Breaking barriers: Jews and Arabs in Jerusalem learn each other’s language—‘speed dating’ style

In a city with deep political, religious, and cultural divisions, a small group of Israelis Jews and PalestinianArabs in Jerusalem are attempting to break the barrier by learning Hebrew and Arabic from each other based on the idea of speed dating.

About 20 students meet weekly at a 19th-century villa. Sitting face to face, Jews and Arabs practice each other’s language by reading out from cards with simple situations, prompting a conversation between them.

When a whistle sounds every 20 minutes, participants rotate with new partners across tables arranged under colourful murals.

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The project was started in 2019 by Maya Giz, a Hebrew teacher, and Sahar Mukhemar, a Palestinian sports instructor and a former student of hers.

The founders say that the meetings help the Palestinians improve their Hebrew language skills required for dealing with Israeli officials, and the Jews gain a better understanding of Arabic.

“Palestinians in Jerusalem don’t study Hebrew in school, in any way. And it's the same for Israelis - if they do study Arabic, it's an Arabic you can't use. Therefore, we came up with this initiative, you can call it a civil initiative, that directly meets this need of the ability to communicate with each other in each other's language. Out of this, the real important thing emerges - the meeting and the acquaintance,” Giz told news agency Reuters.

Sahar Mukhemar, the project co-founder and co-manager, said the basic objective of the project is to popularise Hebrew language within Arabs and vice-versa.

“The reason I wanted to create this thing, I felt this need within me personally, was the absence of the Hebrew language within Arabs for many reasons. For example, if they need to go to a hospital or mall or just need to get by with the language. So, I felt this need within me when I learned Hebrew, I saw that the students themselves need to practice the language and not only learn it, and from here came the idea to address the need for language exchange, Arabs and Jews together,” Mukhemar told Reuters.

Most Palestinians in Jerusalem live in the city’s east, an area captured by Israel in the 1967 Middle East war. Only basic Hebrew is studied in East Jerusalem schools. That makes it difficult for Palestinians to reach a very high skill level in the language.

(With inputs from agencies)