A Workshop on “Multi-culturalism and Nationality in Mixed Cities: The Reality and the Response” for professionals and academics, was held on February 11, 2010 and hosted by two Tel Aviv University Institutions: Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation and the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research, together with the Mediation center “Gevim”. The colloquium addressed the topic of multi-culturalism and nationality in mixed cities and provided a suitable arena for experts from different fields to identify the key issues of concern and develop thoughts on the situation and ways to improve it. The topic was introduced by three academic scholars, followed by a presentation by three local government representatives on the methods and emerging trends in research on long-standing and new mixed cities in Israel. The workshop was concluded by a debate among four grassroots civil organizations’ activists.

This workshop particularly aimed at expressing the complexity and implications of multiculturalism and nationalism in mixed cities. It also provided a platform for discussing diverse patterns of “everyday life management” in long-standing and new mixed cities as well as government and NGO involvement in current programs. Furthermore, it attempted to establish a preliminary dialogue on the future vision of mixed cities and promote thinking by activists, together with local and national government officials, on advancing models of coexistence. In order to further the study of the practical aspects of coexistence, this workshop was designed to encourage academic research on coexistence by both senior and young scholars from different disciplines (geography, social work, sociology, anthropology, education, and economics).

Dr. Ephraim Lavie, the director of the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research and the acting director of the Konrad Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation, served as chairperson of the workshop and gave the opening remarks on mixed cities in Israel.

The first session was devoted to present the theme from a theoretical perspective of multi-culturalism in mixed cities which exist in a nationalist society. It was argued that the governing forces in Israeli society lack a multicultural policy and are permeated by a Jewish national ideology at the institutional level and in everyday life which contributes to the effacement of minority territories and to the exclusion and marginalization of the Arab population in mixed cities. Yet at the same time there is an awareness of the need of a multi-cultural policy and there have been some efforts on the part of local authorities to adopt multicultural educational programs and multicultural community services. The three scholars in this session argued for developing and promoting a multi-cultural policy in mixed cities in order to reach a more equitable and just co-existent reality in Israel.

During this session, Dr. Ravit Goldhaber of the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, discussed the concept of multi-culturalism and its importance to Arab and Jewish coexistence in Israel in general, and in mixed cities in particular. She then gave some examples of multi-culturalism in everyday life in the mixed city of Jaffa. Prof. Rassem Khamaisi of the University of Haifa discussed the implications of separation and integration on Arab life at the national level and at the regional and local levels in mixed cities. In his view, only recognition, accessibility and participation at the national level can lead to a change in those situations where the Arabs are excluded from certain everyday life conditions experienced by the Jews in mixed cities. Prof. Itzhak Schnell of Tel Aviv University described the established national policy in mixed cities, which has pushed the Arab minority to the geographical and social margins of Israeli society. He then gave several examples of this excluding national policy in the mixed city of Jaffa.

The second session was devoted to the presentation of the point of view of government authorities on the theme of multi-culturalism in mixed cities, as well as to present the daily stress of coping with the tensions and conflicts that occur in a multi-cultural society with a nationalist ideology and the remedies which are used to ameliorate the ensuing antagonisms. These include the development of multi-cultural educational programs; of a policy of ‘cultural- match’ for the Arab community in mixed cities; and of a ‘prevention program’ for each specific mixed city. The government authorities perceive the mixed cities as an arena of opportunities to promote co-existence of Jews and Arabs in Israel, which will have a positive influence on the relations of Israel with the neighboring Arab countries. The three speakers expressed the awareness and recognition of their governmental ministries for the need to adopt multi-cultural programs for the mixed cities in order to create a just and pacific society.

The chairperson of the second session was Dr. David Shimoni, a mediator and senior team member of the Gevim Group, who shed light on the perspectives of governmental authorities for the relations between Arabs and Jews in mixed cities.

Mr. Baruch Sugarman, the director of community services at the Ministry of Welfare and Social Services, spoke about the need of developing “culture-adopted services”. Among several examples he mentioned how language can be used in official publications to reflect the cultural meaning behind the words and not only the literal one. Mr. Yaakov Goaz (Gez), head of “Metzila” (community and crime prevention) at the Ministry of Internal Security, described his work as “prevention through education”. Each mixed city has its own ways of coping with conflicts in order to prevent tensions and dissolve them. Mr. Ali Elkrenawi, supervisor of the Bedouin department at the Ministry of Education, gave the examples of two schools in the Negev (in Rahat and El Kasifa) that adopted special multicultural educational programs for the Bedouin population, developed by the Ministry of Education.

The third session was devoted to the presentation of the reality of everyday life in mixed cities from the point of view of Jews and Arabs civil activists. They expressed their thoughts, feelings and ideas about the lack of multi-cultural policy in mixed cities and discussed the existing patterns of coexistence in mixed cities. The four speakers shared the thought that co-existence in mixed cities should be approached through a multi-cultural attitude which will contribute to an equitable and peaceful social environment.

Thiss session was presided by Ms. Faten Elzinaty, a community dialogue coordinator and mediator of Gevim Group. Mr. Aharon Atias, general director of the Lod Torah Garin (Torah-inspired community outreach group), focused on the responsibility of the Arabs and Jews in Lod to solve disputes amongst themselves through dialogue, while Ms. Maha Al-Nakib, secretary of the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality at the Lod office, shared her thoughts about the multi-cultural society of Lod, which she feels threatens her own identity while maintaining a Jewish mono-cultural policy.

Former director of the Community Mediation and Dialogue Center in Lod, Ms. Orit Yulezry, described the difficulties of mediating different cultures, which live in the shadow of a national conflict and the attempts to serve the community under these conditions in a professional way. Mr. Mohammad Abu Aliwa, a Deputy Qadi and director of Hama’ayan (“The Spring”) College in Lod, accused the municipality of not adopting a multi-cultural public policy, while neglecting the Arab population and the issue of coexistence between Arabs and Jews.

The session was concluded with a summary by Mr. Omri Gefen, the chairman of Gevim Group, who suggested that development of a model for solving multicultural conflicts in mixed cities is needed. In order to reach this goal, he pleaded for further meetings of this workshop.

The audience included scholars from different academic institutions in Israel (Tel Aviv University, The University of Haifa, the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Bar Ilan University, the Western Galilee College and Kibbutzim College of Education) and from varied departments (such as geography, social work, sociology, anthropology, education, and Middle-East studies). Present were also representatives of the Housing Ministry and the Education Ministry, senior representatives of the Israeli Police Department including the police commissioner consultant for Arab issues, the mediation field coordinator of the community department of the department, police station commanders and community policemen in mixed cities, a senior representative of the Joint Distribution Committee, a representative from the United States Embassy in Israel, representatives of the Citizens’ Accord Forum between Jews and Arabs in Israel, a representative of the Community Advocacy association, a representative of the Workers’ Advice Center, a representative of the Inter Agency Task Force on Israeli-Arabs issues, a representative of Tel Aviv Municipality and social activists from the mixed city of Lod.

At the end of each session time was devoted to questions and remarks. The audience actively participated by raising questions on ways to implement practical changes in everyday life and also by bringing examples from their experiences in coping with the mixed city reality of their own towns (Haifa, Acre, Lod, Jaffa, Beer-Sheva). They all expressed their desire to participate in further meetings of this workshop.

The workshop raised the issue of multiculturalism and nationalism in mixed cities and gave an opportunity for a multi-sided overview of the issue by different institutions. It also highlighted the importance of in-depth discussions of this question and the need to create an everyday living model for mixed cities. This everyday living model should include a theoretical basis but the emphasis should be put on ways to cope with disputes and conflicts of Arab-Jews in everyday life and on means to reach at solutions. It concluded with the understanding that further meetings should be held, perhaps on a monthly basis, in order to advance the production of such a model.