While the world’s attention is focused on Israel’s dual-front war, in Gaza and on its northern border, tensions in the West Bank are surging. Violent settlers are taking advantage of the crisis to attack West Bank Palestinians, Israeli government ministers are advancing additional budgets to the settlements and advancing settlement planning. West Bank Palestinian violence is on the rise and so is IDF tough action against Palestinian militants and demonstrators.
On October 31st, 2023, Israeli citizens will go to the polls to elect their municipal leaders. Among some 300 local and regional councils up for election are the seven Israeli cities that are known as “mixed” or “shared,” where Jews and Arabs live together.
As the Co-Deputy CEO for Programs of the Abraham Initiatives, Shahira Shalabi runs the organization’s Shared Cities Initiative. In this APN webinar, she discusses the project and about the potential of shared Jewish-Arab communities to serve as laboratories – and hopefully as models – for advancing nascent political partnerships and forging better relations between the Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel.
Shahira Shalabi is the former Deputy Mayor of Haifa, a former city councilor, and was among the founders of the Palestinian feminist movement in Israel. She has established several organizations working to improve the status of Arab women in Israel. She is a group facilitator, specializing in dialogue, and conflict resolution.
Watch the video recording on our YouTube channel.
Listen to the audio recording on our podcast, PeaceCast.
