I World

New Hires

U.S. Jews boosting Israeli-Arab employment.

Dina Kraft

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Ramle, Israel

A

group of American Jewish phi-
lanthropists crowd into a class-
room to watch Iman Abu Zaid,
a young Arab teacher, give a lesson to her
class of Jewish fourth-graders.
"You and I can change the world," she
sings to the students in Hebrew, sound-
ing the lyrics of a popular Israeli song.
The students serenade the lyrics back in
Arabic.
Abu Zaid, who could not find work
in her hometown of Kafr Kassem, is the
only Israeli-Arab teacher at Ben-Gurion
Elementary School in this industrial
Israeli city not far from the country's main
airport. Abu Zaid was brought in by a
program called Merchavim, which aims to
integrate Arabs into public Jewish schools
both as a means of employment and a way
to increase the dearth of social interaction
between Israeli Arabs and Jews.
Merchavim is one of a series of projects
working to help improve employment and
educational opportunities for Arab Israelis
receiving funding from a new and perhaps
unlikely source: an American Jewish social
venture fund.
The UJC Venture Fund for Jewish
and Arab Equality and Shared Society,
which was initiated by the United Jewish
Communities/Jewish Federations of North
America, is made up of 21 partners. A mix
of private family foundations, federations,
other philanthropists and professionals, it
has raised more than $1 million since its
launch in 2007.
The fund is a way for UJC to harness
philanthropic interest in supporting Arab

Israeli equality projects without mak-
ing the potentially controversial move of
tapping unrestricted UJC funds for such
projects.
Earlier this month, a group of funders
visited Israel to see the programs they are
supporting and scout for future projects.

Filling The Gap
"One of the most serious problems in
Israeli society is the gap between Jewish
and Arab sectors," said Carol Smokier, who
chairs the fund.
Smokier said its members reviewed
185 applicant proposals for funding, from
which they selected 15 projects.
"It just shows the scope of the need;' she
said.
Arab citizens make up 20 percent of
Israel's population, and while the state
accords them the same rights as Israel's
Jewish citizens, in practice Israeli Arabs
routinely face discrimination. This has
resulted in significantly higher levels of
unemployment among Israeli Arabs than
Jews.
Government resources for decades have
not been allocated equally to the Arab
sector, leading to inferior schools and
infrastructure. And many in Israel's Jewish
majority view the country's Arab citizens
as a potential fifth column, leading to
social discrimination.
The government has acknowledged the
Jewish-Arab divide as one of its most sen-
sitive domestic issues, but change on the
ground has been slow in coming.
Stuart Brown, one of the American Jews
behind the Arab equality fund, said the
question around which his group's mem-
bers coalesced was how they could contrib-
ute toward a more just and equal Israel.
"How can we help get done what the

authorities have already said
needs to be done?" he asked. "It's
a significant challenge for Israel
and an issue that for anyone who
cares about the future of Israel
has to care about"
Brown hopes the venture
fund — as well as a foundation
on whose board he serves, the
Washington-based Naomi and
Nehamia Cohen Foundation —
will help raise awareness among
American Jews about discrimi-
nation against Israeli Arabs.

Engaging U.S. Jews

Two Israeli Arabs ride a bus to a training program
sponsored by American Jews.

"I don't have any illusions we'll
persuade everyone that it's
right to pay attention to this and help the
government and NGOs develop, but I am
hoping some awareness will follow our
action," Brown said.
In Israel, the funders first visited educa-
tion-related projects in the Negev Desert,
including Bedouin women's empowerment
projects. Mamie Kanfer Stewart of the
Lippman-Kanfer Family Foundation was
among those especially moved by a visit
with Bedouin high school girls receiv-
ing extra support and tutoring so they
can complete high school at a level high
enough to be eligible for college.
In the Galilee, they focused on eco-
nomic development, visiting grant recipients
including career training center Kay Mashve,
which works to get Arab university gradu-
ates into the Israeli workforce, and Tsofen,
an organization that focuses on finding
work for Arabs in the high-tech sector.
One project helps Arab women, one
of the most underemployed segments of
Israeli society, secure financing for small
businesses.

"This trip has really opened my eyes,"
said Stewart.
At 27, Stewart was among the youngest
funders on the trip. She believes the fund's
focus on shared equality and citizenship
for all Israelis could attract the interest of
young American Jews who have been feel-
ing less enthusiastic about involvement in
Israeli issues in recent years because of the
complexity and confusion surrounding the
political situation.
"I think for my peers this is not an issue
we can shy away from," she said. "Social
justice is a huge issue with my generation!'
Alisa Doctoroff of the Doctoroff Family
Foundation was inspired by the progress
being made by those involved with the ini-
tiatives the fund is helping support.
"You see people who have been ener-
gized, been utilized, that their value is
being fulfilled," she said. "They are par-
ticipating in making Israel a better place,
whether they are Arab or Jewish. Their
examples show us there are things that
one can do." —

Chicago Hotel Seeks Holocaust Survivors

I

n conjunction with the opening
of the Illinois Holocaust Museum
and Education Center, nearby
Doubletree Hotel and Conference
Center Chicago North Shore is offering
complimentary stays to all Holocaust
survivors.
The museum opened April 19. The
museum and hotel have entered into a
partnership.

A28

May 21 2009

"Having this museum in the Midwest
has such great significance to Holocaust
survivors, we felt it was important to
honor the survivors and their legacies
by opening our doors to them," says Joe
Dadiego, Doubletree general manager.
The museum, designed by architect
Stanley Tigerman, is a 65,000 square-
foot facility dedicated to applying the
lessons of the Holocaust to issues of

hate, bigotry and intolerance in the
world today. It will reach students,
teachers, parents and children through-
out Illinois and across the Midwest,
educating them about this tragic period
in human history and alerting them to
the dangers of unchallenged bigotry.
The building will house permanent
exhibitions chronicling life before, dur-
ing and after the Holocaust, as well as

a 240-seat lecture hall, an auditorium
and a theater, and an Interactive Youth
Exhibition featuring stories of local
child survivors told through children's
eyes.
The Doubletree Hotel and Conference
Center includes a kosher kitchen. For
information: www.chicagonorthshore,
doubletree.com or Martha Schwartz,
(847) 679-7000, ext. 1262.

