Haifa and the Mossawa Center

Vol: 1 Issue: 2


Today, we were out the door before 7:00 AM, and on our way to catch a bus to Haifa.  The bus ride was around two hours, and on the way I saw large sections of "The Wall," which exists in scattered strands along multiple Arab and Israeli villages.  Once in Haifa, we sat down with a Deputy Director of the Mossawa Center, an organization (as defined by its website):


The Mossawa Center is the Advocacy Center for the Arab Citizens in Israel. Established in 1997, the Center is a non-profit, non-governmental organization that works to promote the social, economic, cultural and political rights of the Palestinian Arab citizens in Israel and the recognition of this community as a national indigenous minority, with their own national, cultural and historical distinctiveness. Mossawa, which takes its name from the Arabic word for ‘equality’, promotes a democratic society and acts against all forms of discrimination based on race, nationality, religious affiliation, social status, gender and disability.


That description, however, does not do the center full justice.  A lot of the work which the center has done is fascinating.  I wish I could go into as much detail as the Deputy Director did, but I'll spare your ears.  They have done a lot of work with working towards equality issues, that any reasoned person would support.  Where Israeli-Arabs are nearly 20% of the population within Israeli proper, and do pay taxes the same as any other citizen, they are only allocated 5% of the budget.  However, even though they're allocated the funds, that does not mean they are actually receiving the money.  The center works a lot within the legal framework (where they have found relative success) of Israel to correct not only this, but other rights that they feel they have been slighted of.  They work to coalition build with other communities, Druze, Bedouin, Ethiopian, Russian, and even worked with Shas (an ultra-orthodox party that represents many orthodox who study in Yeshiva instead of joining the military) when the government wanted to strip welfare to any families that did not serve in the military.  


After spending over an hour at the Center learning, questioning, and discussing, an intern took us around the Arab portion of Haifa.  The location of Haifa today only came about in 1765 when it was moved from its original location about a mile and a half away for fortification purposes.  It's quite a thought knowing how old so many cities are, and that the original Haifa has a 3,000 year history.  Yet, while Haifa was being established in 1765, on the other side of the globe America was a booming colony.  In Haifa I saw crumbling Churches, Synagogues, and Mosques all that have fallen prey to time.  And right next to these crumbling buildings, there is stunning new architecture and designs.  The juxtaposition looks like something out of a Magritte painting.  They live next together, and just as Haifa is referred to as the "City of Co-existance," just living in land adjacent to each other, does not always truly mean co-existance.  


After multiple conversations taking place today within our group, most of which I had a habit of inserting my own comments into, to stir the pot, one of the Israelis told me I was "Shoodnik."  She explained that it was a joker who says things to incite a response.  I told her the American word for it is "Troll."