future commanding officials, and continuing to expand training in 2017.
Groundbreaking work with the National Insurance Institute (NII), East Jerusalem branch, the first NII branch in the country to undergo a process of cultural competence.
In the Jerusalem Municipality, the entire Community Services Administration, which includes welfare, public health, immigrant absorption, and more, is undergoing training, as well as the Auditor’s Office which will be able to look at the entire Municipality’s operations through the prism of cultural competency and sensitivity.
Santé Israël, the first web site to make Israel’s health care system accessible to French speakers, celebrated its first birthday.

Ms. Uzma Shakir, Keynote Speaker, Jerusalem as a Culturally Competent City conference

Paramedical Professionals

Making healthcare practitioner exams accessible to Arab residents of east Jerusalem

2016 was an important year for us to take stock of the past four years of this program. Our conclusions show that:

The number of certified Arab paramedical professionals in East Jerusalem has grown significantly.
The program has enabled the JICC to more clearly map the situation of different paramedical professions in east Jerusalem, contributing to the knowledge of training in the Jerusalem area.
The awareness both among Palestinian institutes of higher education and health care institutions in east Jerusalem as well as Israeli Ministry of Health has been raised significantly.
A large window of opportunity for Arab women paramedical professionals to improve economic opportunities has been opened.

Nurses studying to pass their Israeli certification examinations

Talking Coexistence – Arabic Language Instruction

Both 2015 – 2016 and 2016 – 2017 broke enrollment records. In 2015-16 there were 180 students in 12 classes, over 5 levels. In 2016-2017, there are 240 students in 16 classes, also over 5 levels. We also held several cultural evenings to enrich students’ understanding of Arabic culture. Here’s a short video about the program:

Atta’a Assistance Center for the Rights of East Jerusalem Residents

The Atta’a Center has been in existence since 2004, and in 2015 it came under the aegis of the JICC. In 2016 we have seen:

70% growth in number of requests
Ballooning of its Facebook page to over 7,100 ‘likes,’ and launching of its web site.
Publication of a widely-referenced booklet on the Ministry of Interior
Expansion of network of partners in action, both from NGO’s and advocacy groups as well as municipal and government agencies.

Atta’a Presenting workshops

MiniActive for Arab Residents of East Jerusalem

For the first time ever, MiniActive activities led to a change in policy. After months of campaigning, MiniActive led the way toward the addition of 3 million NIS to the annual municipal sanitation budget for east Jerusalem, and 16 million NIS for the purchase of additional equipment for sanitation. As a result of this work, the entire Municipality is focusing their attention on garbage collection throughout
In January 2016, MiniActive organized the first ever Arabic language Horticulture Therapy course in Jerusalem for special education teachers, in cooperation with the David Yellin Academic College of Education.
Bus stops in entire neighborhoods were repaired and replaced, thanks to MiniActive.
210 women – including 50 youth – are studying Hebrew through a volunteer NGO to improve the effectivity of their activism. This is a record-breaking number, which broke last year’s record of 150 women.
In MiniActive Youth for the Environment, teenage girls learn leadership skills while participating in major environment-improving public art and other projects in neighborhoods throughout east Jerusalem.
MiniActive became a model for international work, hosting a delegation that works with the Roma population in the Czech Republic in November 2016.

Take a look at MiniActive’s own year in review. It’s pretty easy to understand, even if you don’t know Arabic:

Emergency Readiness Networks

In 2016 we expanded the network to include 14 communities throughout Jerusalem. In addition to training new volunteers, the program included training of existing networks to maintain ability to respond and increase sustainability.

Planning strategy on map

Multicultural Participatory Democracy

In 2016 we mentored community center staffs in Gilo, Kiryat Menachem, Givat Messuah, Baka’a and south Talpiot. For the first time, residents – especially the Ethiopian community in Kiryat Menachem and the highly diverse community of south Talpiot –felt that they were able to influence issues that affected their everyday lives. Training included using Facebook as a community-building tool key to increasing residents’ engagement in community processes.

Writing and submitting objections in Gilo

Promoting Tolerance in the Public Sphere

Since the summer of 2014 the JICC have been at the forefront of promoting tolerance in Jerusalem. 2016 accomplishments include:

A Different Day in Jerusalem celebrated Jerusalem’s diversity through 50 coordinated events, affecting tens of thousands of people on Jerusalem Day. It was the first time such a broad effort has been made to celebrate Jerusalem’s diversity.
JICC-mentored Speaking in the Square and other tolerance initiatives that came in their wake led to the redesigning of Zion Square, to be called Tolerance Square. The initiative’s Effective Dialogue methodology spread, and is now being presented in national frameworks.
0202-Points of View from Jerusalem are now liked by nearly 80,000 people and reach some 150,000 people weekly on Facebook and the Internet. The network now includes pages that translate from Arabic to Hebrew, from Arabic to English and one which brings news from the Ultra-Orthodox world to the awareness of the general population.
The JICC was asked to be one of the leading organizations in the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations to Promote Tolerance, formed by the Center for Young Adults and the Municipality’s Young Authority.
The JICC is continuing to develop Tolerance Network Teams (TNT’s), a series of neighborhood-based and theme-based grassroots initiatives that seek to advance tolerance in Jerusalem.

Haaretz article about A Different Day in Jerusalem

Window to Mount Zion

Since October 2015, Window to Mount Zion has bridged inter-religious and inter-community gaps that have festered between Jewish, Christian and Muslim groups for centuries. As a result of its activity over the past year:

In unheard-of cooperation, religious Jewish and Christian groups have issued joint statements condemning hate crimes on Mount Zion.
Christian ceremonies, which in the past have caused inter-religious tension, proceeded without incident.
The celebration of Christian and Jewish holidays that coincided simultaneously, which in the past had been the source of conflict and tension, also proceeded smoothly.

Window to Mount Zion volunteers

Asylum Seekers

The JICC, together with the Jerusalem Municipality, sponsor the only paid public servant in Israel to help asylum seekers, outside of Tel Aviv. We are also part of a consortium of organizations and agencies that seek to meet the needs of asylum seekers living in the city.

Families of asylum seekers on tour of Nahlaot neighborhood

Thank You!

Many many thanks go out to our partners in action and our donors. You can read about our activities in more detail either by clicking on the hyperlinks above, or by clicking here.

Looking forward to making 2017 even better!