"We Live in the Future" — HIH's Shada Mansour and Ofer Matan in Toronto
Earlier this year, the New Israel Fund (NIF) hosted an evening with Hand in Hand’s Director of Communities, Shada Edress Mansour, and Director of Communications, Ofer Matan, at the Center for Social Innovation in Toronto. The conversation, moderated by activist and educator Daniel Roth, offered a glimpse into the transformative work being carried out by Jewish and Arab leaders, parents, educators, and students at Hand in Hand’s schools in Israel.
“I knew I had to change the reality.”
Shada opened the evening by sharing her personal story of discovering and embracing her Palestinian identity—a journey which informed her choice to join an integrated community. “I grew up in Tayibe, a Muslim Arab town,” she shared. “I never met any Christians or Jewish people until I left my town. I never really thought about my Arab and Palestinian identity until I would interact with others, and then I learned to be ashamed of my identity.” Her turning point came when her daughter Nay was a year old. “I remember looking at her smile and open heart, and I knew I had to change the reality for her.”
The desire to provide her daughter with a more inclusive, empowering upbringing led Shada to Hand in Hand, where she became one of the founders of a bilingual, integrated school in her region. “When I was Nay’s age, I tried to hide my identity. My daughter goes around and speaks Arabic loudly everywhere, in Jewish spaces, and invites Jewish girls to play with her—and with a lot of confidence. When you ask her about her favorite holiday, she confidently says Purim and Ramadan.”
“We are not only changing the reality now, we are creating the next generation. We basically live in the future.”
Creating an equal space in a non-equal society
Hand in Hand schools are unique in Israel: public, bilingual, and led by Arab and Jewish co-teaching teams, who model partnership and mutual understanding. As Ofer explained, “In Israel the education is totally separated between Jews and Arabs. The separation is deeply embedded in our culture and life. As a kid, you don’t ask yourself, ‘Why are all my friends Jews?’ because that’s the only thing you know.”
What Hand in Hand offers is a viable alternative to this divided reality. “We’re trying to create an equal space in a non-equal society,” Ofer said. “We have two teachers in the same classroom speaking both languages and they’re not only teaching the kids, they’re also modeling what a healthy, equal partnership between Jews and Palestinians looks like. It’s not that one is giving orders to another, they’re working together, and the kids see from a very early age what this partnership looks like.”
This partnership begins in the classroom, but doesn’t end there. As Shada emphasized, “Shared education is only part of the journey. It cannot be only on the shoulders of the kids. The parents must be part of the process.” Each HIH school is surrounded by a network of families and a dedicated community organizer. Together, they plan and take part in joint events, dialogue sessions, holiday celebrations, volunteer work, and activism initiatives.
Small impactful acts ripple outward
Shada shared how the power of HIH’s shared community affects individuals within that community. “There was a father in our Galilee community who works for a high-tech company, and all the meeting rooms at this company were named after Jewish town. He asked them, ‘Why aren’t there meeting rooms named after Arab towns?’ And as a result, the company added names of Arab towns. It may have had a small impact but it also really changed the environment at this company. He also noticed that they don’t have a multicultural calendar, and they changed this as well.”
These small acts ripple outward. As Shada put it, “Sometimes the impact is small, sometimes it’s bigger—but both matter.”
Ofer echoed this idea when speaking about HIH alumni. “Speaking with a 20-year-old alumni of Hand in Hand is like speaking to someone in their mid-30s, in terms of maturity and the ability to understand the complexity of the world.”
One alum’s story stood out: “One of our graduates had the opportunity to mentor first year students when she was at university. The university consistently gave her a group of Arab students. She approached the head of the department and asked why she’s only getting Arab students, and explained that she can help with Jewish students as well, and she can handle a mixed group. By raising this question to the director of the department, she opened the door for new opportunities and possibilities. Since then, the department implemented the change and started to create mixed groups of students, and this is how our alumni affect their environment.”
“We live in the future.”
Shada concluded the event in Toronto with a powerful message: “We are not only changing the reality now, we are creating the next generation. We basically live in the future. I don’t know how it will end—this war and this conflict—but we are building the next generation, the next leaders. You can support us by telling others about Hand in Hand’s work, sharing our stories. You can really take part in the change we’re creating, and building the future and the next generation.”
