56 Friday, January 13, 1978 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Boris Smolar's
'Between You
... and Me'
Editor-in-Chief
Emeritus, JTA
(Copyright 1978, JTA, Inc.)
Education and Cultural Activities
Beit Hagefen Center in Haifa Works
to Foster Arab Jewish Cooperation,
HAIFA — Haifa, the capi-
tal city of northern Israel,
delegates to the World Zionist Congress, which opens next has long had a history of
month in Jerusalem, provoked little interest in the Ameri- close and friendly relations
can Jewish community. The election campaign, now con- between Arabs and Jews.
cluded, was conducted by eight competing Zionist groups in After the foundation of the
this country.
The lack of interest is probably due to some extent to the state of Israel, a strong and
fact that the American Zionist movement today has no determined mayor. Abba
leadership of the caliber of Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Louis Khoushy, made great ef-
Lipsky, Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver and other colorful figures forts to bring Haifa's Arab
able to attract mass attention. Basically, however, it is due minority, which numbers
to the fact that since the establishment of Israel, the World nearly 100;000 - some 10 per-
Zionist Congress has lost its luster. The primary purpose of cent of the total population -
the Congress since the years of Dr. Herzl, the "father of into the mainstream of the
political Zionism," was to achieve the establishment of a city's life.
Jewish National Home. This has been achieved with the
The high point of
birth of the state of Israel.
The functions of the World Zionist movement have, since Khoushy's lifelong effort to
the establishment of Israel, been reduced to stimulating create closer ties was the
aliya from other countries to Israel and to promoting founding in 1963 of the Beit
Hebrew education in these countries. No longer is the Hagefen Arab - Jewish Cen-
Zionist Congress the political parliament it was after its ter. Beit - Hagefen was the
first institution in Israel to
founding by Dr. Herzl in 1897.
In countries outside of Israel—as in the United States encourage mutual educa-
which has the largest Jewish community in the world—the tional and cultural activi-
Zionist movement is being overshadowed by the United , ties, and social contacts be-
Jewish Appeal in helping Israel. And the great majority of tween Arabs and Jews.
contributors to the UJA are not members of Zionist groups
Founded originally on a
but just Jews interested in Israel's growth and existence..
shoestring
budget by th€
Jewish
state
To them the welfare and security of Israel as Na
is important, and not the different ideologies of the Haifa Municipality, Beii
separate political parties within Israel or within -the world Hagefen now receives gen-
erous support from the Min-
Zionist movement.
THE AMERICAN DELEGATION: The American Zionist istry of Education and Cul-
movement claims to have now more than 900,000 members ture as well as from private
and intends to send 152 delegates to the Congress in sources, and has greatly ex-
Jerusalem.
panded its activities.
It is a well-known fact that Hadassah has some 350,000
Yet the purpose of the
members in its ranks. But do the other Zionist groups in
this country have a combined membership- of 550,000? Many institution, "To help Arabs
doubt it. It is pointed out that the United Jewish Appeal, to and Jews get to know and
which all elements in American Jewry contribute more understand each other", has
than $350 million a year for humanitarian needs in Israel, remained constant through
has no more than about one million contributors.
the years.
1n Israel, the Zionist parties—like their counterparts in
"We believe we have con-
this country and in other lands of the free world—
participate in the World Zionist Congress. They continue to tributed a great deal to the
atmosphere of good rela-
send delegates to the Congress in large numbers. They are
tions in Haifa", says Beit
especially interested in maintaining their strength in the
Jewish Agency which adininistrates the immigration, ab- Hagefen Director Zvi Israel.
sorption of immigrants and other humanitarian programs
"There can never be peace
in Israel funded by the United Jewish Appeal and the Keren until the two sides know
Hayesod, a counterpart of the UJA in various countries.
each other, and understand
The president of the World Zionist Organization is always each other's hopes and aspi-
the president of the Jewish Agency, but the chairman of the rations."
board—in which Israeli and non-Israeli members have
In an effort to further this
equal representation—has in recent years been Max M.
Fisher, the well-known American Jewish leader from understanding, Beit Hage-
Detroit. Several years ago a reorganization took place, fen sponsors many joint
activities among the
putting the Jewish Agency in charge of "practical" work in
Israel and the World Zionist Organization in charge of city's Arabs and Jews of all
programs in the Diaspora.
ages. The center sponsors
THE ELECTION ISSUES: The election campaign con- four groups of children and
ducted by the eight American Zionist groups to attract youth in activites including
votes for each of their slates did not distinguish itself with sports, folklore and artistic
"hot" issues. Only one issue stood out—the fight between activities and a social club
the Zionist Organization of America and the Zionist- for youth.
Revisionists of America over the use of the picture of
Menahem Begin. Israel's Prime Minister, in campaign
The center sponsors peri-
literature.
odical exchanges between
There was another issue in the campaign which also Arab and Jewish schools.
passed almost unnoticed. The American election committee The visiting students attend
originally wanted 55 percent of the 152 American delegates classes and exchange home
to the Zionist Congress to be elected and the rest-69 hospitality with their hosts,
delegates—be selected by the various Zionist groups based discuss issues in Arab-Jew-
on the number of members of each group.
This was challenged in the Congress Court, and the Court ish relations, and hear lec-
ruled that all the 152 delegates must be elected. Since the tures from experts in the
voting was for slates only, the number of delegates given to area such as university pro-
each group will be based on the proportion of votes they fessors and government of-
ficials.
get.
THE ZIONIST CONGRESS: The election of American
There are discussions of
all the issues no matter how
controversial, because - we
believe it is important to
bring points of contention
into the open", --says Zvi
Israel. "The only limitation
is that we do not allow
political activity. We try to
keep our discussions on an
objective, non-political
Beit Hagefen sponsors a
full range of activities for
adults, with courses in
areas like sculpture, bridge,
judo and embroidery. Five
groups of Jewish partici-
pants study Arabic. The
center includes a fine li-
brary in both languages and
a handsome art gallery fea-
turing works by noted Is-
raeli artists.
The center's Arabic
Theatre is the only profes-
sional Arabic language the-
ater in Israel, appearing in
Arab towns and hamlets
from Gaza to Galilee and
featuring plays for adults
and children.
"The Arab villages suffer
from a lack of cultural
activity", says theater
director Edouard Sharrush.
"We seek to fill this gap".
Beit Hagefen also sponsors
a travelling Arabic lan-
guage library.
"There will continue to be
bitterness and suspicion be-
tween Jews and Arabs as
long as the present state of
no peace no war continues, -
says_ Beit Hagefen's Direc-
tor Zvi Israel, "But we be-
lieve we can lessen the dis-
trust by cultivating the
civilization and folklore of
each side among the mem-
bers of the other commu-
nity."
Not long after the October
1973 war, Mrs. Ruth Lys, a
Haifa writer and educator,
wrote a letter to Mrs. Jehan
Sadat ,- the wife of the Egyp-
tian president, calling on
women in both Israel and
the Arab countries to work
"to bring about an end to war
and hatred in the Middle
East.
Mrs. Lys received a cour-
teous reply from Mrs.
Sadat, and the enormously
favorable press and public
reaction in Israel to the
exchange of letters con-
vinced Mrs. Lys of the need
to form a group of Arab and
Jewish women to support
peace and brotherhood.
"I realized that women
had a power that they them-
selves were not aware of.
My own son fell in the 1967
war, so I knew through bit-
ter experience that women
on both sides had been
forced to sacrifice their
sons. I realized Arab and
Jewish women had to unite
around the cause of bring-
ing people nearer and of
protecting life."
The upshot of Mrs. Lys'
commitment was the forma-
tion in 1976 of a Haifa and
Galilee-based group called
Gesher (bridge ). Today,
Gesher consists of some 150
Jewish and Arab women, in
about equal numbers. who
meet regularly to discuss
ways to break down the
barriers of prejudice be-
tween the two communities,
and simply to get to know
each other better.
Because of their position
as mothers, Gesher mem-
bers think that the place to
begin breaking down the
negative picture the two
sides have of each other is
among the children. Gesher
strives to accomplish this
goal by bringing groups of
Arab and Jewish children
together; (it is sponsoring
an Arab-Jewish youth club
in Acre) and by working
with inspectors of the Min-
istry of Education to pre-
pare pro-brotherhood learn-
ing material for the schools.
Gesher is non-political but
Mrs. Lys says : "We believe
that bringing up children
around the principles of
peace and brotherhood is
politics in the best sense of
the word -."
Because of its position as
an institution of higher
learning in northern Israel,
the home of about 70 per-
cent of the' nation's - Arabs,
the University of Haifa has
long felt a special responsi-
bility to minority students,
In 1971. the university set up
an Arab-Jewish Center with
the official aim of "helping
Arabs to reach the highest
education standards, and in
doing so to promote Arab-
Jewish understanding."
The Arab-Jewish Center
has made important strides
in six-years. The number of
Arab students attending the
university has been raised
to 11 percent of the student
body, nearly equal to the
percentage of Arabs in Is-
rael's population (14 per-
cent). and over six times
the number of Arabs attend-
ing any other Israeli univer-
sity. There are now 27
Arabs with faculty positions
at the university.
Because Arab secondary
schools are generally much
weaker than their Israeli
counterparts, the Arab-Jew-
ish Center has created a
pre-academic course which
is given in Arab and Druze
villages throughout northern
Israel to help minority stu-
dents prepare for the matri-
culation examinations.
The center has provided a
large number of scholar-
ships for the Arab students,
and built dormitories to help
absorb the large numbers of
additional students. Says
Prof. Ben-Dor of Haifa Uni-
versity, "We have some-
times been accused of giv-
ing the Arabs more than
their fair share of scholar-
ships and room in the
dorms. Indeed, we find it is
sometimes necess a to
bend over backl,va
help bring the Arabs up to
the same standards as the
Jewish students."
While enrollment in Arab-
ic language and literature
remains predominatly
Arab, an increasing number
of Jews have enrolled in
these courses in the last two
years, and Arabs have be-
gun to take "Eretz Yisrael -
courses.
Despite the efforts of the
center, some Arab students
marked the 10th anniver-
sary of the 1967 war by
staging a demonstration at
the university in which a
number of students were
arrested. Some students al-
legedly shouted slogans call-
ing for a -liberation" of
Galilee from Israeli rule.
Says Ben-Dor,
do not
doubt that many Arabs
want an Arab Galilee, just
as many Jews would prefer
an Israel without any
Arabs. But what people
want is less important than
to find the optimum solution
given the existing con-
straints; when faced .with
endless conflict, it is neces-
sary to search for another
solution. The Arab-Jewish
Center will continue to
serve as a kind of 'in-
stitutionalized dialogue' in
searching for that solution."
The center is currently
sponsoring a "think tank"
which brings together a
group of scholarS and politi-
cans to search for solutions
to basic problems in Arab-
Jewish relations. At a re-
cent meeting, members de-
bated Prof. Ben-Dor's pro-
posal for a new social
contract guaranteeing full
rights for Arabs as Israeli
citizens in return for per-
forming full obligations
(military or substitute na-
tional service).
The center also spori—is
research fellowships in
"Psychology in the Service
of Peace Group Methods ap-
plied to Arab-Jewish Rela-
tions" and in applying
"Methods of Conflict Reso-
lution to the Problem of
Peace in the Middle East. "
In addition, the center last
year sponsored an inter-
national conference on the
Palestinian problem. Schol-
ars from several nations
discussed the social, histori-
cal and economic aspects of
the Palestinian question,
and despite widely diver-
gent viewpoints, attempted
to apply a scientific analysis
to the problem.