Identity Groups and Conflicts | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

Cultural Competency in Hadassah Academic College

The end of the Jewish High Holidays signal the beginning of the academic year for Israel’s colleges and universities. This year, Hadassah Academic College is beginning the year much more culturally competent than last, and it will continue the trend, into this upcoming school year.

Training at Hadassah College

We began working with the college in November of 2014, after a very difficult summer and fall in Jerusalem. During the year we began operating a series of seminars for administration and lecturers on the principles of cultural competency and how they applied to an academic setting. Read here for more information about the beginning of the process.

Practicing in big and small groups

The different types of course studies at the Hadassah College are are vastly different in nature from one another. There are those that are based on laboratory work, those that are based on frontal lectures, those that work with patients. Sometimes communication with the lecturers is direct and sometimes most of the students’ communication with the administration is done through counselors. So we adapted the different workshops to the different kinds of learning systems in place. In June and July, we held four full-day workshops for 80 faculty members from 7 different departments (laboratory sciences, environmental health, biotechnology, optometry and computer science), conducting workshops in groups according to learning style. Throughout the 2015 – 2016 school year we will continue to work with faculty from different departments. In the next stage, we will work with students who work with patients (such as speech therapy and optometry) during their training.

Naomi Roff2015-11-01T16:57:33+00:00October 25th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Academic Institutions, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

MiniActive Women in East Jerusalem – Advancing Horticulture Therapy

The therapeutic effects of gardening have long been widely known. This type of therapy has been used around the world since at least the 1800s.

Our MiniActive program, a network of over 1,200 Palestinian women throughout East Jerusalem who are working on a daily basis to improve their everyday lives, has extensively dealt with environmental issues. Alongside working to improve safety and environmental hazards in residents’ immediate vicinity, MiniActive groups have partnered with women from other parts of Israel to learn about environmental issues; they have participated in a number of other related activities as well.

Young girls experimenting in gardening

In Jerusalem, the David Yellin Academic College of Education operates a special course in horticulture therapy, but it is regularly available only in Hebrew. Now, they will be able to have access to the course, in Arabic. This is the first time ever that such a course will be made available in Arabic in Jerusalem. Indeed, while gardening therapy programs are available in western Jerusalem, there are no programs, and awareness of its benefits is very low.

We came to an agreement with the College in which the women would pay only half of the tuition fee. Classes will take place once a week for a full day, to enable the women to continue to work. 15 women started the course, which is scheduled to begin in mid-October.

The course is supposed to coincide with the beginning of the academic year, and is open to those trained in special education. Participants will learn about the world of plants and the therapeutic garden – principles of planning, establishing and maintaining such a garden. They will also learn the principles of psychology and psychotherapy, as well as how to design a gardening therapy program and practicums and lab exercises in closed areas.

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

Naomi Roff2016-02-01T10:05:38+00:00October 15th, 2015|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

What does Yom Kippur / Eid al-Adha mean to you? Bridging conflict with a movie

For the second year in a row – the Jewish Yom Kippur and the Muslim Eid al-Adha fell almost on the same day. This situation had the potential of sparking even more violence, during a time tensions between Israelis and Palestinians, Jews and Arabs, especially in Jerusalem but also in mixed cities throughout Israel, were high.

Both are among the most important holidays of their respective religions, but are celebrated quite differently. Yom Kippur is characterized by fasting and introspection, and, uniquely in Israel, refraining from driving (See here things that even the most secular Israeli Jews did on Yom Kippur when the roads were clear.) Conversely, Eid al-Adha, which commemorates Abraham’s willingness to sacrifice his son, is celebrated with family get togethers, often slaughtering a goat or a sheep to mark the day. In an effort to diffuse tensions, the Gishurim program (which is being operated by Mosaica and us) and a range of other partners, produced a YouTube video, which was viewed throughout the country. It was a fully joint Jewish-Muslim production, and served as an important ray of hope during these tense times. Some 250,000 people were exposed to the film, and it was viewed by more than 150,000 people on Facebook, from all around the country. Happy (and hopeful) viewing!

Naomi Roff2017-05-02T07:43:38+00:00September 29th, 2015|Blog, Gishurim - Israel Community Mediation Centers, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab|

Building Community Solidarity through Themed Playgrounds

How would you like your local public playground? Aimed at big or little kids? With a pirate theme or dinosaurs or space travel?

Can you really have a playground made to order? Well, yes. During the spring and summer months we were involved in community-building processes that aimed to do just that – build community by building a playground. We were approached by the Jerusalem Municipality to lead processes in Gilo, Ir Ganim, Givat Hamivtar and Shuafat. With funding from the Bloomberg Philanthropies, established by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, we set to work.

Jerusalem’s diversity, building playgrounds

The processes were led by the staff of the different community councils, alongside Municipality officials. Before meeting with the residents, these process leaders met to set joint project goals and ensure that everyone was on the same page. (Indeed, ‘informed decision-making’ is a key component of the principles of participatory democracy.) Different concepts were reviewed – what exactly are themed playgrounds, the rough budgets set aside for building the playgrounds, the timeline, safety standards, types of potential equipment, examples of themed playgrounds from around the world for inspiration, and more. We then set out to mentor the neighborhoods separately, as all residents in each community were invited to sessions that included brainstorming for different themes, coming to agreement on what residents wanted in a playground, and more. After both residents and community and planning professionals put their ideas on paper (illustrated in the pictures), suggestions were passed along to the landscape architects contracted to design the playgrounds. In Gilo residents chose to establish a “Cub Park” (for example, trying to mimic characteristic movements of different animals in the park, such as, but not necessarily including, crawling like a snake, climbing like a monkey, jumping like a kangaroo, etc.). Residents in Givat Hamivtar chose “Man and his World;” in Ir Ganim, “Touching the Sky;” and in Shuafat, “Space Park.” The architects are now working on specific designs and are scheduled to present these designs to the neighborhoods very soon.

We came to this project as a result of our in-depth work with residents of Kiryat Hayovel and Kiryat Menachem / Ir Ganim in the Asbestonim Wadi, which runs between Kiryat Hayovel and Kiryat Menachem / Ir Ganim. We can’t wait to see how these new playgrounds turn out!

Plans on paper

Naomi Roff2015-11-01T17:00:33+00:00September 16th, 2015|Blog, Deliberative Democracy, Gilo Community Dialogue, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Kiryat Yovel, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Launch of Groundbreaking Healthcare Web Site for the French-Speaking Community

À votre santé! Here’s to your health, in French.

We’re happy to announce the launching of www.sante.org.il, a groundbreaking web site that makes Israel’s health care system accessible to French speakers. The first of its kind in Israel, the site offers comprehensive explanations about Israel’s health care system, which is vastly different from that of France, as well as its four main health funds.

Sante homepage

The Israeli and French health systems are quite different and immigrants (olim) or future Olim are not always prepared. Until Sante Israel, much of the information provided by the authorities and health insurance companies were in Hebrew, English or Russian, and were scattered in various sources, making them inaccessible to large segments of the populations. Sante Israel has grouped them in a sensible manner, translated if necessary and presented them on one site.

The site includes information on medical institutions, medications available, services for different age groups (children, elderly …) and for different situations (pregnancy, chronic illness), payments and co-payments, what is covered and what is not in the various plans, etc. There are also many explanations on the differences between health care in Israel and that in France, such as emergency visits to the doctor, a glossary and explanations on important terms, guides to use existing information tools and links to useful sites. The site also provides a wealth of information for French-speaking health care professionals seeking to make Aliya to Israel, on equivalent degrees, equivalency exams, licensing, etc.

Navigate to nearest hospital through Sante

The site is also fully designed to be mobile-friendly. It is available on both Android and iOS smartphone systems, and has the ability to dial telephone numbers automatically by clicking on them. It also links directly to the Waze navigation app, which can direct the user to the closest hospital or medical center. It will also be linked to a Facebook page, an online chat, forums and an e-mail address, which will enable users to ask questions, receive advice, share experiences, and publish information, creating an active community with the site at the center.

We’d like to thank Pharmadom Foundation for their ongoing support of the project. The Pharmadom Foundation works under the auspices of the Foundation of French Judaism (FSJU) and the Rashi Foundation.

Naomi Roff2018-06-04T04:48:50+00:00September 5th, 2015|Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts, New Immigrants, Santé Israël - French internet platform on the Israeli healthcare system|

Speaking in the Square – Getting the Word Out Beyond

Even more press coverage for the Speaking in the Square group, which we’ve been mentoring since last summer. (See here and here for more information.) This most recent string began with Ossnat Sharon’s August 8, 2015 column on Sichah Mekomit (Hebrew for local discussion). (Ossnat is one of the active core of volunteers who gather in Zion Square in Jerusalem’s downtown each week.) The English version, entitled, “The right-wing group trying to keep downtown Jerusalem Arab-free,” ran on August 21 on the sister site, +972mag.com. It describes the basics of the Lehava organization, an extremist organization whose followers often parade with racist chants in downtown Jerusalem mostly on Thursday and Saturday nights, and their weekly activities in downtown Jerusalem. This column led to an interview with Israel Channel 10’s veteran reporter, Yaron London on Sunday August 9, on the daily news magazine show, London et Kirshenbaum, which airs every weekday at 6 pm. The original column was also translated into Arabic and published on the Times of Israel Arabic site on August 12. Click here for the 5-minute interview, in Hebrew:

In the London et Kirshenbaum studio

In it, like in the column, she describes the people in Lehava. “This is a phenomenon of youth,” she said. They are mostly youth and young people, looking for a meaningful way to, in their eyes, save the Jewish people from destruction. Some are youth at risk, while others are not. Some wear Lehava’s signature black and yellow T-shirts, and others do not (which makes it more difficult to identify them). While social service organizations and agencies are present in the Square to help youth at risk, the youth aren’t looking for their services. “These are youth who are looking do something, to create real change,” Ossnat added, and Lehava is the way that they’ve found to do it.

Speaking in the Square’s role, as she notes in the column, is “to make it difficult for them to operate unhindered.” With activists that run the gamut of political viewpoints, including secular and religious Jews, they keep an eye on the youth, more than the police, and let them know they’re being watched. They speak with them and passersby, and engage them in discussions that run deeper than one-line slogans. “We initiate a different kind of political discussion,” Ossnat explains in her Channel 10 interview. “We’re ensuring a moderate political presence [from all over the political spectrum], and not a nationalistic one. It has an effect that other kinds of activities don’t have…Something else is created [in the Square]. Something that dissipates the violence.”

Activity in the Square

We believe that the activities of Speaking in the Square have indeed changed the atmosphere in Zion Square, to one that truly enables Jerusalem’s extremely diverse populations to express themselves in a respectful manner. Many thanks to the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jerusalem Foundation for their support, which have enabled us to advance this project. Many thanks to these and other media outlets that have publicized Speaking in the Square’s work over the past several weeks. Join us in downtown Jerusalem on Thursday or Saturday nights!

Naomi Roff2015-09-02T09:47:49+00:00August 23rd, 2015|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

Can Israel’s Police Force Become Culturally Competent?

The news is full of stories of the police’s treatment – appropriate or not – of civilians. Just recently Americans marked the one-year anniversary of the shooting of a young, black, unarmed man by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, USA, which led to riots and civil unrest for some time. In May of this year Israeli police officer were shown beating a soldier of Ethiopian descent, which led to a wave of demonstrations of the Ethiopian community in Israel, and unrest in the streets.

Israel’s police force – and any police force – are under constant and almost unbearable pressure to keep law and order, working among a vastly diverse population. Educators in the Israeli Police Force recognized this complexity, and requested to begin working with us to develop a cultural competency training module for police cadets. To their credit, planning work actually began before relations between the police and the Ethiopian community made headlines. But the light shown on the police during the full-force demonstrations of the Ethiopian community this spring underlined the necessity of this kind of training. As a result, we began to working with all new police cadets, as part of their 14-week basic training course. At the same time, we are beginning an in-depth process with 23 police stations throughout the country.

At this first stage we are implementing introductory workshops to different training courses – basic policing, detectives, border police, cavalry, advanced policing – all are undergoing the basic 1 1/2 hour workshop. Since the beginning of June we’ve held 40 seminars, with 20 – 30 police cadets in each group. That’s already 1,200 cadets! After this, we will be organizing a Train the Trainers course for the regular instructors in the police academy, so the principles can be fully integrated into their training regimen.

The Israel Police Academy (credit: Israeli Police Facebook page)

More in-depth processes will be taking place in 26 police stations throughout the country that have high concentrations of Israelis of Ethiopian descent, including two in Jerusalem, Moriah in the south and Shufat in the north. In this process we are partnering together with the Gishurim project. The first step of this process will be a half-day seminar on cultural competency, using facilitators that we’ve trained. We will begin training the facilitators in September; they will then lead 150 seminars throughout the country.

And what do the police think about these training sessions? We’re finding that many, especially Jerusalemites, are already very in-tuned to the cultural complexities of our city, and make every effort to consider the effects that cultural sensitivity has on the residents with whom they come into contact. We are honored to be part of a process that seeks to bring law and order to all residents of the city.

Naomi Roff2017-05-02T07:52:10+00:00August 13th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Christians, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Police, Cultural Competence in the Workplace, Ethiopian Jews, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish Religious Denominations, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, New Immigrants, Palestinians/Arabs, Ultra-Orthodox Jews|

Speaking in the Square – Continuing to Facilitate Healthy Debate in Jerusalem’s Public Sphere

This past week, Speaking in the Square, a group with members from all over the political spectrum, has been continued to be recognized as a formidable force in fighting racism and xenophobia in the city center, especially in Zion Square. We’ve been working with Speaking in the Square since events exploded in Jerusalem last summer, and are incredibly proud of their influence on the public sphere in Jerusalem. This is also the place to thank the UJA-Federation of New York and the Jerusalem Foundation for their support of our efforts to fight racism and xenophobia in Jerusalem.

Unfortunately, the onset of summer has seen a resurgence of demonstrations and racist activity by the Lehava organization, as covered by this article that appeared in Ynet on July 13, one of Israel’s most-read news sites. In addition to a number of other groups aiming to fight racism, the reporter turns to Speaking in the Square (or other literal translations of the Hebrew, Medabrim BaKikar) :

From Ynet article July 13, 2015

While Lehava continues to demonstrate, Speaking in the Square continues its method of engaging these youth in a deeper dialogue, one that attempts to explore the nuances and complexities of the issues they are trying to solve. Over the past few months, Speaking in the Square has also developed a a public debate format, in which participants choose to uphold either the pro or con sides of an issue, right smack in the middle of Zion Square. They debate a wide range of issues, from civil marriages and other issues of religion and state, to controversial news items, should girls and boys be able to sit together or separately in school (in religious schools they sit separately), and more.

Speaking in the Square Debate

Most times the evenings are a success – the debaters speak well and respectfully on both sides of the issues, a diverse (and hopefully large) crowd gathers to watch, enabling members to hammer home their message of respectful dialogue, no matter what your personal views. But once in awhile, things don’t go so well – there are a lot of youth getting out of control, late into the night, fueled by impassioned Lehava leaders – who create public disturbances that even the police struggle to control.

This past Thursday, July 16, was a particularly successful evening of debates. Garnering a large and very diverse crowed, participants took the mike to debate issues such as civil marriage, public transportation on Shabbat, dilemmas surrounding the destruction of terrorists’ homes.

Crowd on July 16, 2015

This activity has caught the attention of Rachel Danziger, who blogs for the Times of Israel:

“Ofek [Birnholtz, a social activist and one of the founders of Speaking in the Square] and other like-minded individuals decided to reclaim the public space. But how do you fight against hatred? The group, which later adopted the name “Medabrim Bakikar” (talking in the square), maintains that counter demonstrations are not the answer. Instead of yelling a different set of slogans, the members of the group decided to offer an alternative to Lehava’s discourse of hate.”

You can read the rest of her blog post here.

Speaking in the Square will continue speaking with everyone in Zion Square each Thursday and Saturday night, and new volunteers are always welcome. You’re welcome to join us in promoting a more tolerant Jerusalem that can celebrate the city’s diversity.

Naomi Roff2015-07-24T10:52:13+00:00July 22nd, 2015|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Jewish-Palestinian/Arab, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

Building a Network of Services for Asylum Seekers in Jerusalem

We last described some of the efforts that we’re making to help African asylum seekers living in Jerusalem here . But in looking back since our first post on the subject in August 2013, we can be very, very proud. Not only can we report about achievements here and there, we can describe a whole network of services – from health care, to education, to employment, to social and welfare rights – that we have developed, together with a wide range of partners, from the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation, Jerusalem African Community Center (JACC), and many more. All work in tandem with the part-time coordinator we support, together with the municipality, to help to improve the quality of life of African asylum seekers in Jerusalem.As our Tal Kligman noted, “to have such a complete network of services after such a short time for a relatively small group of people, is nothing short of amazing. the community of African asylum seekers in Jerusalem has many needs and they are in a very difficult situation. But they are on the map, and there is a whole consortium of agencies and organizations that is looking out for them. We are proud to be part of this endeavor.” While the needs are very great, below are some examples of how far we’ve come.

Tour of Nahlaot neighborhood

Health Care. We’ve been working with the Meuchedet Health Services, which provides health care to most of the asylum seekers in Jerusalem. (Read here for an earlier blog post). This cooperation has continued, with vaccination drives for children, translation of forms to Tigrinya (the language spoken by asylum seekers from Eritrea, the most populous group), and ongoing work with the help of our Cultural Competency desk. There has also been joint work with the local well-baby clinic. We wrote here about the first aid evening for mothers that we held last year (including the black baby manikin that was used for CPR), followed by other first aid courses and workshops for parents. Workers and volunteers were on hand at the clinic on days they brought their children, to help them with language and other issues.

Education. We are part of an early childhood forum, which also includes the JEA, municipal welfare department, community representatives and other organizations, which seek to discuss the needs of the community and explore responses. We helped to translate school and kindergarten registration forms into Tigrinya, provided translation services during parent teacher conferences in the kindergartens. Together with the Jerusalem Education Authority (JEA), we held special registration days for public kindergartens with translators on hand, which included translating the registration forms, in the late afternoons and evenings, when the working parents were off work. These evenings were crazy (as in, not very orderly, but what can you expect with 3-4 year-old children running around in the evening?), but also very, very important. Until now, registration was either via the municipality’s web site (which is in Hebrew only), or physically, at the municipality building, which is also in Hebrew. Some children were registered and did attend municipal frameworks, but there were too many incidents where young children were left alone while their parents were at work. These included reports of a 4-year old child was seen wandering the streets unsupervised, or of a 3-year old girl who was babysitting for her younger siblings when her parents were at work. These children need to be in constructive frameworks.

Work with the children of asylum seekers doesn’t end with placing them in kindergartens. When there, many do not know Hebrew, which leads to behavioral problems and cognitive delays. In order to help the children, as well as the parents and the teachers, this past year the children were given didactic evaluations, thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation. The evaluations will enable the children to receive extra assistance, and help the teachers to integrate the children better into their classes.

Social Services. Programs included:

A parenting program operated by the municipal welfare department, targeting parents and children, aiming to strengthen parenting skills.
An information evening about workers’ rights, operated by the Lev Ha’Ir Community Council, together with the Worker’s Hotline organization and JACC.

In a community garden

Community. A number of initiatives aimed at integrating the community better into the general Jerusalem community. These programs are in cooperation with the Center for International Migration and Integration (CIMI) and the Lev Ha’Ir Community Council, which provides programming for all populations in the city center. Activities included:

Meetings between Israelis and asylum seekers
Story hour for Israelis as well as asylum seekers, featuring a story about about children of asylum seekers.
Hosting in neighborhood Sukkoth during the Sukkoth holiday.
Tour of the Nahlaot neighborhood, showing community members the different institutions, community gardens, and stories of the neighborhood. Participants said that this tour was something special. There were dozens of children and their parents who ran through the alleyways of Nahlaot, most of them African asylum seekers, and some Israelis. At the Community Center the community social worker told them about the different activities and services available there, and invited families to take part. At the Barbur Gallery the children made plants in the community garden and the director told them about the place itself and the community gardens in the area.

Naomi Roff2016-12-14T19:19:42+00:00June 8th, 2015|Asylum Seekers, Blog, Cultural Competence, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Identity Groups and Conflicts|

Emergency Readiness Networks – Saving Lives in Summer as Well as Winter

We’ve mentioned a number of times that the Emergency Readiness Networks, which have developed under our mentoring, do heroic work during snow storms this year and last. Rest assured, these teams are trained for all kinds of emergencies, and are busy saving lives in summer as well as in winter.

Fires are a huge problem in the Palestinian neighborhoods of East Jerusalem. People often don’t know whom to call in case of a fire; roads are narrow and steep and difficult for fire trucks to navigate. In recent months 32 volunteers have been added to the Emergency Readiness Networks (ERN) teams, who have been specifically trained in firefighting. They underwent a 3-month training course, given by the Israeli Fire and Rescue Authority. These volunteers have been added to each of the existing 8 ERNs (4 in each network), as a sub-team, specifically dedicated to firefighting and supplementing official fire and rescue services.

Below are three examples where these teams helped save lives.

In March, a gas cylinder exploded in Jebel Mukaber in the south of the city. Unfortunately, the explosion killed the homeowner, but the local ERN team was the first on the scene and evacuated the rest of the members of the household, who were all in shock by what had happened.

Jebel Mukaber fire March 2015

In April, a fire broke out in a warehouse of lumber and other construction materials. The Wadi Joz (central) ERN team worked together with teams from the neighborhood of Shuafat and the Shuafat refugee camp (two different teams), together with the professional firefighters, for more than 8 hours to contain the blaze. ERN teams helped to evacuate residents from their homes to get away from the thick smoke, and also helped to clear roads in case wounded needed to be evacuated from the scene. (Fortunately this wasn’t needed, but it was important that the work was done.) Extensive use was made of the ERN Facebook page as well as the MiniActive Facebook page, to warn and inform residents.

Fighting fires in cramped spaces

A third incident happened just last week, on Wednesday, May 27. A brush fire broke out in the north of the city, in the area of Atarot, but on land that is part of the Palestinian Authority. Two ERN teams, one from Beit Hanina and one from Shuafat, were on hand to help 5 teams of professional firefighters (3 from Jerusalem and 2 from Ramallah) put out the fire.*

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its continued support of this project, and the Daimler AG and the Sobell Foundation, which support the project via the Jerusalem Foundation.

*This joint work between Israeli and Palestinian firefighting teams is a rare event. The last time there was cooperation between the two authorities was during the huge Mount Carmel forest fire that raged for four whole days in December 2010, when teams were sent from Jenin to help extinguish the fire.

Naomi Roff2015-06-13T13:55:02+00:00June 1st, 2015|Blog, Emergency Readiness Networks, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

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