The name of the Center can be translated roughly with "Gate to Humanity", but this translation does not cover the meaning of the Hebrew word "adam" alluding to the one that was created in the image of God from earth. The qualities in every human being that long to be developed are an integral part of the meaning of our name as well as a description of a way of working with intercultural issues that is important to us - to look at each other as "beings created to be creative" and helping each other developing the qualities of becoming a human being in the true sense...

Galilee

The Galilee in the North of Israel, called by some "the land of life", has always been a fertile area which has provided a promising grounds for the emergence of new cultures.
Since the founding of the State of Israel, Jewish and Arab citizens have been living side by side in the Galilee, resulting in a delicate and fragile society comprised of Bedouins, Cherkess, Druze, Muslim and Christian Arabs as well as Jews. In the Galilee one finds old settlements with thousands of years of history, such as Nazareth, Tiberias, Safed, Acco, and Shfar-Amr, intermingled with new settlements which were founded only recently.
A complicated social reality is hidden underneath this surface; if it is not treated gently and if we are not able to handle the challenges this reality poses, we are headed toward ethnic, social and religious struggles as in other conflict areas in the world or wars.

The Danger of Alienation

The Arab and the Jewish communities in the Galilee tend to be alienated from each other. There are several reasons for this - social, economical, historical, cultural. The political developments during the last years have increased the alienation between the communities and have caused anger and frustration in many Galileens.
One of the main reasons for the alienation has always been the socio-economic gaps, which have increased over the years and are becoming more difficult to handle.
The percentage of children in Northern Israel is the highest in the country. Most of the children in the North of Israel are not Jewish (62.3 %) and include Arabs, Arab-Bedouins, Druze and Cherkess. The Arab villages do not receive sufficient investment or funding from local authorities and do not have community centres which would provide essential services such as extra-curricular activities, enrichment programs, family counseling etc. Furthermore, the Arab educational system is always short of funds to run enrichment programs. All of the above becomes even more difficult in Bedouin settlements, where the shortage is even worse, as they lack even the basic infrastructure.
As a result of all this many Arab children and youth in the area are at a high risk of dropping out of society or turning against the rest of the world.

Needs and Chances

In order to improve the situation of the Arab population in the Galilee, there is an immediate need to develop programs that will help the children and youth stay in formal frameworks, complete their studies and channel their energies into more positive directions.
Furthermore, there is a need to bring both populations closer to each other and to create a feeling of true equality and partnership. This is the only way to empower the people and turn them into citizens who will make a contribution to society rather than becoming dependent on it.
Unless we invest in the relationships between both populations from an early age, and unless we direct more resources to the Arab population, the feeling of alienation on both sides will increase and the current reality will worsen. However, we can see the alternative of forming a common and fruitful life.