By Shoshana Aronowitz

In May of 2008, the ICfC initiated a dialogue process in Pekiin, Israel. Numerous events necessitated this intervention, the most recent being tensions between Pekiin youth and police officers concerning the destruction of a cellular antenna.

Pekiin is an ancient town in northern Israel which has been home to Druze, Arabs, and Jews. However, the Jewish inhabitants moved out in 1936 because of Arab riots, with only one family returning in 1948. In 1955, part of Pekiin was expropriated by Israel and became “New Pekiin,” a Jewish village. Relations between new and old Pekiin were rather stable until the 1990’s, when the Jewish Agency and Orthodox Jews began to buy out houses in Pekiin in an attempt to inspire more Jews to move to the area. Conflict began when non-Jewish residents felt threatened by the influx of Jewish inhabitants and the efforts to “Judaize” the area.  Major tension arose when a Ma’alot resident installed a cellular antenna on his property that happened to face an Old Pekiin neighborhood. A major rise in cancer cases in the neighborhood was discovered soon afterwards, including three cases within one family. When residents of the neighborhood requested that the man take down the antenna, he refused. They obtained permission from the police to remove the antenna, but the man reinstalled it. The frustrated residents finally burned the antenna down. Fighting broke out and the police stormed the area, leaving 37 people injured. These events left many Druze inhabitants feeling discriminated against by the Israeli police force and their Jewish neighbors. Chassia Chomsky Porat and Jabir Asaqla, ICfC facilitators who led three rounds of successful dialogues between Israeli Jews and Arabs in Yaad and Miaar, saw this situation as an opportunity to put ICfC methods to work.

The dialogue group consisted of nine Druze participants, one Christian woman, and six Jews from Ma’alot. Chassia and Jabir began the first session by asking the participants to voice their fears and frustrations. While this exercise initially offended many of the participants, it also forced them to face their prejudices. As the participants listened to the opinions and thoughts of the “other side,” they began to realize that they had all attended the discussion group in order to reach a common goal -- peace in Pekiin. It also proved very helpful for the Jewish participants to learn about the Druzes’ unique identity and their feelings of discrimination and isolation. After everyone’s feelings were discussed, the participants broke off into smaller groups to brainstorm what needed to be changed in Pekiin to alleviate some of the tension and strengthen relations. However, perhaps the most important part of the discussion group was that the participants had a chance to interact casually after the activities.

The dialogue will continue in the months to come and the model will be replicated in other towns in the Galilee region.