Palestinians/Arabs | The Jerusalem Intercultural Center

New Arabic-language Digital Tools to Fight Covid

We’ve been on the front lines helping to fight the spread of Covid in East Jerusalem for the past year, the first NGO ever invited to join a public command center that was set up together with the Jerusalem Municipality, the Ministry of Health, and the IDF’s Home Front Command, among others. At the same time, we actively set up and coordinated a Forum to Fight Covid in East Jerusalem, network of 150 Arab Palestinian civil society actors in East Jerusalem, representing some 80 organizations.

The new web site lists the updated numbers of cases in East Jerusalem

As a result of this work, an idea was raised to create a go-to web site that included all the possible information about Covid – healthcare information, where to go for testing, information vaccinations, information to counter fake news, and more.

This web site draws from official sources and authorities to ensure accuracy of information. Also critically important – the web site is considered an independent initiative. Official Israeli channels are often regarded with suspicion in East Jerusalem, so the fact that it is independent adds to the website’s legitimacy.

Updated testing information also listed

You can view the website here.

And the Facebook page here:

For example, here’s a post about vaccinations in the Shuafat Refugee Camp:

And another, a video by Jerusalemite doctors about the importance of the vaccine:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation, the Russell Berrie Foundation, and the Leichtag Foundation for their emergency support of our efforts to stop the spread of Covid in East Jerusalem.

Naomi Roff2021-03-30T16:08:09+00:00March 14th, 2021|Blog, Cultural Competence in Health Services, Effective Activism, Palestinians/Arabs|

Parents Association Handbook: Definitive Guide to Parents Associations in East Jerusalem

One of the side products of lockdown is having the opportunity to summarize knowledge gained from unique processes, and being able to compile it all in one place. Such is the case with the Parents Association Handbook, which was recently finished by our East Jerusalem Desk Director, Ezadeen El-Saad, who has been working with Parents Associations in East Jerusalem for the past 5 years.

New book on Parents Associations

Ezadeen has been working closely with several Parents Associations, especially in Sur Baher, Silwan and Ras el-Amud, among others. (You can read a little bit about it here.) The book describes all the processes they went through, from start to finish.

Table of contents

When we started several years ago, the Parents Associations consisted of a few dominant leaders in the community. They met only sporadically, and only when there were specific problems. Meetings did not have set agendas, no one took minutes and there was no official documentation of the meetings. They served mainly to react to actions of a principal, or to a certain problem in the schools. The Parents Associations never initiated anything. They were afraid to act because they weren’t familiar with the bylaws of the national Parents Association or with their rights as an Association or as parents. They did not know that it was their right to work in cooperation with the principal.

As a first step, Ezadeen called a number of meetings with central Parents Associations, including in A-Tur, Silwan, Abu Tor, Jebel Mukaber, Sur Baher and Ras el-Amud, which are considered particularly strong Parent Association. He explained:

The different rights and obligations afforded Parents Associations by law
What Parents Associations can accomplish
How to achieve results, in areas that included: student achievements, maintenance of the school, and in parent involvement in their children’s education, in cooperation with the school principals and school administrations.

At first, representatives were quite skeptical. However, as time went on, he gained the trust of the Parents Associations, and together, they worked, together with the local principals, on a broad range of initiatives that helped to build community – and improve education and school atmosphere – in the schools. After the initial workshops, the Parents Association learned how to build and follow through on specific work plans. They also learned how to create subcommittees – such as cultural activities, behavior, trips, study guidance, maintenance, and more – according to the school’s needs.

The processes, in the words of the parents

In this book, he’s compiled all the instructions, all the relevant materials, all the relevant protocols, case studies from different schools, and more. for an effective and influential Parents Association, one that will help to improve education. It also includes a chapter about learning during the Covid pandemic. Given the intense crowding in East Jerusalem schools, the Parents Associations closed schools in East Jerusalem in March 2020, long before schools throughout Israel were closed, and they stayed closed until the end of the 2019 – 2020 school year. This act was seen as a major contributor to a low rate of infection in East Jerusalem during Israel’s first lockdown in March – May 2020.

Parents activities

The guide includes photos from a variety of activities organized and implemented by the Parents Associations. These included:

Drawing and essay exhibit

Accompanying the construction of a schoolyard in Silwan;
Establishment of Facebook pages to build community, encourage discussion among parents, and document activities;
Production of 12th grade graduation ceremonies in Sur Baher;
Produced an exhibit of drawings and essays written and drawn by students;
Special days for Teacher Appreciation and Family Day at a special education school in Sur Baher;

Even more examples of activities parents produced with schools

Construction of a school yard, and more

There’s also a page that thanks the Leichtag Foundation and to the Jerusalem Foundation who have supported of the Parents Association project. Many thanks!

Thanks to partners

And many thanks to Ezadeen! May we have much more success with the Parents Association project!

Naomi Roff2021-03-20T08:20:00+00:00February 12th, 2021|Blog, Effective Activism, On Jerusalem, Palestinians/Arabs|

Ha’aretz Article Highlights the Behind-the-Scenes Work in East Jerusalem

On October 25, Ha’aretz journalist published an article about the IDF’s Home Front Command’s system-wide efforts in East Jerusalem to fight COVID-19. It describes the different avenues and connections that have been made, that have enabled a relative containment of COVID-19 in East Jerusalem in the second wave, after the infection rate spiked in the summer months.

East Jerusalem

We’re not mentioned in the article, but much of what has been possible has been the result of the tireless work of the JICC. As soon as COVID-19 hit Israel, the JICC established and continues to coordinate a 160-member WhatsApp group of civil society leaders in East Jerusalem. This is much more than a channel of communication; it has enabled numerous initiatives to take place that help to help East Jerusalem Palestinians fight the spread of COVID-19. As a result of our deep and extensive network of Palestinian civil society actors, the JICC was asked to join the Municipality’s Control Center, the first NGO to ever be asked to join the emergency control center. JICC Director spoke a bit about this at a Jerusalem Foundation Switzerland online event entitled, “Diversity and Inclusion in Times of Crisis.” You can read more about that here. In May of this year we were quoted in the Jerusalem Post as well. You can read about that here.

These efforts are complementary and in addition to the specific efforts of the Atta’a Assistance Center for the Rights of East Jerusalem Residents and the MiniActive Network of Palestinian women. You can read about their activities here and here, respectively.

Here are relevant parts of that article:

Today, in his role as head of the coronavirus control center for Jerusalem, [Brig. Gen. (res.). Ben-Zvi Eliassi] has had to build a completely new kind of relationship with the city’s residents.

Evacuating and isolating confirmed COVID-19 patients is an important part of the center’s activities. As a result, the Home Front Command runs hotels in East Jerusalem that are designated for that purpose. An assistance network has also been set up for the families of patients and for those required to go into quarantine to encourage them to follow the guidelines and to provide them with food and medicine.

“Patients feel that there is someone looking after them, so they don’t leave home,” Eliassi said. “In addition, there is enforcement at the individual level to make sure people follow the rules. Patients know they’re being monitored, and they don’t break the isolation rules.”

Some of the personnel at the coronavirus control network are paid by the Defense Ministry and the municipality, while others are volunteers who look after the needs of patients and those in quarantine. The control center works through Jerusalem’s community administrations (local neighborhood councils with fairly broad powers, which operate in both the eastern and the western parts of the city). It pays the salaries of the person in the neighborhood who is responsible for coronavirus operations, along with the coordinator of volunteers and the coronavirus “trustee,” who monitors compliance with rules and is involved in contact tracing.

…

The Home Front Command center has relied on a network of paid personnel and volunteers, as well as young women from East Jerusalem doing alternative national service. The cooperative effort required the center to surmount political and social obstacles. While army uniforms are considered less problematic in East Jerusalem neighborhoods than those of the Border Police, Palestinian encounters with uniformed Israeli personnel can still be tense.

East Jerusalem activists have agreed with the Home Front Command that the coronavirus is a common enemy, which has helped reduce tensions. But other residents of East Jerusalem have said that the activists who have been working with the soldiers are not from the mainstream of Jerusalem Palestinian society.

Instead, they say, they are Palestinians who have tended in any event to be more cooperative with Israel. Contrary to expectations, however, since the beginning of the second wave, there has been almost no opposition to such cooperation in the field or on social media.

An expert on East Jerusalem who has been following the control center’s activities said there are three types of Palestinian activists and organizations in Jerusalem. “There are activists who always cooperate with the municipality, and they were the first to jump on the bandwagon,” he said.

“The question is how accepted they are and how representative of the population. Alongside them are the community administrations that have received generous funding and have proven that they have a high capacity to carry things out. And then there are the folks who can’t even utter the word “city hall” – but even there, the beginnings of cooperation can be seen. It’s done through quiet dialogue – things that we haven’t seen in the past. The subsiding of the Palestinian issue is also manifesting itself in Jerusalem.”

You can read the original article here.

As noted above, much of the activity in East Jerusalem is thanks to the behind-the-scenes work of the JICC. We are honored to help fight the spread of COVID-19 in East Jerusalem.

Naomi Roff2020-11-18T09:25:39+00:00October 31st, 2020|Blog, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive – Providing Women with Important Life Skills in the Shadow of COVID-19

On Tuesday, August 11, MiniActive finished a 5-session life skills course for its members.

Learning life skills for success

This course gave the women skills to help them deal with the stresses of the day, especially those associated with the coronavirus crisis. We received very very positive feedback from the women. If they could have, they would have continued with the meetings.

Participants in the Life Skills course

Here are some pictures from the final meeting. Here’s a Facebook post (in Arabic) from the MiniActive Facebook page:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Model for their support of this summertime initiative for youth. And many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and to Natan for their ongoing support of MiniActive!

Naomi Roff2020-08-19T13:44:17+00:00August 22nd, 2020|Blog, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

The Coronavirus in East Jerusalem – JICC in Jerusalem Post

“What has changed these last years is the overtaking of the Jerusalemite identity over other aspects,” says Agmon-Snir. “Perhaps because of the security barrier, perhaps because of other things, like the geopolitical situation surrounding us, the understanding that they cannot rely on anyone else, the legitimate yearning for a decent life… all these together have finally ended up in a strong local identity.”

This is how JICC Director, Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir, described the situation in East Jerusalem in the Jerusalem Post on May 14, 2020, and how it reacted to the coronavirus crisis.

East Jerusalem

Earlier in the article he described the kinds of activities:

“There are many such associations – firstly, the local councils and community centers spread out in all the Arab neighborhoods,” says Hagai Agmon-Snir, director of the Jerusalem Intercultural Center (JICC) on Mount Zion. “They do have some problem of legitimacy as they are perceived as representatives of the Israeli authorities – mostly the municipality – but they manage to work with the population nevertheless.”

Other associations make an impact, namely Bahag al-Kalak in the Muslim Quarter, a welfare organization for the needy; the Edward Said National Conservatory; MiniActive, a womens’ empowerment group; and perhaps the largest of them all – Atta’a, which means “giving,” an organization that focus on exercising the rights of workers in regard to the authorities and private employers, he noted.

“Above all these, there are many WhatsApp groups, a lot of them of parents of students, and the ‘Maqdissi’ – literally the ‘Jerusalemites,’ which also has a Facebook page and is very popular. For example, this social media outlet has been extremely helpful and active in explaining to the population the dangers of the coronavirus, so that the closure of the mosques – including al-Aqsa – has been widely accepted. While some of these associations are still strongly opposed to any contact with any Israeli authority, others admit that in order to have a relatively normal life, they need to take into account the presence of the Israeli representatives, and firstly, the municipality. It is important to note that the JICC is not the ‘owner’ of these groups and their activities, but rather serves as a very neutral platform, to enable a cultural competency for the city and its residents beyond their different identities.”

Since the beginning of the coronavirus crisis the JICC has been and active leader in East Jerusalem, helping to lead efforts to combat the crisis. We are proud to be part of these efforts, and kol hakavod to civil society and its leaders and activists in East Jerusalem for leading the charge.

Many thanks to our partners who help us facilitate grassroots activism and civil society in East Jerusalem, including: The Jerusalem Foundation, the Natan Fund, the Russell Berrie Foundation, the Bader Philanthropies, the US Embassy in Israel.

Naomi Roff2020-05-16T05:51:22+00:00May 20th, 2020|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive Helping during Coronavirus Lockdown

Each year for the past several years MiniActive has distributed food packages to needy families in East Jerusalem for the month of Ramadan. (you can read about it here.)

Packaging and distributing food

But this year, in the throes of the coronavirus crisis, with many East Jerusalem residents furloughed or newly unemployed, this distribution was more important than ever. This year, MiniActive worked in close cooperation with the municipal welfare authorities, who were also distributing food packages, to ensure that they were spread evenly.

Collecting huge amounts of supplies – what a project!

As in previous years they distributed a range of food staples – from tea to rice to oil to rice and pasta to tomato paste and more. Some 40 – 50 women helped to sort, package and distribute the packages. More than 220 packages were delivered. They delivered packagaes throughout East Jerusalem – from the Kufr Aqeb in the north (even across the security barrier) to the Old City and Sur Baher in the south. This year, because of the increased demand, MiniActive received special emergency assistance from the Jerusalem Foundation and the Leichtag Foundation’s Jerusalem Model. Thank you!

Also, many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation and to Natan for their ongoing support of MiniActive!

Naomi Roff2020-05-16T07:10:49+00:00May 8th, 2020|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Health Care in East Jerusalem during the Coronavirus Crisis – 0202 Spotlight

Since the coronavirus crisis reached Israel – and Jerusalem – in late February / early March, the JICC has been on the front lines in a number of avenues in helping residents of East Jerusalem cope – with helping residents realize their social and welfare rights, with providing important community information and online activities, and, maybe most importantly, helping East Jerusalem’s grassroots civil society’s efforts to fight the pandemic in an area that on the one hand, requires cooperation with the local authorities in order to fight the disease, and on the other, in an area where relationships with any and all local authorities are complex at best, and non-existent at worst.

On Thursday, April 30, 0202 – Viewpoints from Jerusalem held an online session that spotlighted health care in East Jerusalem during the coronavirus crisis, featuring three local activists in East Jerusalem – Fuad Abu-Hamed, Dr. Samer al-Awar, Sameeh Abu Ramileh – who described their efforts amid the sea of complexities in East Jerusalem. The evening was moderated by JICC’s director, Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir.

Health above all else

They all spoke about their efforts, from coordinating medical care and testing in their areas to setting up quarantine hotels for those returning from abroad, and more. They described efforts in Beit Safafa and Sur Baher, in Silwan, and in Kufr Aqeb, a village under the jurisdiction of the Jerusalem Municipality but on the ‘other’ side of the security fence.

They described an interesting phenomenon. On the one hand, opening statistics in East Jerusalem was not good. The area has more than 350,000 residents, who live in desperate poverty (80%), in poorly kept and crowded conditions, with a healthcare system that is sorely lacking in ‘normal’ times, with a mistrust of the Israeli establishment and the information that it distributes to the public, and often with a feeling that the same establishment is not interested in meeting that population’s needs. In such a state, the coronavirus could potentially spread like wildfire in East Jerusalem, and because many East Jerusalemites work in West Jerusalem, create a public health crisis in all of Jerusalem.

On the other hand, because of this fear, civil society in East Jerusalem organized quickly, with the JICC doing important work in coordinating efforts with the Israeli ‘establishment.’ Results on the ground seem promising – while there are cases in East Jerusalem (including Fuad’s own son, who is on the mend), thus far it hasn’t spread like wildfire as originally feared. And despite the challenging baseline situation, there was cautious optimism, even though the event was held at the beginning of the month of Ramadan, which has the potential of spreading the virus because of the traditional party-like banquets that are traditionally held nightly during Ramadan.

One of the reasons COVID-19 has been contained? According to Dr. Samer, “In East Jerusalem’s traditional society, the whole family lives together, including the grandparents. So when we say, ‘Stay at home, protect your grandparents,’ people take it very very seriously, and heed the warnings.”

This meeting was mentioned in both Hebrew and English articles in the Ha’aretz national daily newspaper. It also quoted JICC Director Dr. Hagai Agmon-Snir on the healthcare situation in East Jerusalem:

“The advantage of the coronavirus crisis is that it’s not linked to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and can be dealt while disregarding political considerations.

“We see a trend in which the old orientalist concept, by which East Jerusalem is made up of villages, clans, and hostile Palestinian organizations, is being replaced by a new perspective – Jerusalem’s eastern part enables a civil society to flourish, and is home to activists and professionals, just like in the western part of the city,”

Hagai added that “It’s not that the old reality has changed, it’s there. But lenses that can see [East Jerusalem’s developing] civil society can see farther,” and can plan long-term processes accordingly.

There were some 100 participants in the Zoom call, and another 1.6 thousand views on Facebook Live. Here’s a recording of the live session, in Hebrew:

Many thanks to 0202 – Viewpoints from Jerusalem for the event, and to the Jerusalem Foundation for its support of our activities. And many thanks to the organizations that enable us to work effectively in East Jerusalem, including: the Jerusalem Foundation, the Natan Fund, the Russell Berrie Foundation, the Bader Philanthropies, the American Embassy in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Naomi Roff2020-05-16T06:08:31+00:00May 5th, 2020|Blog, Effective Activism, Palestinians/Arabs, Promoting Tolerance in Jerusalem|

Atta’a and other JICC Efforts in East Jerusalem Mentioned in Ha’aretz Newspaper

We’ve described in the blog some of the major efforts we’re helping with in regard to the COVID-19 crisis.

Photo Credit: Israeli Ministry of Health site

Some of those efforts have also been described here, in this Ha’aretz article, which appeared a few days ago.

Screen shot of Ha’aretz article, published on April 2, 2020

The article quotes Atta’a Director, Daud Alian:

“Activists also say that while the NII and the employment service are trying to help Arabic-speaking applicants, the language barrier is a serious obstacle for those seeking to collect unemployment benefits.

“We’ve prepared a video that shows how to fill out the NII form, but it’s hard,” says Daud Alian, director of Atta’a, the assistance center for the advancement of workers’ rights in East Jerusalem. East Jerusalem residents are facing similar problems when they try to apply their discount on real estate taxes (arnona) on the municipal website.”

It also speaks about the emergency council, which East Jerusalem Desk Director Ezadeen Alsaad is a member and helps to organize

“Dozens of organizations and hundreds of activists have set up an emergency council, which two weeks ago began to assist the local hospitals, disseminate information, help needy families and even find a hotel that will open for people who must be in quarantine but cannot be properly isolate in the tight quarters in the Arab neighborhoods.”

And here’s the article from Ha’aretz.com’s Facebook page:

Many thanks to the Jerusalem Foundation for its support of our activities in East Jerusalem.

Naomi Roff2020-04-18T13:38:05+00:00April 8th, 2020|Attaa, Blog, Effective Activism, Emergency Readiness Networks, Palestinians/Arabs|

MiniActive – Kickoff Event

On October 24 we held an opening event for 150 MiniActive women. The evening was filled with cultural performances, from debka dancing to poetry to playback theater.

MiniActive in balloons

The evening sought to thank the women for their hard work over the years, and served to launch the new activity year.

Held at the YWCA in East Jerusalem, home of the MiniActive offices

There was good dancing.

Women’s dance group

The women enjoyed playback theater, where an improv group performed humorous sketches with audience participation. The program also included poetry readings.

MiniActive women enjoy playbacck theater

We showed a year-end video, with highlights from last year. Here’s the video / presentation:

Here’s the post from the MiniActive Facebook page:

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

Naomi Roff2020-08-19T13:10:15+00:00October 31st, 2019|Blog, Effective Activism, Identity Groups and Conflicts, MiniActive, Palestinians/Arabs|

Atta’a – Facebook Video on New Location of East Jerusalem Branch of National Insurance Institute Goes Nearly Viral

Atta’a is here to give Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem the information they need to help them in their everyday lives. One of the simplest, but most useful – and most popular – ways to do this is through short videos.

This video, for example, showed how to go to the Municipality.

And the newest video, below, shows how to get to the National Insurance Institute’s new offices in East Jerusalem. The National Insurance Institute is an important national welfare agency, and many residents are eligible for benefits and payments.

Daud at the National Insurance Institute East Jerusalem branch

Here’s the video from the Facebook page. Thus far, we know that some 30,000 people have seen the video, and it’s been ‘shared’ 90 times!!!

Many thanks to the Leichtag Foundation and the Jerusalem Foundation for their continued support of Atta’a.

Naomi Roff2019-04-06T05:55:52+00:00March 31st, 2019|Attaa, Blog, Palestinians/Arabs|