A Jewish-Arab primary school in Israel is the first grantee of a special coexistence fund from the Jewish Federation of the Greater East Bay.
The bilingual and bicultural Peace School, which has equal numbers of Arab and Jewish students, is a part of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam, a village where Israeli Arabs and Jews live together. The school received a $7,500 grant.
The federation created a fund specifically for coexistence programs last spring, said Roberta Bear, director of planning at the East Bay federation.
Improving the economic circumstances of Arabs within Israel has long been part of the federation’s mission. However, the intifada of the past year and a half has propelled the federation to launch an “Israel Crisis” fund, aiding those directly impacted by the events.
When the violence in Israel broke out, federation donors had a split reaction, said Ami Nahshon, executive vice president. Some wanted to see more funds going to coexistence programs. Others wanted to see money going to help Jewish victims of terrorism. The federation came up with a happy medium and began collecting for both.
“We have donors who want to help victims of violence and others who say even while we do that, we have to strengthen our efforts at harmony in Israel in the long term,” said Nahshon. “Both are important, and we’re making opportunities for donors who want to support either or both of those activities.”
The Peace School at Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam will use the federation grant to publish its specialized curriculum, which seeks to instill mutual pride and respect in both Jewish and Arab children.
The curriculum is being written during the course of this school year, said Deanna Armbruster, executive director of American Friends of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al-Salam.
The federation’s second coexistence grant went to Hand in Hand, an Israeli organization that is trying to bring the Peace School’s curriculum into the public schools. That grant was for $3,626.
In addition to the coexistence grants, the federation has given a total of almost $17,000 to programs that are helping victims of the new intifada. They include support for children in Gilo, a Jerusalem neighborhood that is in the line of fire from neighboring Palestinian village Beit Jala; moshavim and kibbutzim on the border with Gaza; new immigrants; and ERAN, the Israel Association For Emotional First Aid By Phone.
Discussing the coexistence grants, Bear said the work of Neve Shalom “came to our attention a number of years ago,” and the school had applied several times for funding, “but for some curriculum things that weren’t in line with our priorities.”
When representatives from the village came to the East Bay in November, they got a better idea of what kinds of projects the federation was looking to fund. And then they applied for the new grant.
“The path of coexistence and funding we’re doing is dealing with the younger generation,” said Bear. “At Neve Shalom, they’re raising a generation of kids who know how to live together and go to school together. Hand in Hand is expanding that into the larger society.”