YINZ/YIDZ

A year-long study released Tuesday found "feelings of pessimism, alienation, suspicion, fear, and a lack of trust" between Jews and Arabs in the Galilee, according to Awada Baker, one of the authors of the study.

"If meaningful changes are not implemented by the government with regards to the Arab population, the writing is on the wall," he warned.

Another charged issue is that of a mixed Jewish-Arab community currently being established in the Galilee. According to the study, the Arabs perceive this community as another "settlement", whereas Jews see the mixed community as undermining a Jewish presence in the Galilee.

However, the study did have some positive findings. Arabs and Jews in the Galilee reportedly support cooperation in the fields of education, business development and environment.

The Jerusalem Post reports that the Israeli Tennis Center has opened a new facility in the Druse town of Sajur, near the city of Karmiel. The goal of the facility, called the Galilee Tennis Center, is to build trust and respect among the various religious and ethnic groups in the region through sports.

"It's a unique initiative of the ITC," explained Janine Strauss, the institution's CEO. "We want to bring together different ethnic groups in the area. This will be the flagship of coexistence in the region."

The Jerusalem Post reports on a new loan program for small businesses that promote Jewish-Arab coexistence in certain regions around Israel:

The Jewish-Arab Employment Zone Loan Fund is meant to give Israeli Arab business owners "the support to develop their businesses, create economic development and employment with a hope to fortify Jewish-Arab relations and build strong and stable communities in various regions of Israel," according to a statement this week from the United Jewish Communities (UJC), which is spearheading the project.

The UJC is working with the Jewish Agency for Israel on the fund. From the UJC:

One of the 15 projects supported by the Social Venture Fund, the Jewish-Arab Employment Zone Loan Fund is designed to give Israeli-Arab entrepreneurs the support to develop their businesses, create economic development and employment, fortify Jewish-Arab relations and build strong and stable communities in key regions of Israel. Those regions include Yokneam/Megiddo (Mevo Carmel) and Carmiel and the neighboring Arab town (Bar Lev) in Northern Israel and Lehavim, the Bnei Shimon Regional Council and the Bedouin town of Rahat in Southern Israel.

Karmiel, obviously, is one of Pittsburgh's sister-regions in the JAFI Partnership 2000 program. Because Karmiel is a "mixed city," with  large Jewish and Arab populations, it is a focal point of efforts to promote coexistence.

One of the biggest proponents of coexistence efforts is the Abraham Fund Initiatives. When President and CEO Ami Nahshon came to Pittsburgh earlier in the summer, he told The Chronicle that economic initiatives would go a long way toward improving the relationship between the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel:

“If the Israeli economy more fully utilized and integrated the Arab community, that would make a huge difference in Israel’s gross domestic product and Israel’s economic self-sufficiency."