In the midst of mostly bad news about Israeli-Palestinian issues, there are glimmers of hope. Stories of Israeli Jews and Palestinians who put their differences aside and are building for the future. Who decide that, in the face of some staggering unresolved issues, if they don’t begin building for the future, the pile of issues will only grow.
In the Israeli village of Jisr az Zarqa, nestled on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea between Caesarea and Zichron Yaakov, glimmers of hope are shining. Despite the fact that Jisr is the poorest village in all of Israel (80% of its families live below the poverty line), there are 2 people, part of a new breed, working on changing things. Ahmad Juha and Neta Hanien have teamed up to open the village’s first hostel. Juha, a Muslim, owns a café, and works in the hospitality business. He, his wife and 7 children are from Jisr. Neta is an attorney, Jewish, and married with three children. They are part of a new breed willing to buck prejudices, misconceptions, and their respective societies’ fears to build for the future.
After the war in 1948, the villagers in Jisr were allowed to stay – the only Arab village left on the Mediterranean coastline. The Jews considered them cooperators, but the other Arabs never forgave them and as a result, they stayed as an isolated island in the center of Israel. Neta had the idea of opening a hostel after visiting Jisr with her mother, a filmmaker, who filmed a documentary about fishermen from the area. Neta fell in love with the place, the people, and combined the great location with her desire to open a hostel. She began to visit the villagers, and met Juha, who had some apartments he wanted to rent. Jisr has 13,000 residents, and is plagued by high unemployment, population density and dropout rates. These problems tell a deeper issue of a people who are fighting the urge to give up, and in the process, losing a lot of heart. Jisr is a place ripe for development and change.
To give their joint venture a needed boost, they started a crowdfunding campaign using the Israeli site Headstart. The outcome of the campaign exceeded their initial goal of 60,000 NIS, instead about 90,000 NIS was raised. When the hostel opens, 3 minutes from the beach, it will have 32 beds in shared rooms. Perfect for the independent, adventurous traveler who wants to experience life in authentic Israeli Arab village set against the beautiful backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea. Perfect also for a local community to have new life breathed into it. Juha’s and Neta’s hope is that as the hostel prospers and more tourists come, more local businesses can open and stimulate the stagnant economy, bringing fresh hope, optimism, and much-needed jobs and incomes.
Check out Juha’s hostel at:
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Zarqa-Bay-Juhas-Guesthouse-in-Jisr-az-Zaqra/224579827692380
or click on this link to watch a short clip:
Better yet . . . go for a visit!
