A new 'Kan Kids' channel TV series by the name of "Madrassah" is making waves in Israel — and it takes place in a fictional Arab-Jewish bilingual high school. The series explores the unique and often entertaining complexities of attending an integrated school. But just how accurate is the series'…

Written by Kylie Ora Lobell // Published in the Jewish Journal on February 16, 2023. "Twenty-five years ago, an American Jew named Lee Gordon and a Palestinian citizen of Israel named Amin Khalaf came up with an idea. Though it seemed crazy, they thought it might work to foster peace…

Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel is delighted to announce the appointment of new Co-Chairs to our Board of Directors: Reem Younis and Eylon Penchas! Reem and Eylon replace outgoing Co-Chairs Jawad Boulus and Hagai Shmueli, who will continue to serve as members of the Hand in…

Twenty-five years ago, our Co-Founders Lee Gordon and Amin Khalaf had a crazy idea. What if Jewish and Arab children could start learning together in Israel, starting from the earliest of ages? In recent years, shared society organizations such as Neve Shalom, Hagar, and Hand in Hand, have been steadily…

Guy Aloni and Duaa Odeh are the co-teachers of Hand in Hand's inaugural 7th grade class in Haifa, which opened this year. Guy and Duaa believe that shared Jewish-Arab education can transform society, and that they are educating the future leaders of this country, who can help usher in a…

Palestinian-Israeli internet sensation and vlogger 'Nas Daily' recently visited Hand in Hand's Max Rayne Jerusalem school, and spent the day interviewing and filming our students, teachers, and staff. The result is this wonderful video which tells the story of Hand in Hand's unlikely inception, the many obstacles it has faced,…

This week, we asked Hand in Hand Kfar Saba 4th graders Salsabil and Evyatar to go around the school campus and ask Jewish and Arab classmates of all ages one very important question: "If you were in charge, what would you do?" https://youtu.be/lVEreHvH8nc The responses to the question were honest,…

At Hand in Hand, multiculturalism is not just an idea—it is a way of life, and a core element of our educational approach and curricula, which informs every aspect of our work. Over the past few weeks, students and families across our schools in Jerusalem, Haifa, Kfar Saba, Tel Aviv-Jaffa,…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDqFu8PzPYE Principal of the Kfar Saba school, Mohammad Kundos, spoke with Lucy Aharish and MK Ali Salalha on Israeli channel DemocraTV. Mohammad spoke of the pressures placed on an indigeneous minority such as Arab-Palestinians in Israel to succeed under challenging circumstances, wherein their culture and language are not properly represented…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UAl4zyPBw78 We are proud to introduce the theme song of Hand in Hand’s upcoming album, which will include nine original Arabic children’s songs produced by our very own staff. All nine songs were co-written by poet Fadel Ali, and Hand in Hand’s pedagogic advisor and writer Mary Copti. Mohammad Kundos,…

(Written by Fauzi Abu Toama, published in hadera.mynet.co.il on 9.1.22) Noga Shitrit and Yasmeen Abu-Ful run an integrated Jewish-Arab preschool within the Hand in Hand “Bridge over the Wadi” school. “Students here are taught to treat one another equally, and with tolerance and respect,” they say. Noga Shitrit, a resident…

(Written by Michal Gruber, published on Haipo.co.il, 7.31.22) Over the past 11 years, the Hand in Hand Haifa community has been living out a vision of true coexistence. Haifa is often considered a prime example of coexistence, but is there a real connection between the Muslim, Christian and Jewish residents…