Arab-Jewish coexistence groups remain committed to staying the course in Acre

"Most in Acre, Jewish or Arab, live like good neighbors, no matter what."

By HAVIV RETTIG GUR
coexistence arabs jews peace 63 (photo credit: )
coexistence arabs jews peace 63
(photo credit: )
"Until last week, I would have said Acre was an example of coexistence," says Dany Gliksberg, deputy director of the Ayalim Association, a group of several hundred students committed to economic development in poor areas and settlement of the Negev and Galilee. "But when hundreds [of rioters] from both sides appear in the streets instantly, then you start to wonder about that," he adds grimly. Some 30 students, about one-third of them Arab, live and work in Acre's old city during the academic year, bringing to the Arab neighborhood 15,000 hours of tutoring for schoolchildren and coexistence work. "When we first got to Acre, the Arab community was worried about our arrival," explains Gliksberg. Ayalim's agenda includes expanding Jewish settlement in the country's periphery, including Acre itself. "We told them the truth. We're a Zionist organization that believes the Jews deserve a Jewish state. But we also believe in being a good neighbor. You can't go to a place with an Arab majority and not relate to it. We sat with the Arab leadership and said, if coexistence will happen, it will happen like this, between proud Arabs and Zionist Jews." The work students have been doing in Acre seems to have paid off in helping the Jewish organization gain acceptance in the Arab neighborhood. "When the violence started last week, our [Arab] neighbors knocked on our doors and said, 'Don't worry, we're with you.'" Most people in Acre, Jewish or Arab, "live like good neighbors, no matter what you see from the extremists in the streets," Gliksberg insists. In November, a new group of some 30 students will come back to Acre for the new academic year. Asked if they were reconsidering returning to Acre after the violence, Gliksberg rejects the idea emphatically. "The opposite," he says - the violence "is another reason to work harder. Israel's youth can't start abandoning initiatives because of a crisis. We have to show there is another way and a better future." Several groups have begun to examine increasing their investment in coexistence projects in Acre and other Galilee towns in the wake of the violence. The Jewish Agency, which also supports the activities of Ayalim, is teaming up with the Abraham Fund Initiatives to develop curricula and school programs dealing with coexistence for Acre schools that will be ready for programming as soon as students return to school after the Succot holiday. Members of the youth group Hanoar Ha'oved Vehalomed have also done coexistence work in the Acre chapter, which combines Jewish and Arab youth. According to organization officials, the group's members have had to refuse their friends' calls to join in the demonstrations.