This guest post by Howard Friedman is part of a series of posts by participants in NIF’s 2014 Study Tour.

Our final day began differently. We returned to South Tel Aviv for a panel on shared society. Instead of having a member of our group introduce the panelists, they introduced themselves. We did not have their bios so we paid close attention to their life stories.

The first speaker was Shula Keshet, Executive Director of Achoti (Sister)–for Women in Israel. She is a Mizrachi Jew, her family came from Iran. She is a feminist, artist, and social activist. She presented her views on South Tel Aviv, her neighborhood and the location of our meeting. This area is referred to as the “backyard” because it is where things that are to be hidden from view are kept, like the polluting bus station as well as people who are poor, immigrants, and often people of color. This area had experienced drug trafficking and human trafficking.

Shula’s mother and grandmother are her role models. In Iran, her family lived in an area where they had to pretend to be Muslims while they secretly carried on Jewish traditions. Achoti works to support women in disadvantaged areas to find ways to make money. Achoti also runs a fair trade store.

Safa Younes is an Arab-Israeli born in Jaffa. She discussed the difficulty of being stereotyped and having to prove herself. She has a Master’s degree in social work and gender studies from Tel Aviv University and an MBA from the College of Management in Rishon Lezion. She speaks perfect Hebrew. When she calls to inquire about an apartment, hearing her accent people assume she is Jewish and tell her of apartments available. But once they learn her name and therefore her ethnicity, the apartments are suddenly not available.

Safa worked as a probation officer. She was the only Arab woman in this job at the time. Some men had difficulty having to respect the orders of a woman. For some of these men it was particularly tough when they had a woman defense lawyer, appeared before a woman judge and then had a woman probation officer.

For over seven years she worked as the executive director of Arous Elbahr, an organization working to promote the status of Arab-Israeli women by helping them fight for their rights.
Next was Liron Azulai, the co-executive director of The Women’s Courtyard. She is Mizrachi. Her identity is mixed with ancestors from the Kurdistan/Iran area and others from an area near Turkey and Syria. Her last name is Moroccan.

She first noticed racism in the second grade. She was the only Mizrachi in her class and she asked her mom why her teacher treated her differently. Then her school united with a Mizrachi school. She found it difficult to fit into either group. She left after one year of high school feeling she did not fit in with the other kids. She went to Mahapach-Taghir, a Jewish-Arab organization that works for social change through education and community empowerment, which helped her get back on track. She has a BA and an MA in Sociology. She went from being a student activist with Mahapach to joining the board and finally becoming a co-director of the organization.

The Women’s Courtyard works with women of all backgrounds who are struggling on the margins of society. They work with women starting where they are, providing basic needs like a home, meal, haircut, or a person to talk to. They work with each woman to develop a personal program to help them achieve her dream and find her place in society.

Fidaa Nara Abu Dbai is co-director of Mahapach-Taghir. Fidaa is an Israeli Arab. Her husband is not Jewish, but he has a Jewish mother. Fidaa founded a rape crisis center. For her first two years at the university, she was the only Arab student. There has been progress; now 20% of the students are Arab.

During the troubles this summer Fidaa heard her daughter singing a song with the refrain “Kill the Jews.” Fidaa was shocked since her daughter knows that her beloved grandmother is Jewish. She discussed with her daughter the need support rights for all human beings.

We learned that some issues may be too divisive to discuss. When The Women’s Courtyard tried to discuss the Naqba (the Arabic word for the tragedy of the War of Independence for the Palestinian people), it was too much for the mixed group, and it set cooperation back.

Why did our leaders decide not to provide an introduction before meeting this final panel? They did not say, but I think it was because each woman’s introduction told a story of a person who suffered discrimination, achieved success, and worked to make a better society.

The panelists all work with groups seeking to create a shared community. They work is designed to help people from disadvantaged communities: Mizrachi Jews, Muslim Arabs, Christian Arabs, immigrants from Africa and Ashkenazi Jews. The panelists and the groups they work with strive to get men and women from different groups to see their common humanity and to work together to improve their lives and those of others. They work towards human rights without regard to background. This is part of the hope for the future the members of our group were looking for in Israel.

After this meeting we had our last tour with our exceptional guide, Itzik Harani. We started by learning about Jaffa with a walking tour of old Jaffa. Then we had free time for lunch. Shwarma, anyone? Then time for shopping. After that, many of us continued with a bus tour of central and North Tel Aviv. While much of our study tour focused on social issues in Israel, Itzik made sure we learned of history ancient and recent, as well as taking us to some of the popular tourist sites.

We knew our trip was coming to an end as we all gathered at the hotel for our final wrap-up meeting with NIF staffers Karen, Becky, Hamutal, Merav, and Susie. We had a chance to hear more about NIF and to think about all that we had seen and learned.

Our farewell dinner was at “House Number Three” in Jaffa. We had already shared many amazing meals, it seemed unlikely that our last meal could top the others, but it did. Like our first dinner together, we were the only guests in a home with food cooked specially for us. As we entered the house and walked up candle-lit stairs we smelled herbs. We were greeted with special drinks, including homemade cherry liquor and small bites. Then came freshly baked breads topped with Zatar and other spices (a sampling of Middle Eastern bruschetta; this explained the wonderful herb smell).

After a chance to chat we were led to the dining room where a feast was served. We had an array of amazing salads and delicious red mullet. The starters would have been sufficient for a meal but they were followed by four dishes: chicken, lamb, vegetarian, and fish.

After dinner we moved back to the patio for deserts starting with a hot chocolate drink and Turkish coffee, then sweets. We wished we could stay talking all night but our tour was at its end. We had to say our final goodbyes and take the bus back to the hotel while Becky and Benette left to for the airport that evening. It was a fabulous end to a special tour.