Arab-Jewish coexistence groups remain committed to staying the course in Acre

[shira]

<snip>

Some 30 students, about one-third of them Arab, live and work in Acre's old city during the academic year, bringing to the Arab neighborhood 15,000 hours of tutoring for schoolchildren and coexistence work.

"When we first got to Acre, the Arab community was worried about our arrival," explains Gliksberg. Ayalim's agenda includes expanding Jewish settlement in the country's periphery, including Acre itself.

"We told them the truth. We're a Zionist organization that believes the Jews deserve a Jewish state. But we also believe in being a good neighbor. You can't go to a place with an Arab majority and not relate to it. We sat with the Arab leadership and said, if coexistence will happen, it will happen like this, between proud Arabs and Zionist Jews."

The work students have been doing in Acre seems to have paid off in helping the Jewish organization gain acceptance in the Arab neighborhood. "When the violence started last week, our neighbors knocked on our doors and said, 'Don't worry, we're with you.'" Most people in Acre, Jewish or Arab, "live like good neighbors, no matter what you see from the extremists in the streets," Gliksberg insists.

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http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1222017521510&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull

[LeftishBrit]

1. Good for them!