Film Festival

Closing Night: The 21%, The Lives Of Arab Citizens Of Israel

Date : Sunday, May 19, 2024

Kicking of the 2024 Closing Night is our annual program exploring the daily lives and challenges of Arab Citizens of Israel. The program features a screening of Israeli TV show Madrasa (Episode 2 and 3) followed by a conversation on the challenges explored in the film.

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Overview

Sponsored by the Greater Washington Forum on Israeli Arab Issues and the Edlavitch DCJCC.
Lead support provided by The Naomi and Nehemiah Cohen Foundation.

Our annual program exploring the daily lives and challenges of Arab citizens of Israel. The program features a screening of Israeli TV show Madrasa (Episode 2 and 3) followed by a conversation on the challenges explored in the film, and a post-event reception.

Madrasa (Episodes 2 and 3):
“This Arab-Israeli high school comedy is a TV show about the Israeli/Palestinian conflict we all need right now. Madrasa, created by Arab-Israeli TV writer Sayed Kashua, follows the Arab and Jewish students at a bilingual school in Jerusalem. Based on the real-world Hand in Hand, a bilingual program with six schools across Israel, Madrasa offers an approachable way to understand the Israeli/Palestinian conflict through small, real, moments, sidestepping the high-level government and political maelstrom to focus on everyday life. In many ways, it’s a typical high school dramedy: teenage romance, parental conflict, troublemakers, and nerds. But through the students’ relationships — with each other, their teachers, their families, and their neighbors — it deftly takes on the complex politics of life in the most contested city in Israel without feeling, for the most part, heavy-handed.” — Mira Fox, The Forward

The 21%: The Lives Of Arab Citizens Of Israel is presented as part of the JxJ 2024 Closing Night. Join us at our Closing Night Reception after the event in the EDCJCC Lobby.

In partnership with the Embassy of Israel in Washington DC.

Dir. Guri dov Alfi Aharon | 76 min
Narrative | Israel | 2023
Hebrew and Arabic with English subtitles

About the Panelists

A Palestinian-Arab citizen of Israel, Nour Younis brings a distinguished background to her role as Manager of Donor Relations and Events at Hand in Hand. Nour’s commitment to social change is underscored by her former role as a government affairs officer for a coalition of human rights organizations and an international experience she undertook in the Foreign Policy Unit of the European Parliament. Nour completed a fellowship with the United States Senate and is a former intern in Israel’s Knesset.

Bar Itamari, age 24, is a Jewish citizen of Israel. Bar studied at the Hand in Hand Bridge Over the Valley elementary school in Kfar Qara from 2004 and graduated elementary school in 2010. Since that time, she has been actively involved in the Hand in Hand alumni network. Currently living in Mitzpe Ramon, Bar is a dancer, a student of neuroscience at the Open University, and works as a training manager at XRHealth, where she has been employed for the past three years.

Sally Karaja, age 24, is a Palestinian citizen of Israel. Sally studied in the Hand in Hand Max Rayne Jerusalem School from age 3 through the end of high school. After graduation, she continued to stay deeply connected to the school, volunteering as an assistant with elementary students and high school students. Sally continued her studies at the post-secondary level, earning a degree in dentistry from Kharkiv National Medical University in Ukraine and qualifying as an esthetician. After completing her degree and returning to Israel, Sally felt compelled to take part in advancing shared society as a young adult and sought out opportunities to bring Arabs and Jews together to create positive change.