With the help of a local guide, Wissam Suleiman, our Palestinian participants had the opportunity to walk the alleys of Old Jaffa and hear stories about Arab-Jewish relations in the city throughout a grand sweep of history, from St Peter and the Crusaders to Salah El Din, the Ottomans, and Napoleon.
Having relived the experiences through captivating storytelling pertaining to the rise and fall of the capital of oranges and center of pilgrims, the seminar continued with a visit to a joint Arab-Jewish kindergarten and a meeting with local Muslim and Jewish residents. In concluding the day by relaxing on the beach before the journey home, everyone had a chance to look out towards the horizon and reflect on the day’s events – and contemplate on how this long history of coexistence among these old alleyways has lessons for us all, today.
“Having relived the experiences through captivating storytelling pertaining to the rise and fall of the capital of oranges and center of pilgrims, the seminar continued with a visit to a joint Arab-Jewish kindergarten and a meeting with local Muslim and Jewish residents.”
For information about our other activities see here
"The connecting Hamza" association initiates connecting Jews and Arabs, Israelis and Palestinians, through learning each other's language.
The purpose of this learning is to provide a basis for an ongoing process of getting familiar with the meanings and nuances that are embedded in each language in order to pave the road to understanding the cultures and traditions of the participants.
The process of teaching each other creates bonding on a personal level through a combination of fun and challenge.
The process will include, among other things, educational and cultural workshops, such as: sharing authentic Arabic and Israeli music, food, lectures, watching films and discussing them and tours that allow experiencing the togetherness through fun, non-political activities.
Getting to know each other on a personal level allows the participants to overcome the barrier of fear, suspicion and dehumanization of the other.
Hamzah (Arabic: همزة) (ء) is a phonemic glottal stop in Arabic that is produced at the beginning of uttering a sound. More precisely, hamzat QaTaA is a sound that blocks the vocal tract.
However, the name of our non-governmental organization is derived from hamzat wasil (hamzat al-wasil همزة الوصل) which, UNLIKE the hamzat QaTaA, does not block the vocal tract but rather helps connecting and merging the sounds of two words.
This phenomenon symbolizes the purpose of our activities: to connect people from both sides on an individual level through language despite the barriers; Despite the "hamzat QaTaA": the obstacle that blocks the progress, the flow and the connection.
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The Connecting Hamza / המזת החיבור 