{"id":9147,"date":"2014-11-21T00:06:49","date_gmt":"2014-11-21T08:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=9147"},"modified":"2014-11-19T11:25:33","modified_gmt":"2014-11-19T19:25:33","slug":"building-a-society-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2014\/11\/21\/building-a-society-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Building a society together"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hand in Hand was started in 1997, with the goal of creating integrated schools wherein both Arab and Jewish kids could study together in a bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) framework within the public school system.\u00a0(photo from Hand in Hand)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Starting with just two classes in 1998 \u2013 a kindergarten and a Grade 1 class \u2013 Hand in Hand now has five schools throughout Israel, serving 1,200 students.<\/p>\n

Hand in Hand is the brainchild of Lee Gordon and Amin Kalaf. Gordon grew up in Portland, Ore., before making aliyah; he lived in Israel for 20 years, returning to the United States a few years ago. Kalaf grew up in a small village near Afula and now lives in Jerusalem. They founded Hand in Hand in 1997, with the goal of creating integrated schools wherein both Arab and Jewish kids could study together in a bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) framework within the public school system. The concept involves both improving the quality of education and being a model for partnership between Jewish and Arab citizens, as well as the public and private sectors.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have mayors in the various towns supporting our projects and giving us buildings to use and some funding \u2026 so, it\u2019s a public-private partnership,\u201d said Gordon. \u201cThere is public funding from Israel and also a lot of private philanthropic support [from] around the world,\u201d he said, referring to the United States, Canada, Europe and, of course, Israel. When Gordon moved back to the United States, he created (and heads) American Friends of Hand in Hand, a nonprofit fundraising organization.<\/p>\n

Kalaf\u2019s oldest child graduated from Hand in Hand\u2019s first class of Grade 12 graduates. \u201cWe\u2019ve had four high school graduating classes now at our only high school in Jerusalem,\u201d said Gordon. \u201cThat\u2019s our biggest school, with 600 students from pre-k to 12th grade.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two years ago, Hand in Hand added another component to the organization. \u201cWe\u2019ve been doing a community initiative, which we call Shared Communities, in which we\u2019re working to build relationships between Jewish and Arab adults, not just kids,\u201d said Gordon.<\/p>\n

Today, there is a whole range of programs for adults, including language classes, holiday celebrations, discussion groups and a men\u2019s basketball team. \u201cWe probably have about 3,000 adults in programs around each of our schools,\u201d said Gordon. \u201cSometimes, the programs are at the schools in the evenings, or in other places.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey really stood out this past summer when there was all the violence \u2013 the kidnappings, the revenge murder of the Palestinian teen, and the two-month-long war in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shared Communities was active throughout Operation Protective Edge. Despite the tensions and differing views, participants found common ground. One example of this was the program organizing Jerusalem adults and kids going on evening walks together, wearing T-shirts that read, \u201cWe refuse to be enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey weren\u2019t really protests, but they were saying not everything about Jews and Arabs is about war and conflict,\u201d said Gordon. \u201cHere, we are working together in our school \u2026 and, in a little town, people came out onto the side of the roads with signs that read, \u2018We are neighbors in peace,\u2019 which is more than just saying, \u2018We are peaceful neighbors.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"photo<\/a>
Today, there is a whole range of programs for adults, including language classes, holiday celebrations, discussion groups and a men\u2019s basketball team. (photo from Hand in Hand)<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the schools, Hand in Hand works toward keeping the numbers balanced between Arabs and Jews, and between boys and girls.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese are the main prerequisites,\u201d said Gordon. \u201cEarlier on, we had more Arabs than Jews. Now, we have waiting lists on both sides, though there\u2019s a larger waiting list on the Arab side.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost importantly, they are growing fast. For example, in the new school in Tel Aviv (which is a preschool and kindergarten for now), last year, we had one class of 30 students. This year, we have three classes with 100 students in total. And, there was enough interest that we could\u2019ve had 150 kids if we\u2019d have had enough room.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon added, \u201cThere are great teachers and a wonderful curriculum. It looks at multiculturalism, backgrounds and narratives of different religions, because we have Christians, Muslims, Arabs and Jews\u2026. In the younger grades, they have two full-time teachers in each class, one Arab and one Jewish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gordon spoke of the schools\u2019 broad reach.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou can have an Arab friend the same way you can have a Jewish friend,\u201d he said. \u201cIt can help you in the workplace, academia or your social life, and I think that\u2019s a direct impact of Hand in Hand\u2026. From the very beginning, when a Jewish child was invited to an Arab\u2019s home for a birthday party, this involved the parents taking that child in and they\u2019d meet each other. So, there are a lot of friendships happening beyond the walls of the schools \u2026 and sometimes the parents\u2019 friendships were long-lasting, even if the children changed friends\u2026. And the families aren\u2019t just the parents. They are uncles, aunts, sister, brothers, cousins\u2026. People hear about it and are impacted.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to be visible because we want the rest of Israel to know about this and to be an example, as an alternative. Things can be different. Jews and Arabs can get along.\u201d<\/p>\n

Canadians can make a tax-deductible donation to Hand in Hand via the Jerusalem Foundation of Canada, with which it has a partnership.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur goal is to bring this model to as many places as there is interest and to work with populations to help them build a model school in the community,\u201d said Gordon.<\/p>\n

For more information, visit handinhandk12.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hand in Hand was started in 1997, with the goal of creating integrated schools wherein both Arab and Jewish kids could study together in a bilingual (Hebrew and Arabic) framework within the public school system.\u00a0(photo from Hand in Hand) Starting with just two classes in 1998 \u2013 a kindergarten and a Grade 1 class \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":9116,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4329],"tags":[2514,2516,2512,2515,2511,2513,1172],"class_list":["post-9147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-israel","tag-amin-kalaf","tag-arabs","tag-hand-in-hand","tag-israelis","tag-jerusalem-foundation","tag-lee-gordon","tag-palestinians"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9147\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}