15th war update with messages from Fahili, Meir and David

The Sir Charles Clore Jewish-Arab Community Center

The Center provides low-cost child care to Arab and Jewish children under three allowing mothers to work. Activities for hundreds of children also run six days a week after school.  A new youth program is being developed to strengthen local Arab youth, putting them on a par with their Jewish counterparts with a longer term view to joint activities,  Women’s activities focus on empowerment and education in areas such as nutrition, child-rearing in the 21st Century and knowing their rights under the law.

Letter from Mohammad Fahili, Director of the Akko Jewish-Arab Community Center :

Dear Friends,

I’ve been wanting to let you know what’s happening here at the Centre in Akko, but I am constantly reminded of the terrible toll of this ongoing war which stops me. It feels wrong, somehow, to talk about the “regular” life that is the concurrent reality for many of us. However, enough time has passed and I want to share that in this time of uncertainty, some good things are happening. Here in Israel, many Arabs and Jews have turned to each other for support and strength, demonstrating what I have always known and worked towards: that we can live here together in peace.  

I believe that this is why the Centre has become such a hub of activity in Akko, attracting people who never came before. In fact, I can’t remember a time when I felt so much energy here.  I’m so proud that the Centre draws people from the diverse communities of this mixed city, especially at this time.

It gives me hope for a better future.  I’m grateful to our outstanding staff, particularly our two outreach coordinators, Samah to the Arab community and Alexandra to the Jewish community. Together they are developing programmes that bring in new participants, expanding our impact throughout Akko. Their commitment has grown as they see how important the Centre and its mission is, especially now.

I’m also thankful to you, our dedicated supporters, without whom, none of this would be possible. Your continued generosity means that we can remain a bright light amidst so much darkness.

Your friend,
Fahili

The Akko Arab-Jewish Community Centre  is in our directory has their own website and joined us for a webinar in August 2021  There are details of how you can donate to help support their work on this page of their website.  

The Teachers’ Lounge

The Teachers’ Lounge – in memory of Shira Banki – creates an inclusive, respectful and multicultural meeting space for groups of Jewish and Arab teachers operating in Jerusalem, Ramla, Tel Aviv-Jaffa and the Western Galilee. The programme brings together teachers for ten experiential, thought-provoking and inspiring meetings. Thus leading to in-depth interactions between the participants, a result of honest conversations based in mutual respect. As part of the programme, the teachers visit each other’s schools and homes, and tour their respective neighbourhoods, streets and markets.

Development and Partnerships Director,  Meir Berman sent us this update:
During the past month we began intensive preparations for return to activity, including meeting with the teachers at each of the programme’s centres. The situation in Israel remains challenging and complex. The war continues and different regions in Israel are under a state of emergency. Meanwhile, we understand that life is stronger than anything and we must persevere. We aspire to find hope and the path back to action and continue to believe that the Teachers’ Lounge endeavour, in all our centres, is part of a larger effort to rehabilitate and heal Israeli society and reinstate the hope of a joint life.

• Jerusalem: After immense recruitment efforts, last week we managed to open 2 first-year groups (one of 15 Arab participants and the other with 13 Jewish participants). The meetings will be held in a uni-national format with the intention of merging the groups later this year. 

• Tel Aviv-Yafo: We have started the recruitment process to find our next group of participants, intending to start at the end of February. The plan is to open a multinational group from the start.

• Western Galilee: We started the recruitment process to find our next group of participants, intending to start at the beginning of March. The plan is to open a multinational group from the start.

• Ramla: We started the recruitment process to find our next group of participants, intending to start at the beginning of March. The plan is to open a multinational group from the start.

• Haifa: For now, it seems that the program will open in September. We will continue to monitor the situation and will keep you updated.


Status Update – Every week we hold a meeting at Headquarters to assess the situation at all regional centres, as well as the happenings at Headquarters.

Centres – We offer guidance and support to each centre, helping them tackle local and staff related challenges.

Upcoming Plans – In the near future we will start developing our activities for the upcoming year (2024-5) while learning from the current process of returning to activity at each centre.

Personnel – We are currently engaged in the process of constructing and restructuring the organisation following the recent events. Unfortunately, some of the programme’s staff members will not be continuing with the programme; therefore we need to hire new staff and rebuild the teams.

In the coming weeks, another follow-up (uni-national) meeting will be held, after which we will try to reach preliminary insights regarding the future.

Pedagogy – The programme’s curriculum has been updated and rewritten by the staff, with the understanding that the events of October 7^th and the ongoing war have a profound and significant impact on the programme participants

Alumni – We are happy to announce that the alumni programme has begun. On January 22, 2024, about 20 of the programme’s graduates participated in the first introduction meeting for the programme’s alumni. We have developed a programme strategy for this year, and additional “exposure sessions” are in the workings to enlist more alumni. Noa Kali, who coordinates the Western Galilee Teachers’ Lounge programme, is head of the alumni programme.

On behalf of our staff, I would like to thank you for the support you offer from near and far, it gives us the strength to carry on.

The Teachers’ Lounge staff and I are at your service,

With a prayer for better days,

Sincerely,

Meir Berman

The Teachers’ Lounge is in our directory, has their own website and joined TalkMatters for a webinar in September 2022.  There are details of how you can donate to help support their work on this page of their website.

Does Gaza represent an existential crisis for interfaith relations?

Article from January 2024 which was in the Jewish News, written by TalkMatters supporter and Leeds Church Minister David Kibble. 

Keir Starmer, commenting recently on current interfaith relations, said, “I think we have to be honest about where we are at the moment which is a much worse position than I think we were in.”

He said that “what I thought went very deep across the country with interfaith work wasn’t as deep as I thought.” Board of Deputies president Marie van der Zyl has said that some interfaith relations have become ‘strained and under challenge.’

From a different perspective Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has suggested that members of the Jewish community need to be more assertive about the place of Israel in interfaith situations. “Israel is not just the geopolitical centre of Jewish peoplehood, it is the heart of our religion… We need to be brave enough, let’s discuss Israel”

Israel’s actions in Gaza have certainly led to a cooling of some interfaith relations, particularly between Jewish and Muslim communities. But is this inevitable?

Interfaith relations operate at a number of levels. What we might call a lower level is where members of synagogues, churches and mosques hear about one another in the media.

They watch news on television or on the internet about one another and about the conflict in Gaza. At a second level, members of different faith communities may meet one another during visits to one another’s places of worship; perhaps they visit during a mitzvah day in a synagogue or eat an iftar meal in a mosque during Ramadan.

At a deeper level, students might meet students of other faiths for meals. This is what some do in the homes of members of St George’s church in Leeds.  Here they may talk to one another about their faith and faith communities in a supportive environment – alongside football, university courses and other matters of interest!

At a deeper level still, small groups of members of different faith communities may get together on a regular basis to undertake social projects. Finally, there is another level where, for example, Jews and others might meet to discuss the issue of Israel and Palestine in some depth.

This is something we have done twice at St George’s. One round of discussion was undertaken over four sessions on Sunday afternoons whilst another smaller group of seven or eight looked at the topic over three summers.

How members of different faith communities relate to one another will be different at different levels. It is where relationships are at a higher level that they will be more able to continue in times of crisis, such as at the present time. At lower levels, where acquaintances are made rather than relationships forged, interfaith relations will be at their weakest; there may consequently be some form of disruption or even breakdown.

I see no problem in accepting the Chief Rabbi’s suggestion that members of the Jewish community should not be afraid to raise the topic of Israel. How one does this, however, is crucial.

Many, perhaps even most, non-Jews will have little background knowledge of Israel and Palestine and their history. Bearing in mind that one should always start from where people are, much discussion will therefore need to be of a very basic nature.

Only at the higher levels of interfaith relationships should more in depth discussion take place. Even then, it should nearly always be in the form of ‘my view is’ or ‘in the Jewish community we believe….’  The stronger the friendships, the more strident and assertive one can be. And, of course, that will apply to both sides!

We must avoid, then, making blanket statements about interfaith relations. Interfaith activities embrace a wide variety of relationships. Where there are political tensions there may be a weakening of, and in some cases a pause in, those relationships.

Events in Gaza will no doubt impact interfaith relations. But how they impact them will depend on how deep personal relationships are. If we wish to be able to work through crises together we will only be able to do so where we have strong relationships. The message is obvious.

• David Kibble is a retired deputy headteacher from Huntington School in York and a licensed lay minister at St George’s Church in Leeds