(speaking foreign language)
- If you live in any place, in any state,
and you don't know the languageof the place, of the area,
of the people who lives there,
it will be difficult tocontinue your life normally.
- This is the communitycenter in Sur Baher,
an Arab neighborhood of Jerusalem.
It offers special Hebrew classes
to some of the 40,000residents of the area
to help them integrateinto Israeli society.
Center manager Khaled Abu Kaf says
there's been an upsurge ininterest to learn Hebrew,
especially among women.
- The daily life of the people
is with the Israeli community and society
and they need it allthe time in the super,
in the hospitals, in the road, in the bus,
in the train, and everywhere.
They need the language.
- We see there's a huge demand for Hebrew.
People understand that thesituation is going to be
more or less the same forthe foreseeable future
and they understandthey need this language.
- [Julie] The other important aspect
is that the class issponsored by a Jewish group,
the Institute for Zionist Strategies.
- We care about makingIsrael a better place.
We care about taking careof everybody that lives
under Israeli sovereignty.
And so it's very important forus to engage this population
and give the best tools for integration.
- [Julie] Project managerNicolas Nissim Touboul says
they have been holding separate classes
for men and women for more than a year.
- We really believe thatengaging this population
is the best way to makeJerusalem better for all.
- [Julie] These women meet once a week
and are nine weeks into a one-year course.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Interpreter] I want to learn Hebrew
because my children arelearning Hebrew in school
and I want to study like my children.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Interpreter] I studiedHebrew for myself first
and also to teach my children at school.
I have a child that is autistic
and he doesn't understand theteachers as he does with me,
so I learned Hebrew tohelp him understand better.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Julie] Mothers MaisaQutairy and Hiba Dabash
say it's important forthem to learn Hebrew.
- [Interpreter] It'simportant for our lives.
We are going shopping, to thehospital, everything in life.
(speaking foreign language)
- [Interpreter] We are living in a state
with Jews and Arabs.
We do a lot with the Jews sowe need the Hebrew language
because we frankly live with each other.
- I love it.
They're really amazing ladies.
They're really enthusiasticand want to learn.
They have a lot of motivation to improve
and know a bit more.
I think it helps them intheir day to day lives.
- [Julie] Noa Gottlieb, anIsraeli university student,
says the learning goes both ways
and has forced her to popthe bubble she was living in.
- I came here to do this justbecause of the bubble-popping,
just to get out of yourcomfort zone, known zone,
to see new things, todiscover the real situation
of this country, to knowthat they don't hate me
and I don't hate them.
- [Julie] Julie Stahl, CBNNews, Sur Baher, Jerusalem.
