The organization and execution of the final project was shared  by  the Halisa Department of Welfare headed by  Hamodi  Sa’id ,the  Social Involvement Unit at the University of  Haifa  headed by Iris Pessler and children and volunteers from the various centers in which the students worked in Neve' Yosef ,Tel Amal and others neighborhoods.

The final project held in the Halisa neighborhood was the conclusion of the work of two groups that MABAT facilitated this year, in the Community Leadership program of the Social involvement Unit at the University of Haifa. MABAT’s program provided a theoretical and academic compliment to the volunteer work in Haifa’s mixed neighborhoods. The Arab and Jewish students who participated in the course volunteered in four community centers and worked with the residents in various fields from helping with new immigrants, running children’s clubs, teaching Arab women English and running a photography class.

Facilitators Lior Shorer, executive director of MABAT and Yusuf Abad El Gaffer managed the communications with the university and the many partners.
  
What do you think contributed to the success of the program this year?
''One of the lessons learned by the Social Involvement Unit last year was the need to strengthen the connection between the workshop and the field work. This year we made sure to use examples from the field and we emphasized the link between theoretical models that deal with the dynamics of intercultural meetings and participants experiences. We held tours of Haifa and studied up close the data supporting coexistence and the complexity of the relations between Jews and Arabs in the city.

An important aspect of MABAT’s  work is creating cohesive and effective groups of students .This group’s cohesion made it possible for  the Community Leadership program to create, for the first time,  a final project that included all the centers in which the students had volunteered. Only a highly functioning group can lead a process that combines so many factors and demands such a high level of coordination.''

Nasreen Murkus, the manager of the Halisa community center, was thrilled to see students and children come to Halisa from other neighborhoods to participate in the project.

” People in the neighborhood stopped in front of the places where the volunteers were working and told me how much it meant to them to have people come here and do something for the residents and the neighborhood.”

Nasreen founded the branch twenty months ago and works very hard, along with her team, to develop new programs and services for the residents. “Collaboration with external organizations does not always work out well, but in the case of MABAT the cooperation was excellent. The students were independent and took initiative, and the MABAT team was in constant touch and kept me informed of all developments on a regular basis.''

Nasreen is a group facilitator herself and has spent a lot of time building social projects and adjusting   programs to fit the Arab sector.” The collaboration between MABAT and the Social Involvement Unit this year was excellent. It was obvious that the workshop the students participated in enriched them and gave them significant tools to work with the residents and to promote social change.''

For example, Majed Sulimman, 23, a Masters Degree student in Art Therapy initiated a photography workshop for youth in the neighborhood. The students she facilitated photographed the things they were proud of in their neighborhood and also the things they think require change. They created collages that expressed their aspirations for themselves and their surroundings.
''In the beginning I felt that Halisa is kind of a ghetto. People refrain from coming here and the residents of the neighborhood are very suspicious towards strangers .The children come from very poor families and suffer many difficulties and frustrations because of their situation'' she says.
''They were surprised that anyone was interested in seeing where they live or was interested in their life and dreams. It was clear to me that our work was successful when the children’s attitude towards me and their peers changed. Their self esteem grew; they started listening to each other and became more articulate. It was very exciting and worth the effort.''

The success of the work in the neighborhoods and final project has strengthened the partnership between MABAT and the Social Involvement Unit at the University of Haifa. Next year the project is expected to continue and another project is planned in which some of the students will act as facilitators in workshops tailored for youth in mixed neighborhoods.

An article published about the final project in Halisa at the Bukra site (in Arabic).

more pictures

שי בן צור והקו'אלי סופיס בפסטיבל סן-ביט בטבעון יולי 2011

השנה התמקדנו בקהל יעד מרכזי של סטודנטים בלבד, וזכינו לשיתוף פעולה פורה של שותפים מחויבים ואיכותיים בדיקאנט וביחידות למעורבות חברתית. רצינותם של השותפים אפשרה למבט להפעיל קורסים אקדמיים ותכניות אקרדיטציה, ונתנה לנו הזדמנות לעבוד וללמוד במשותף עם סטודנטים איכותיים, חושבים ולומדים.

במהלך השנה ובמיוחד בפרויקטים המסיימים שמחנו להתנסות בניסיונות חדשים וברעיונות יצירתיים לפעילות- יצרנו מסגרות חדשות כמו הפורום הדתי-חילוני בכנרת, סיורים עירוניים ופרויקטים קהילתיים. מכל שותפינו השכלנו, ומן המשתתפים יותר מכולם...

במקביל עסקנו השנה לא מעט בפיתוח משאבים ובבניית השותפויות האסטרטגיות של העמותה, בשאיפה לנצל את המהלך להרחבת פעילותנו בשנה הבאה וליצור זירות חדשות של מפגש רב-תרבותי. אנו מקווים כי פעילותנו תורמת לפיתוח השיח הרב-תרבותי בחברה הישראלית ולשינוי חברתי ראוי, ברוח המוטו שאימצנו מפיו של מהטמה גנדי :

''שינוי חברתי יתאפשר רק לנוכח שינוי אישי, כן ואמיתי של יחידים רבים...
תיקון החברה הוא התיקון של היחיד, ותיקון היחיד הוא הכרת העצמי''

אנו מקווים גם להמשיך ולשמור על קשר עם בוגרי התכניות, לשלב אותם ביוזמות חדשות, ולשמוע על תכניות שבהם הם ממשיכים לפעול. אנו מאחלים לכולם קיץ נעים, חופשות מהנות, ומנוחה ראויה. נשמח לשוב ולהשתמע לקראת השנה הבאה !

For those who are not familiar with the concept a short explanation: the idea is that along with the food menu given to guests they receive a menu of dilemmas or topics of conversation.
In the days before the event, members of the group worked out the details, assigned rolls and got to work. During a   few days their hands were  full of work:  setting the time and location of the event, coordinating  with college officials and the students  union,  acquired products, making food, printing t-shirts, signs, food and dilemma menu‘s.

On the day of the event every thing was ready. Tables were set and the fragrance of   tasty food spread over the paths of the collage exactly at lunch time. The close coordination with the students’ union allowed the group to situate the café next to the stage of the ''Student Day'' events that were being held at the same time. Soon the tables were full of hungry and curious visitors. At every table there was a student who served the food and led the discussion. The guests enjoyed delicious food served in bio degradable dishes, got the chance to tell about themselves and enjoy fascinating conversation with students and lecturers who arrived at the tables.

The dilemma menu included three parts parallel to the three courses -appetizer, main and desert. The idea behind this was to progress from introduction questions to questions regarding the intercultural relations at the college and Israeli society. For desert and summary the diners were asked to suggest ideas for improving the atmosphere in the college and ways of making it more accepting and respecting of the different cultures the students are part of.

Anat Shoval, Cochav Yair resident and mother of three, was the group facilitator along with Lior Shorer, manager of Mabat organization. According to her in spite of the students many end of term obligations, they spent a lot of time and made big efforts to make the final project a success. She says some students’ level of seriousness and investment in the preparation and leading of dilemma groups were surprisingly high.

A new world opens

Anat is a student in the multicultural group facilitation program at Beit Berl College and led the Mabat group as part of her study practicum. As an independent group facilitator she conducts women councils supporting financial independence, and facilitates   industrial workers regarding physical awareness and maintaining health at the work place. Through her work she meets men and women from diverse backgrounds, new and veteran immigrants to Israel, Arabs and Jews, young and old people.
She choose the Mabat workshop, out of a few options offered  for internship, because she wanted to be exposed to situations that would meet her need to process situations that take place in multicultural groups and  would differentiate from her private groups, homogenic groups who’s cultures are different from her own. The Mabat workshop answered her need in this area and other areas.
Although mabat organization was invited, by the dean of students, to initiate the workshop in an experimental format it was also agreed that there would be collaboration between the facilitation program and the organization. Anat is the first student to facilitate the workshop as a student.

''Nothing prepared me for the emotional flooding I felt facing the young Arab women who participated in the workshop. They really moved me'' say Anat.
''As a woman I really identified with process these young women were going through, they came from a conservative background and a whole new world has opened up for them.
The workshop turned out to be as place where participant could share thought and emotions they had no where else to express. This was true not only for the young Arab women but for almost all of the workshop participants. ''As a result of this workshop I see thing differently: I am aware of conflicts taking place in my surrounding that before I was oblivious to. Also I feel closer to my identity as a woman of eastern (Mizrahi) origin.''

It is easy to understand what Anat is talking about when you meet young and confidant women like Miriam Haj Yahia, a 22 year old from Taibe, studying to be an English teacher in the Arab teacher training program. As well as participating in the workshop, Miriam run the multicultural unit in the student union together with Stav Gavish and she participates in the college excellence program.

''Beit Berl College considers itself to be a multicultural college because of the unique make up of schools (faculties) it includes; it has an institute for Arab teacher training, school of education, school of government studies and an art school. But there are no shared courses for the students of the different schools and there no real interaction between them“says Miriam. “This year for the first time there is a close collaboration between the Deans office and the student union regarding this matter and there is a beginning of change. For instance Arab musicians and entertainers were invited to perform at the opening of the year and Student Day activities for the first time; Mabat program is open to student of all faculties (schools).
The Mabat organization program is very suitable for making a change in campus culture and I hope that next year many more students participate in it.”

If I'll be like you, who will be like me?

How do you think the workshop promotes change?
Anat: ''I think this workshop is very suitable for students because it is based mainly on practical experiences instead of theoretical discussions of which they have enough of. This makes the enjoyable and causes people to feel and think. The result is that students become more active and barriers between people lessen. Role playing for instance brings out opinions and emotions people tend to hide. The process helps people be themselves instead of trying to be someone else. It reminds me of something I was once told by a deaf boy: ''If I’ll be like you, who will be like me?” People learn to celebrate their identity and learn from others otherness.''

Miriam:''I feel that change takes place when people make an effort to stand in another person's shoe. When you do this you realize firm opinions that deny the others point of view are derived of a superficial view of the other. Actually people are made up of many identities and belong to all kinds of (social) circles and aren’t just Arabs, Jews ect. That isn’t to say that people are quick to change their minds, but their point of view becomes more moderate and they are willing to listen and discuss before taking a stand''. 

The group at Beit Berl

Discussion over lunch

conversation

where is the food

Anat Shoval

Miriam Haj Yahia

Got to work hard for the desert

More Photos

Mabat conducts two workshops in Haifa through the Community Leadership scholarship program that prepares students for community work in the city’s mixed neighborhoods.
The program operates in participation with the Jewish-Arab Center, the Social Involvement Unit and the Multi-Disciplinary Studies Center.

The students involved with the program simultaneously operate in five community centers in the mixed neighborhoods of Halisa, Tel Amal, Ein HaYam and other centers. Students taking part in the projects are involved in empowering Jewish and Arab youth, women, ex-convicts, the homeless and others. 
Yosef El Gafer, a 36-year-old social worker and group instructor, is one of the two instructors leading the Mabat workshops, alongside Lior Shorer. According to El Gafer, the workshops instill in students practical tools for creating discussion frameworks and an understanding of how to cope with multi-cultural situations that arise in the course of their community activities.

One of the notable places students visited during the Haifa tour was the Kbabir neighborhood. Kbabir is home to the Ahmadiyya community. The Ahmadiyya are a sect of Muslims opposed to the violent Jihad that is accepted as a religious value among other Muslim groups. In contrast to those groups, the Ahmadiyya espouse a tradition of honoring others and peaceful persuasion. 

“The existence of the Ahmadiyya as part of the diverse culture of religious communities in Haifa surprised not only the Jewish students who had not heard of them but the Arab students as well,” Yosef said. These types of meetings sharpen the understanding that a diversity of ideas and styles exists within both Jewish and Arab societies.  The Jewish paradigm regarding Arabs, therefore, is too simplistic. There is, for example, a lot of similarity between Jews and Arabs with religiously dominated  perceptions and Jews and Arabs who are more secular and liberal. We saw this as well in a discussion held on the character of the prophet Eliyahu when we visited the Carmelite Monastery on the Carmel, the Stella Maris and Eliyahu’s cave. The prophet Eliyahu is holy to all three religions, representing on the one hand religious extremism and on the other an image that unites different faiths. Here, as well, it would be incorrect to say that Jews and Arabs relate to religious extremism simply by religious ascription.”

Yosef adds that students taking part in the program come from a very diverse group of university departments, ranging from the discipline of law to the humanities and arts. “The group represents high-quality students who, as future leaders, are being endowed with necessary skills in guidance and leadership."
“As a social change organization these are exactly the students we’re interested in,” says Shorer, Mabat’s CEO. “Exceptional students arrive from various backgrounds and are able to internalize the meaning of Israel’s cultural diversity and encourage social development, bridging communities and reducing social differences. We also hope that the program’s final project will bring this expression to the community along with a real implantation of the principles and values we speak about in the workshops.”    

Elijah the Prophet (Eliyahu HaNavi) kills a Ba'al prophet, Muhraka monestry on the Carmel. Sculptor: Najib Mufi

Kbabir neighborhood, Haifa