Book Club Activity:
With the assistance of local Arab and Palestinian Jerusalemites, we organized a series of book club discussions on textual sources pertaining to Israel, Zionism and Judaism. In so doing, we not only introduced Arabs and Palestinians to ideas, beliefs, and outlooks held by Israelis and Jews, but… Click here to read more
Translations to Arabic
The Connecting Hamza’s team of Arab translators and proofreaders from various countries in the Arab world (Egypt, Palestine, Morocco, Jordan) together with Jewish guides and colleagues have translated articles and books from English to Arabic pertaining to topics such as Judaism, Jewish history, Jewish thought and spirituality. In addition we have translated texts for websites, including Arabic and English, for example: גנור – התעמלות מותאמת לאנשים מיוחדים and Ganor – Adapted Gymnastics for Special People
Books:
Translations of the late Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks’ zt”l Studies in Spirituality – Weekly Torah Portion teachings, ready to be downloaded for free in its Arabic translation on Dangoor Centre for Universal Monotheism and Cultural Diplomacy
The weekly Torah portion teachings can also be found as separate essays on both Dangoor Centre’s website and the Rabbi Sacks’ website, for example: The Dangers of Enthusiasm. Our translations to Arabic can be found on PDF files along with translations to other languages (done by various translators who work directly for the Rabbi Sacks’ Legacy Website)
Dreams Never Dreamed by Kalman Samuels:
Inspired by their son’s remarkable breakthrough to communication, Kalman and Malki established Shalva, one of the world’s largest centers for disability care and inclusion – creating a better society for all: bit.ly/3DNs8Uc
Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor by Yossi Klein Halevi
Attempting to break the agonizing impasse between Israelis and Palestinians, Yossi Klein Halevi, the Israeli commentator and award-winning author of Like Dreamers directly addresses his Palestinian neighbors in this provocative book, empathizing with Palestinian suffering while, at the same time, explaining about the Jewish ties to the Land of Israel and longing for reconciliation as he explores how the conflict looks through Israeli eyes.
Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor is one Israeli’s powerful attempt to reach beyond the wall that separates Israelis and Palestinians. In a series of letters, Yossi Klein Halevi explains what motivated him to leave his native New York in his twenties and move to Israel to participate in the drama of the renewal of a Jewish homeland, which he is committed to see succeed as a morally responsible, democratic state in the Middle East.
This is a bold attempt by an Israeli author to directly address his Palestinian neighbors and describe how the conflict appears through Israeli eyes. Halevi untangles the ideological and emotional knot that has defined the conflict for nearly a century. In lyrical, evocative language, he unravels the complex strands of faith, pride, anger and anguish he feels as a Jew living in Israel, using history and personal experience as his guide.
Halevi’s letters speak not only to his Palestinian neighbors, but to all his neighbors in the Middle East. In writing this book he is inviting his neighbors not only to read, but to respond with letters of their own. This is the first step in a project that will enable Palestinians and Israelis, Arabs and Jews to hear each other’s stories.
Over the course of 3 years, a team of Jewish and Arabs worked diligently days and night on social media to draw Arab readers’ attention to the book, get them to read it and write their own responses to the author, who, in turn, responded to each and every letter. These countless efforts are documented and shared on the website https://www.letterstomyneighbor.com/reader-responses/
Uprooted – by Lyn Julius
Who are the Jews from Arab countries? What were relations with Muslims like? What made Jews leave countries where they had been settled for thousands of years? What lessons can we learn from the mass exodus of minorities from the Middle East? Lyn Julius undertakes to answer all these questions and more in Uprooted, the culmination of ten years of work studying these issues.
Jews lived continuously in the Middle East and North Africa for almost 3,000 years. Yet, in just 50 years, their indigenous communities outside Palestine almost totally disappeared as more than 99 per cent of the Jewish population fled. Those with foreign passports and connections generally left for Europe, Australia, or the Americas. Some 650,000 went to Israel.
“Lyn Julius provides a riveting account of a fascinating, but disgracefully overlooked subject. Anyone who really wants to understand the Middle East, Israel and world history, should read it.” – Tom Gross, former Middle East correspondent, Sunday Telegraph; contributor to The Guardian and Wall Street Journal.
Translations to Arabic of Rabbi Yakov Nagen’s Essays, for example:
Healing The Abrahamic Community رَأبُ الصَّدعِ بَينَ الدِّياناتِ الإِبْراهيمِيَّة
Other books can be found in this online library
Subtitles for Clips:
As part of our translation projects, we’ve also provided subtitles in Arabic for various clips, such as:
Yossi Klein Halevi: How do we stop shouting at each other?
Tablet Magazine: Neighbors, Yossi Klein Halevi’s Palestinian Neighbor Writes Back, Episode 1k
Who are the Jews? Where do they come from?
The Untold Exodus of Jews from Arab lands” translated into Arabic! Here and here
Dr. Einat Wilf at the International Summit for a Future Beyond UNRWA
Dr. Einat Wilf – Thank you, Lord Balfour, we’ll take it from here
The Idea behind October 7th
Dr. Einat Wilf at the UN Watch Assembly
Shalva Organization: About Shalva
More about Shalva: Dreams Never Dreamed
Arabic Lessons
We plan, organize, and execute a series of weekly lessons for groups of Jewish participants to learn Arabic with a native Arabic speaker, with a particular emphasis on the local spoken Palestinian dialect in order to enable the students to be able to communicate with Israeli Arabs and Palestinians in their… Click here to read more
Educational Seminar: Multiculturalism and religious tolerance in Haifa
As a model for religious and cultural coexistence among its inhabitants – from Jews and Druze to Muslims and Christians – the city of Haifa was the perfect starting point for our inaugural series of workshops with Palestinian women. Led by local residents, our tour of Haifa took our Palestinian… Click here to read more
Educational Seminar: The alleys of Old Jaffa
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 Edin, the Ottomans, and… Click here to read more
Educational Seminar: Ahmadiyya community in Haifa
Following the success of our first activity in Haifa, we returned to this model city of coexistence and multiculturalism for a second educational seminar. This time, however, instead of bringing just Palestinian women, we also invited female Jewish participants. Spending most of the time… Click here to read more
Tour of the Museum of Islamic Art and Language Workshop, Jerusalem
Ranking high among our more cultural activities was a visit to the Museum of Islamic Art. Situated in Jerusalem’s Katamon neighborhood, this museum not only boasts an array of exhibitions attesting to the Islamic and Arab contributions to our region, but also provided an ideal setting for… Click here to read more
Musical Event, Beit Hanina
We had the privilege of funding a musical performance for female Arab students at a college for Palestinian women in Beit Hanina. The Jewish musician, Idan Toledano, performed both Hebrew and Arabic songs alongside an Israeli Arab singer, Miriam Toucan. In addition to… Click here to read more
Musical event at the Museum of Islamic Art, Jerusalem As part of a Tarab Music series – becoming acquainted with classical music in the Arab world
“The Firqat Alnoor Orchestra, in collaboration with the Museum of Islamic Art presents a new four-part series that takes us back to the golden age of Egyptian film, and to its songs and prominent figures of the era – Muhammad ‘Abd Aloahab, Umm Kulthum, Asmahan, Farid Alatrash and Leila Mourad. Produced and directed by Hannah Fatya and Ariel Cohen”. Click here to read more
The Connecting Hamza / המזת החיבור 