 Arab Israelis, who comprise 20 percent of Israel’s population, routinely face discrimination in employment, housing, education and infrastructure. Despite paying taxes, voting and speaking Hebrew, Arab Israelis are often treated as second-class citizens in the only country they’ve ever called home. Racism is a fact of life and, according to a 2008 poll, 76 percent of Israeli Jews support Avigdor Lieberman’s proposal to “transfer” areas heavily populated by Arabs to a future Palestinian state. Rising tides of separatism in both the Jewish and Arab communities threaten Israel’s future as a democratic and multicultural society. The riots in Akko last Yom Kippur and the ultra-nationalist march through the Arab Israeli city of Umm El Fahm in late March have only served to exacerbate these tensions.
Through a series of joint living programs established throughout the country, NIF has been the leading voice in promoting equality for Israel’s largest minority.
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Personal Story: Mutual Respect Even in Wartime
 Alarmed by the killing of innocent civilians in both Israel and Gaza and the deterioration of Jewish-Arab relations during the recent conflict, Amna Ka'anana decided to organize a joint Arab-Jewish protest.
"I only expected about 90 people to attend the rally," she explains "so I was surprised when we had 300 people all dressed in white and holding olive branches, about half and half, Jews and Arabs."
Ka'anana, an observant Muslim, is the Executive Director of NIF grantee Awareness for You, which runs empowerment courses for Arab women in the village of Kfar Kara near Hadera. She is a recipient of NIF's London-Yaari Scholarship for her work in women's empowerment, and she recently received the Knesset Speaker's Prize for Quality of Life. "We encourage women to learn skills and also tackle health issues," she says.
"I have always wanted to initiate activities that bring Jews and Arabs together," she explains. "The war in Gaza acted as a catalyst for that. The conflict placed a lot of pressure on joint living and I suddenly felt it was really urgent to do something significant."
She invited several dozen Jewish and Arab activists to her home to discuss the situation, and they hit upon the idea of the rally to protest the killing of innocent civilians, whether in Sderot or Bet Lahiya. "Now the war is over it is no less important to continue the dialogue. Only through dialogue will we reach peace."
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