Graduates of four change agents courses conducted by the School for Peace and the Arab Center for Alternative Planning have created a forum to struggle together on key issues in their area of concern affecting Arab – Jewish relations. This is a network of 121 graduates from 4 courses conducted by the two NGOs over the last 4 years.

Because physical meetings are currently on hold during the COVID-19 lock-down, the group convened this meeting online with Joint List faction chairman MK Ayman Odeh as a guest speaker.

Thirty participants took part in the April 17 meeting. The group spoke about the possibilities for activism during the pandemic. In his contribution, MK Ayman Odeh spoke about the importance of establishing a joint Arab Jewish movement to struggle for partnership and equality in Israel, as well as to fight against the occupation.

Afterwards the group discussed progress in four of their adopted initiatives:

• The struggle against injustice in planning and construction.
• The struggle against annexation of Area C.
• Enhancing cooperation between the municipal planning team for southern Tel Aviv in order to guide and support planning teams in Arab towns and obtain the state funding for which they are eligible.
• Planning culturally sensitive urban renewal in Arab communities – first case in Kafr Qara.
  Creating an exhibition on themes of culturally sensitive architecture at the Tel Aviv Museum (following the coronavirus crisis).
• Placemaking – Transforming a neglected area into a recreation area in the Old City area of Acre for the benefit of the residents.

Video segment with Ayman Oudeh (Hebrew)