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It was announced that the biggest lesson of Arabic in the world, and Monday evening, the organizers estimated that a few thousand Israelis participated in the mega-event organized in one. large squares of Tel Aviv.
In addition to learning new words in Arabic, the crowd was treated to performances by Jewish and Arab musicians and artists.
Organized by a consortium of Israeli civil society organizations, the event was held to protest against the controversial nation-state law pbaded by the Knesset this month, which lowers Arabic as one of the country's official languages. T-shirts sold at the event had the words "I love Arabic" (in Arabic, but Hebrew letters) printed on them.
The crowd included Jews and Arabs, including many who had traveled long distances to attend. They repeated the words and basic terms in Arabic after the teachers, who gave their lesson from a central stage, sometimes with translations in Hebrew, but often not.
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Chai Margolis, a 16-year-old from the city of Modi & in, in central Israel, arrived at Habima Square with a group of friends, all of whom were active like him in an organization called "Debate4Peace".
"Personally, I think you can not have a democratic nation-state that does not treat minorities as entirely equal," said Margolis, who wore a kippah on her head and wore a sign that had the words " Understanding begins with Talking "printed on it in several different languages.
The event began with a performance by Miriam Tukan, the first Arab to participate in "Kochav Nolad" – the Israeli equivalent of "American Idol" – and the first to sing in Arabic on the program . She was accompanied on guitar by Idan Toledano, a Jewish musician active in various initiatives of shared society initiatives.
The opening address was delivered by Sameh Saleimah, an Arab feminist activist from the Jewish-Arab mixed village of Neve Shalom, also known as Wahat as-Salam.
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"My mother's dream was to be a teacher, and today, with hundreds and thousands of students, her dream is realized," said Saleimah, who urged Arabs and Jews to join forces to fight law … government wing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Among the highlights of the events are several duos sung by Achinoam Nini, a Jewish musician, and Mira Awad, an Arab musician – both eminent peace activists who often perform together.
Anat Ben-Yehoshua, who lives near Ramat Gan, said she was just happy that an event like this could take place and that she could be part of it. "Things have become so depressing here with this government that something like that gives hope," she said, holding her dog by her leash.
The sponsoring organizations were the New Israel Fund, the Abraham Fund Initiatives, Sikkuy, Givat Haviva, Yad B Yad (a network of Arab Jewish schools around Israel), Omdim B & # Yachad (a relatively new non-profit organization). like others, supports shared society in Israel) and Neve Shalom.
Edan Ring, Sikkuy's director of public affairs, said the turnout showed him that "there is a general public out there whose voice is not heard" .
"These are people," he added, "who see Arab as a cultural treasure rather than a threat, as some of our politicians do, it is really sad that we We have come to the conclusion that speaking Arabic in the center of Tel Aviv is now perceived as something subversive. "
Amnon Be eri-Sulitzeanu, co-executive directive of the Abraham Fund Initiatives, said that the many Israelis who came to participate "understand that we are at a critical crossroads – either we choose Apartheid either we choose inclusion ".
These Israelis, he said, "understand the importance of the Arabic language and will not give up".
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