Beit Ha'Gefen — The Arab-Jewish Cultural Center in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

is a multi-cultural organization that aims to bring together Arabs and Jews and promote coexistence and tolerance.

Organisation

Beit Ha'Gefen — The Arab-Jewish Cultural Center organizes and promotes interfaith social and cultural events. The center was established in 1963 by

mayor

Abba Hushi Abba Hushi (Also: Aba Khoushy; ; born Abba Schneller; 1898 – 24 March 1969) was an Israeli politician who served as mayor of Haifa for eighteen years between 1951 and 1969. Hushi was one of the founders and activists of Hashomer Hatzair move ...

. Activities of the center include guided tours around Haifa, themed on coexistence, conferences and different cultural events. Center maintains Arab Language theatre, which is oldest such theatre in Israel Beit Ha'Gefen is an organiser of two major cultural events in Haifa: Holiday of Holidays in December, which is celebration of

Ramadan Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar. It is observed by Muslims worldwide as a month of fasting (''Fasting in Islam, sawm''), communal prayer (salah), reflection, and community. It is also the month in which the Quran is believed ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

and Hanukka together and Arab Theater month in summer. Holiday of Holidays was first celebrated in December 1994, when all three Jewish, Muslim and Christian holidays happened at the same time. The main venue of this fortnight event is

Wadi Nisnas Wadi Nisnas (; ) is a predominantly Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa, with a population of about 8,000 inhabitants. Etymology 'Wadi' is the Arabic word for valley, and 'nisnas' means mongoose, with the Egyptian mongoose being indigenous ...

neighbourhood, on outskirt of which Beit Ha'Gefen is located. Until the

Oslo Agreement The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of th ...

, center activities were mostly local and after concluding the agreement, Beit Ha'Gefen started international activities, including establishing ties with similar organisations in

Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

and

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. The center is also engaged in the interfaith movement, providing a platform for regular meeting between representatives of three major monotheistic religions. Every two years, Beit Ha'Gefen organizes an interfaith conference, with participation of

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

, Baháʼí and

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

clerics and religious authorities. Beit Ha'Gefen has six departments: the Culture department, Contemporary Art Gallery, El Karama Theater, Visitor Center, Dialog and Program Center and The Clore Library and Cultural Center for children.

Art Gallery

Beit Ha'Gefen also operates a contemporary Art Gallery that hosts multiple exhibitions per year that are related to tolerance and coexistence. In December 2018, Beit-HaGefen Art Gallery inaugurated a new interactive gallery wing - "The Third Space"

Notable exhibitions

*2013 ''Homage to Lutfia, my sister in Yarmouk refugee camp''. Solo of Amir Abdi. Curated by Ayelet Zohar. *2013 ''The Beyond Within'' Exhibition of Boodi and George, Vered Nissim. Curated by Raafat Hattab. *2014 ''Inbetween'' Group exhibition. Curated by Yeala Hazut and Farid Abu Shaḳrah *2014 ''Picture Peace'' Group exhibition of Israeli and Palestinian artists for promoting peace. *2015 ''Journal View – A Journal Photography Exhibition''. Group exhibition of Israeli and Palestinian photographers. *2015 ''Dear Jerusalem''. Solo of Guy Briller. Curated by Yeala Hazut. *2016 ''Depth of field''. Group exhibition in collaboration with

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design () is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the ...

. Curated by

Dor Guez Dor Guez Munayer () is a Jerusalemite artist of Christian Palestinian and Tunisian Jewish origin, founder of The Christian Palestinian Archive, and the director of SeaPort Residency. Biography Dor Guez Munayer was born in Baka, Jerusalem. On ...

and Yeala Hazut. *2017 ''Ghost Dance''. Group exhibition by Aya Abu Roken, Nour Ibrahim,

Lamis Ammar Lamis Ammar (; born 1992) is a Palestinian actress, writer, and video artist. She gained recognition for her lead role in the award-winning film ''Sand Storm'' (2016), which received the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival. Life and ...

, Ruba Salameh, Nardin Srouji, Hanna Qubti. Curated by Fadwa Naamna.

References

External links

Beit-HaGefen Arab Jewish Culture Center
{{Authority control Cultural organizations based in Israel Jews and Judaism in Haifa Arab Israeli culture in Haifa