By Joel Magalnick, Editor, JTNews
Though not working to create peace, one organization is using economic forces to help people who have been experiencing poverty because of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Two co-directors from the Israel-based Center for Jewish-Arab Economic Development made an inaugural visit to Washington State in June looking to make friends and garner financial support for their mission of promoting economic equality for Arabs and Jews inside of Israel.
Founded 16 years ago by an American woman who emigrated to Israel, The CJAED positions itself as an alternative to the traditional kinds of support for Israel.
They are not a political movement, but an economically focused organization committed to raising the standard of living for the Arab population living inside the Jewish State and to the integrate the Arab economy into the mainstream Israeli economy.
The two CJAED representatives sat down to talk with the JTNews while in Seattle, on their way to New York and other east coast cities.
“In the Arab sector, one out of two kids live under the poverty line,” said Ze’ev Jasper, co-director of CJAED and a former economic journalist in Israel for 20 years. Jasper lives in Ra’ananan, Israel and has worked for the CJAED for two years.
“By an index of the government, out of the best 10 towns in Israel with the highest quality of life by any socio-economic criteria you want, there are no Arab towns. And out of the worst 10 towns in Israel, nine are Arab towns. That gives you an idea of the gap between the two sectors.”
The CJAED has innovative programs that include a course in entrepreneurship for both Jewish and Arab women to acquire business skills so that they can eventually go out on their own. The CJAED also promotes joint businesses between Jews and Arab women.
“Hundreds of women’s businesses have been created,” Jasper said.
Their MBA program is the only university-based program in Israel that also involves Palestinians from the West Bank. This year, it has almost 40 students that will be entering the program that takes place at Haifa University.
“We think this is an essential issue for the future of Israel,” added Jasper. “It’s a very important issue what kind of society they are building and what the effect is of having 20 percent of the population outside the mainstream of life. We want to change it. We think it’s important.”
Helmi Kittani was a banker with a private commercial bank in Israel for more than 20 years when he became involved with CJAED 12 years ago. He is from an Arab town in Israel called Baq-Lelgharbiya.
Kittani and Jasper have been working in the south of Israel trying to help the people living in the 4,500 unrecognized Bedouin villages located there for centuries. Because the villagers never registered their claims to own the land on which they have lived for so long, the Israeli government routinely destroys their homes and tries to relocate them.
The CJAED is trying to convince the government to change its policies and recognize these villages by helping the Bedouins design and write their own urban plan.
“Because of our involvement there they have recognized seven villages and they are in the process of being accepted,” said Kittani. “We used urban planning as a tool. It is a very strong tool for economic development. We teach them to involve the whole community in it so the community gets stronger.”
The CJAED also developed the first technological incubator for startup businesses in the Arab sector in Nazareth. Would-be entrepreneurs receive a small office, general business services from the central management of the incubator, and a half-million dollars in the form of a loan from the government. There are now four projects. Currently all of the start-ups are ideas brought to them from Arab scientists, but the staffs are both Jewish and Arab.
“The ownership of the incubator is Jewish and Arab people,” said Kittani. “The chief scientist of the Israeli government became involved and invested a half million dollars for two years in this project for the development of NGT or new government technology.”
While Jasper and Kittani were in Seattle they met with private individuals who might want to support the group’s programs. Although this is their first visit to the U.S., they say they have met many people who have said they want to help.
“We have been to L.A., San Diego, San Francisco and now Seattle and the last stop is in New York,” said Kittani. “We have many supporters, private foundations and federations in New York, Washington, D.C., Maryland and the East Coast in general. We have very strong support and many friends there.”
Jasper promises a return trip to Seattle very soon, maybe even later this summer. He hopes to make more contacts and gain more support for the CJAED. His appeal is direct, simple and clear: “To whomever is interested in a stable state and a secure and accepted state, not only among the Arab countries but also among its own citizens,” said Jasper. “Until all of the problems in the region are solved, we are preparing the economic infrastructure to motivate people to stay together and be together.”