We believe that the individual's sense of belonging to the community in which he lives, and awareness to the common destiny he shares with this community, is something that will advance the community and the whole of society. We act to encourage involvement and entrepreneurship of the various villages' members in educational activities and in the creation of common Jewish-Arab festivals. The board of directors of Sha'ar La'Adam consists of Arabs and Jews from various villages in the Galilee. They all have different professions and come from a varied social and cultural background. The group meets once a week and directs the activity of Sha'ar La'Adam.
Of the Center's activities in the communal sphere are:
A Jewish-Arab women's group
On September 2010 a Jewish-Arab women’s group was formed at Sha’ar laAdam – Bab lilInsan with the purpose of learning,
empowering and creating ongoing social activity, with the aim of creating inter-community strength against a reality
of cultural separation.
Background:
In the Galilee Arabs and Jews live in small town and villages, which are neighbors, but there are no mixed towns or villages
where they live together.
Relationships between Jewish and Arab neighbors mostly develop around work and trade, and only few of them have a personal
nature. On the surface there does not seem to be much tension between the Jewish and Arab populations at the area.
This can be generally explained by the distant and weak connection between these groups. Despite of this relatively calm
surface, violent events in the political-social arena, such as those of October 2000, have brought to light the instability
of this relationship.
The Arab population is being discriminated by the authorities of the State of Israel. This discrimination manifests itself
in lower budgets and investment in infrastructure and different projects. Compared to the nearby Jewish villages of Harduf
and Adi, for example, roads and nursery schools in the Arab village of Ka’abiyye are in poor condition. Such disparities
also exist in education and availability of job opportunities. Instead of adopting an approach of partnership and equality,
the State of Israel has been implementing a policy of “Judaisation” of the Galilee, often referring to its Arab population
as a “demographic problem”. This approach involves the expropriation of lands owned by the Arab population, which creates
further antagonism amongst the Arab public and in the past has led to the Earth Day protest.
At the same time, as part of universal trend, the area is affected by capitalist perceptions that shift the focus away from
the community and onto the individual. This trend broadens the distance between the two populations and weakens the community
and its regional awareness. In the past few years the Muslim population has been experiencing a religious awakening, contributing
to deterioration in Jews-Muslims relations.
An ever larger distance exists between women of the two populations since the public space contains many threats to them such as
violence and sexual harassments. On top of this, the woman’s traditional role –adopted more widely by Arab women than Jewish
ones – often constraints a woman to the domestic sphere and limits exposure to other cultures.
Although Arab women are experiencing a positive change in status and growing participation in higher education, they still face
many restrictions and are often dependent on their husbands or fathers for permission to undertake any activity outside of their homes.
About the group:
An Arab-Jewish woman’s group was formed in order to bring together women of the area. Its goal is to bring closer the two
populations while empowering women and encouraging communal involvement. The group acts in a feminine spirit because we
believe that women have their own voice and qualities that are not expressed in the public discourse.
The group meets on a weekly basis, implementing feminist skills and values:
• Sharing personal knowledge of each member, out of a belief that we are all equal and can all contribute to the group.
• Balanced and equal division of speaking time, out of an aspiration to give an equal opportunity for expression to every participant in the group.
• An emphasis on mutual respect, tolerance and patience as values that would stabilize and promote constructive discourse and co-operation.
• Maintaining confidentiality for the creation of a safe space for intimate sharing and consultation.
• Encouraging individual and group responsibility. Encouraging the creation of initiatives promoting involvement by the members inside and outside the group.
• Using art as a tool for learning, expression and empowerment.
• Development and progress while maintaining an equal and open dialogue between the facilitators and the group participants.
• The group’s facilitators will be accompanied by an external facilitator through monthly meetings.
A workshop for traditional and new crafts as well as toy-building – an occupational project for Arab and Jewish women, situated in a wooden caravan in the forest between Kibbutz Harduf and the Ka'abiyye village. Participating in this project are Bedouin and Jewish women, who create and build together toys from natural materials such as cloth, wood, wool and canes (basket weaving).
 Taking a brake with the children |
 Basket weaving |
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 Products |
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Sukkoth – Ramadan October 2006 |
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 Sukkoth – Ramadan October 2006 |
 Planting the olive tree- foundation ceremony 2002 |