Holiday of Holidays Festival - Haifa

The 18th Holiday of Holidays Festival multicultural event marks Hannukah, Eid Al-Adha and Christmas in interfaith harmony.

It's a happening that brings tens of thousands of happy people to the streets of Haifa every December. Now in its 18th year, the Holiday of Holidays Festival is once again filling the Jewish-Arab mixed Wadi Nisnas neighborhood with good cheer, musical concerts, art exhibits, delicious bites and, most importantly, a feeling of togetherness.

It's actually a combination of holidays of the three main monotheistic religions: Hannukah, Eid Al-Adha and Christmas celebrated in interfaith harmony every Thursday through Saturday in December. "We honor everyone who lives here," says Asaf Ron, CEO of the Beit Hagefen Arab Jewish Center, which organizes the event. "The festival is very important for dialogue, community activity, neighborliness and tolerance."

On the bill are an antiques fair, outdoor art exhibits, crafts fair, Christmas tree decorating, Christmas parades, liturgical concerts, neighborhood tours, concerts, street theater and Israeli street food.

"First of all, visitors must see the art exhibits. This year the artists look at their origins. The art is at the heart of the festival," says Ron. "Secondly, the [concert] stages are a center point and a real Israel mix. You can hear everything on the stage: Baha'i music, modern Arabic music, world music, Israeli music. This is a happening for everyone. It's great to see all the religions in the same festival."

Pilgrimage to Haifa

Travelers tend to go to Haifa to see the Baha'i Gardens, Stella Maris Monastery, the Cave of Prophet Elijah, the Achmadim Mosque and the Old German Colony area. The city does not boast a particular pilgrimage site as found in Jerusalem or Nazareth.

"Haifa offers something else. We're not a holy site specifically, but we have people that want to live harmoniously; the atmosphere here is special. The feeling is one of pluralism," Ron says.

The annual festival attracts some 200,000 people from across Israel and even from abroad. More than 40 percent of festivalgoers are out-of-towners. "The festival is very important for dialogue and a shared experience of togetherness," Ron says, noting that Beit Hagefen’s goal is to educate toward coexistence by means of cultural and artistic activities.

The festival takes place in the neighborhood of Wadi Nisnas, where Jews, Christians and Muslims live side by side. A few churches are located here, but the area is best known for its art and culinary delicacies. Here you’ll find some 100 works of art by Arab and Jewish artists from across the country. And the marketplace (shuk) is known for its mounds of indigenous herbs and oriental pastries.

During the year Wadi Nisnas is a quaint neighborhood with an open-minded atmosphere. During the festival, it's one of the most energetic and boisterous places in Haifa, if not in all of northern Israel.

Festival highlights

One of the best-loved activities is taking a photo with Haifa's own Santa Claus. "At least 80 percent of those taking pictures with Santa are Jewish," reports Ron. "It's an attraction for everyone."

Another highlight is the coexistence walks. Beit Hagefen conducts these guided tours year-round at NIS 20 per person, but it is at the festival that demand really heats up. The tours are conducted in Hebrew, Arabic, English, Spanish and Russian. Ron says they're working on getting French-speaking guides as well.

The Art Works route includes displays by dozens of Jewish and Arab artists; the Poetry Path includes excerpts by Arab and Jewish poets and explains how their words connect to the neighborhoods; the Taste of Wadi Nisnas route includes samplings of traditional foods like knafeh, baklava and olesh (chicory); and the German Colony route gives a short history of the Templar settlement amid the beautiful historic buildings.

While informative, Ron says, the purpose of the tours is to introduce visitors to the cultural mosaic of Haifa. "Educational messages of peace, pluralism, tolerance, cooperation, neighborliness and joint hope for a better future, are conveyed through the tours," reads the Beit Hagefen website.

And then there's the Christmas parade. Ron says December 22-24, 2011 is "the" weekend to be in Haifa. "Hannukah and Christmas get their start with the Santa parade that winds around the neighborhoods. The parade ends with the lighting of a hannukiah (menorah) and with two Israeli-Jewish and Israeli-Arab bands playing on stage." There really is a little something for everyone.

View From a Hospital in Northern Israel

I received the letter below from a friend at a hospital in the north of Israel and I think his views represent a majority of opinions in this country.

I, therefore decided to publish it as received.

When faced with difficult situations / problems, people have a tendency to sometimes look for solutions in the wrong place. This is usually a result of …
• Ignorance
• Being exposed to inaccurate information
• Having been brainwashed
• An inability to understand the facts
• Predetermination to a particular mindset or point of view
• Dogmatic stubbornness
• Being intentionally misinformed (lied to)

So, what does this have to do with Emek Medical Center? First, as a major medical center, our physicians and professional staff are faced with difficult and often life or death situations / decisions every day. Fortunately for our patients, their assessments are based upon years of hard-earned knowledge, shared experiences, consultations and an ability to listen. Emek is located is one of the most volatile regions on earth and our life-saving abilities are often called upon as a result of actions by people who have nothing in common with our values or way of life.

Politicians and theologians are often the catalytic forces behind crazed extremists and Emek’s multi-ethnic staff is often called upon to treat and save the multi-ethnic victims of such radicalism. Emek is a part of Israel and represents all that is sensible between people, however, many in this world blame Israel for the turmoil and conflict that destroys bodies and lives. Enough is enough!

Israel is not the problem.
Jews are not the problem.
This conflict has never been about land or settlers or farms or cities.

The real problem is blind theocratic hatred, fascist intolerance and a vile lust for political power that brings with it staggering amounts of unearned wealth (attained through taxation and gifts to “rulers” by well meaning countries who hope that their gifts will improve the lives of foreign populations). All too often those funds never reach their intended targets and end up lining the greedy pockets of immoral power grabbing gun-wielding despots.

Examples of sanity may be found at eye level, if that is what you seek. Emek is a central player in the Jewish/Arab Middle East saga because here everyone meets everyone and here Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze treat one another and heal together. Emek is an apolitical, often surreal Israeli phenomenon that doesn’t fit any established Middle Eastern mold. It’s simply a place where people care for one another and share a common value … life.

Emek exists in and is a thriving part of Israel. No such institution exists in any other Middle Eastern country.

Emek is a wonderful example of humanitarian sanity; however it is not the solution to the infectious hatred running rampant throughout the Middle East. And Israel is not the problem.

Lod Joins List of World Heritage Sites

The Lod Community Foundation http://flagspot.net/flags/il-lod.html has successfully included the city in the World Monuments Fund’s list of World Heritage Sites. Following this announcement, and for the purpose of returning the city’s rightful image as a capital of multiculturalism, the Foundation has decided to host a festive event for the development of Lod.

The Lod Foundation’s aim is to promote a strategic agenda, which is agreed upon by the representatives of the various communities living in Lod. This agenda includes the launching of several revolutionary projects which will change the life and image of the city and represents a unique attempt, by both Arab and Jewish inhabitants of the city, to take their destiny, and that of their children, into their own hands and to develop a new model of Jewish-Arab partnership.

The launching event, on Wednesday, November 28, 2009, will take place in the presence of the mayor of Lod, and philanthropists from Israel and abroad, leading businesspeople, religious leaders, members of the diplomatic corps, ministers in the Israeli government and representatives of the Jewish and Arab communities in Lod are all invited to participate.

During the event, members of the different communities in the city will open their homes to guests, who will be able to “taste”, “smell” and “touch” the every-day life of the city. Moreover, they may enjoy the ethnic food festival, orchestrated by Jewish and Arab chefs, listen to a musical performance and view the photography exhibition of “Lod: Past and Present”.

This is the real Israel