Co-existence project handed £1m donation
A JEWISH family has donated a million pounds to an NGO which runs bilingual schools for Israeli and Arab children.
The money was handed over to two senior representatives from Hand in Hand during a visit to Britain this week. The donation is said to come from four siblings who wish to remain anonymous.
“We received £1 million from a private donor,” said Shalom ‘Shuli’ Dichter, executive director of Hand in Hand.
“The donors were left some money by a relative. They were known to us because they visited one of our schools in Israel and fell in love. Now that love has borne fruit!”
Mr Dichter, who was in London with colleague Mohamad Marzouk, the director of Hand in Hand’s community department, said half of the funds will be used to develop a new secondary school in Jerusalem, while the rest will be distributed “among the ongoing activities of the organisation”.
Hand in Hand aims to create a strong, inclusive, shared society in Israel through a network of integrated bilingual schools and organised communities. Its work currently extends to 1,550 Jewish and Arab students and more than 3,000 community members at six different sites: Jerusalem, Jaffa, Haifa, Kfar Saba, in the Galillee and in Wadi Ara, from where Mr Marzouk hails.
Children are taught by Jewish and Arab staff, while differences in culture, religion and historical viewpoints are discussed openly.
“When Arab and Jewish children learn together, they break the cycle of negative stereotypes and learn to relate to one another with mutual under- standing and respect,” said Mr Dichter.
The school in Wadi Ara, close to Haifa, was partly founded by Mr Marzouk, a social and political activist who has spent many years advancing Palestinian-Israeli dialogue. Two of his own children graduated from there, while the third remains a pupil.
Hand in Hand receives a small amount of funding from Israel’s Ministry of Education, but generally relies upon philanthropy from both communities, as well as other international benefactors such as the Rayne Trust and the Pears Foundation here in Britain. When the first schools were set up in 1998, there were only 50 pupils.
The organisation’s work has extended and grown since its inception, with parents and other adults now encouraged to become more involved.
“We organise different kinds of activities for the communities,” said Mr Mar- zouk. These include sharing religious festivals and family celebrations, while also holding dialogue groups aimed at “deepening awareness” of each side.
“Arabs and Jews grow up with a gap in Israel,” said Mr Marzouk. “They don’t have any meaningful meeting that allows them to talk, discuss and bridge that gap. We believe adults should also take part in this process. Our role doesn’t stop at sending our children to a bilingual school. We believe children should be given the opportunity to grow up together, be friends and have a normal life with the other side.”
Not everyone is in favour of their work, however, as an arson attack proved. In 2014 two classrooms and a playground were set alight at the Jerusalem school. The building was also daubed with hate-filled graffiti, such as “there is no coexistence with cancer” and “death to the Arabs”. Three Jewish extremists are currently serving a jail sentence for the crime.
“This was an extreme objection, but it isn’t the only one,” said Mr Dichter.
His colleague added: “There is a small minority on both sides who reject the idea for many reasons. Some could be political, some could be cultural. Often they are fearful, afraid what we are doing will make children lose their identities.
“But at the same time we have waiting lists in all our schools. We also have demand from about 10 other places that want to open schools.”
For now the plan is to use the funding to grow existing sites, but the pair are optimistic about the future.
“Many see us as a ray of hope,” said Mr Dichter. “Whatever solution we end up with — a one, two or even three-state solution – it must be built upon equality between Jews and Arabs.”