Jewish Agency grants NIS 10,000 to Arab students at Haifa U.

The recipients included IDF soldiers who served in the Second Lebanon War, residents of northern Israel, and Israeli-Arab psychology students.

By MEIRA FARATCI
Twenty-one Israeli-Arab students were among the recipients of individual NIS 10,000 scholarships for the coming school year at the Jewish Agency's annual scholarship ceremony on Thursday. The recipients included IDF soldiers who served in the Second Lebanon War, residents of northern Israel, and Israeli-Arab students studying clinical and educational psychology at Haifa University. The purpose of the program is to help individuals adversely affected by the war, including the many Arab residents who suffered from shock and trauma and have received inadequate psychological treatment due to the lack of Arab-speaking psychologists in the North. Haifa University recognized the problem and requested that the scholarship program be extended to Israeli-Arab psychology students in addition to other Israeli students. "When Hizbullah attacked the North, they attacked all Israelis regardless of their religion," said Michael Jankelowitz, a spokesman for the Jewish Agency. The scholarship program is in its second year. A similar program is being constructed in conjunction with Sapir University in the South to assist Israelis who have been affected by Kassam rocket attacks. The Agency program is funded by the United Jewish Communities of North America.