Although Jews and Arabs live together in Israel, they are largely estranged from each other and unaware of each others’ customs and traditions.
But the Association for the Advancement of Civic Equity in Israel, better known as Sikkuy, aims to change the situation by bringing Israeli Jews into Arab cities and showing them the real daily life there.
Shireen Mahajna, a tour guide of a group of Israeli visitors, was humorously explaining the customs of Ramadan to them.
“One cannot eat, drink, smoke or have sex during the fast,” she told them.
“I wonder what they go and do first,” a female Jewish participant chuckled. For her and many Jews, it was the first time that they were being exposed to the intricate details of the holy month observed by Muslims.
The group of about 50 people, mostly Israelis and also including some foreign students in Israel, were listening to Mahajna intently. They seemed fascinated about everything around.
“I feel like I have missed out on something. How can it be that during all these years I have never entered Umm el-Fahem?” said Hemda Drabkin from Tel Aviv.
Umm el-Fahem, the city she and others were visiting, is the second largest Arab-Israeli city in the country.
Situated between the Palestinian city of Jenin and the Israeli cities of Haifa and Afula, it has an image of a problematic city, home to the northern branch of the radical Islamic Movement in Israel.
The organization is considered a violent offshoot of the outlawed Muslim Brotherhood and is led by Raed Salah, former mayor of Umm el-Fahem.
Salah was recently released from prison. He has been found guilty of inciting violence by Israeli courts more than once.
The majority of the people in city, however, are leading peaceful daily lives, which is exactly what Sikkuy is trying to show.
“On some level, even though rationally I knew there was no problem, there was some fear about coming here,” said Dikla Lerner, a female visitor who is a teacher from nearby Kibbutz.
“Through tourism, a lot can be done. Bringing people closer, getting them acquainted with our customs, our places, letting them in our homes, visit us, eat our foods and meet people. That actually lessens the gap between the two populations,” said Mahajna.
As the sun went down, the group was taken to the rooftop of a building under construction, a breathtaking vantage point where the whole city can be seen.
Traffic on one of the streets below was heavy. Mahajna explained that people were rushing to a bakery to buy bread before they headed to homes to break the fast.
“Thirty seconds after the Muezzin will announce the fast is over, you will see the road empty in a flash,” she said laughing.
True to her word, it did and the group laughed with her.
After that, they headed to the home of Muhammed and Manal Karaman, who have a restaurant on the entrance floor of their house. Tables were set with white plates and bowls were filled with traditional Middle Eastern delicacies.
Manal introduced each dish to the group. As the visitors dug into the meal, the hostess mingled around the tables to answer their questions about the recipes.
After the dinner, the visitors entered the minibuses and started their tour through the narrow ups-and-downs of the city.
“In Ramadan, the days turn into nights and the nights into days,” Mahajna said.
In the city streets filled with lights, cars were being washed at garages, people getting haircuts and kids running around. It was almost midnight.
According to Mahajna, there has been a steady increase in tour participation since the initiative began about a decade ago.
Sikkuy, together with other organizations, brings together Arabs and Israelis to promote equality between the two ethnic groups and help Israeli Jews know better about the Muslim minority of the country.
“It is so, so important to bring together the two cultures, the two people, the Jews and Arabs together,” said Mahajna, a doctoral student in archaeology who has regular interactions with Jews. “At the end of the day, we live in one country.
In recent years, the Israeli society has been dominated by right-wing, nationalist ideas. In fact, during the meal one woman said the tour was “preaching to the choir.”
Still, the importance of such initiatives cannot be underestimated, as even the more liberal elements of Israeli society are not frequently exposed to the Arab part of society.
“I have no doubt at all that I will come back here. Even before I finish this tour here, I am already thinking who I want to bring here,” said the visitor Hemda Drabkin excitedly.
Small walls were torn down in the evening in Umm el-Fahem, a small dent in Israel’s fragmented society. This leaves hope for progress and understanding in the future.