Beit Ha'Gefen — The Arab-Jewish Cultural Center in

Haifa Haifa ( he, חֵיפָה ' ; ar, حَيْفَا ') is the third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropol ...

is a multi-cultural organization that aims to bring together Arabs and Jews and promote coexistence and tolerance.

Organisation

Beit Ha'Gefen — The Arab-Jewish Cultural Center organizes and promotes interfaith social and cultural events. The center was established in 1963 by

mayor

Abba Hushi Abba Hushi (Also: Aba Khoushy; he, אבא חושי; born Abba Schneller; 1898 – 24 March 1969) was an Israeli politician who served as mayor of Haifa for eighteen years between 1951 and 1969. Hushi was one of the founders and activists of Has ...

. Activities of the center include guided tours around Haifa, themed on coexistence, conferences and different cultural events. Center maintains Arab Language theatre, which is oldest such theatre in Israel Beit Ha'Gefen is an organiser of two major cultural events in Haifa: Holiday of Holidays in December, which is celebration of

Ramadan , type = islam , longtype = Religious , image = Ramadan montage.jpg , caption=From top, left to right: A crescent moon over Sarıçam, Turkey, marking the beginning of the Islamic month of Ramadan. Ramadan Quran reading in Bandar Torkaman, Iran. ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

and

Hanukka or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem) , nickname = , observedby = Jews , begins = 25 Kislev , ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet , celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...

together and Arab Theater month in summer. Holiday of Holidays was first celebrated in December 1994, when all three Jewish, Muslim and Christian holidays happened at the same time. The main venue of this fortnight event is

Wadi Nisnas Wadi Nisnas ( ar, وادي النسناس; he, ואדי ניסנאס) is a formerly mixed Jewish and Arab neighborhood in the city of Haifa in northern Israel, which is becoming mixed again. ''Nisnas'' is the Arabic word for mongoose, an indigen ...

neighbourhood, on outskirt of which Beit Ha'Gefen is located. Until the

Oslo Agreement The Oslo I Accord or Oslo I, officially called the Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements or short Declaration of Principles (DOP), was an attempt in 1993 to set up a framework that would lead to the resolution of th ...

, center activities were mostly local and after concluding the agreement, Beit Ha'Gefen started international activities, including establishing ties with similar organisations in

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and

Palestine __NOTOC__ Palestine may refer to: * State of Palestine, a state in Western Asia * Palestine (region), a geographic region in Western Asia * Palestinian territories, territories occupied by Israel since 1967, namely the West Bank (including East ...

. The center is also engaged in the interfaith movement, providing a platform for regular meeting between representatives of three major monotheistic religions. Every two years, Beit Ha'Gefen organizes an interfaith conference, with participation of

Muslim Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι ...

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

, Baháʼí and

Druze The Druze (; ar, دَرْزِيٌّ, ' or ', , ') are an Arabic-speaking esoteric ethnoreligious group from Western Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic, monotheistic, syncretic, and ethnic religion based on the teachings of ...

clerics and religious authorities. Beit Ha'Gefen has six departments: the Culture department, Contemporary Art Gallery, El Karama Theater, Visitor Center, Dialog and Program Center and The Clore Library and Cultural Center for children.

Art Gallery

Beit Ha'Gefen also operates a contemporary Art Gallery that hosts multiple exhibitions per year that are related to tolerance and coexistence. In December 2018, Beit-HaGefen Art Gallery inaugurated a new interactive gallery wing - "The Third Space"

Notable exhibitions

*2013 ''Homage to Lutfia, my sister in Yarmouk refugee camp''. Solo of Amir Abdi. Curated by Ayelet Zohar. *2013 ''The Beyond Within'' Exhibition of Boodi and George, Vered Nissim. Curated by Raafat Hattab. *2014 ''Inbetween'' Group exhibition. Curated by Yeala Hazut and Farid Abu Shaḳrah *2014 ''Picture Peace'' Group exhibition of Israeli and Palestinian artists for promoting peace. *2015 ''Journal View – A Journal Photography Exhibition''. Group exhibition of Israeli and Palestinian photographers. *2015 ''Dear Jerusalem''. Solo of Guy Briller. Curated by Yeala Hazut. *2016 ''Depth of field''. Group exhibition in collaboration with

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design ( he, בצלאל, אקדמיה לאמנות ועיצוב) is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldes ...

. Curated by

Dor Guez Dor Guez ( he, דור גז) is an Israeli artist of Christian Palestinian and Tunisian Jewish origin, founder of The Christian Palestinian Archive.

and Yeala Hazut. *2017 ''Ghost Dance''. Group exhibition by Aya Abu Roken, Nour Ibrahim, Lamis Ammar, Ruba Salameh, Nardin Srouji, Hanna Qubti. Curated by Fadwa Naamna.

References

External links

Beit-HaGefen Arab Jewish Culture Center
{{Authority control Cultural organizations based in Israel Haifa