Beit HaGefen, the Arab Jewish Cultural Center, produces a wide range of diverse intercultural activities throughout the year, seeking to produce a deep and meaningful dialogue in Haifa, Israel. The month of June is particularly rich in events at Beit HaGefen which celebrates Arab Culture Days and the 10 years of Tachles, the Arab-Jewish youth club.

• Arab Culture Days: the 42nd edition of the Festival offers diverse cultural events to Arab audiences in Haifa’s various neighbourhoods, along with a number of programmes that aim to expose Jewish and non-Arabic-speaking audiences to contemporary Arab-Palestinian culture in Israel today.
• Celebration of 10 years of Tachles, Haifa’s Arab-Jewish youth club, which engages teenagers who graduated from an Arab-Jewish Youth Delegation within the realms of leadership development, community action, music, theatre, women’s empowerment, and more. Through these activities the teenagers have the opportunity to share their experiences, which helps them understand the similarities and differences between Arab and Jewish youth - in Haifa and in general.

Tachles staff, participants and alumni have been working in recent months to produce a film about the youth club, prepare a joint exhibition, and more projects to celebrate this impressive and exciting milestone.

Other events are organised this month by Beit HaGefen Contemporary Art Gallery, which presents the first solo exhibition “Beit Byout” in Arabic, by the artist Ayman Daw referring to children’s make-belief games and another solo exhibition, "Morning Demons" by Haifa sculptor Shahar Sivan.

A year-end event of the Beit HaGefen Chess Academy for Children and Teens was also held in June at the Arab Society in Haifa. This year, the academy team qualified to play in the first chess league in the country, and is the only Arab team in this league.

Congratulations for the excellent work done!