about us
Our Centre is a beacon of hope where
diverse neighbours become friends.
Equality, community, and opportunity flourish at the Clore Jewish-Arab Community Centre.
We are the open door where Arab and Jewish residents of Akko meet as friends and peers, an example of a shared society for over 35 years.
In this encouraging environment, disadvantaged residents of this ancient city develop skills to seek a better future for themselves and their families.
A Beacon of Hope
Our Centre is a welcoming meeting place where all residents of this working-class mixed city benefit from subsidised daycare, and educational and cultural enrichment activities.
Adults come for specific programmes for themselves and their children. Yet, they all gain so much more. They learn to see each other as people rather than as representations of an identity.
Our centre demonstrates that even when all seems bleak, there is a viable alternative to divisiveness.
Arabs and Jews Create Community
The Centre’s programmes meet the needs of Akko’s diverse residents, helping them improve their quality of life. Providing a safe place in which to learn and grow together–from daycare, to after-school programmes, to parenting classes, to retiree lectures–our Centre is a home and meeting place. Barriers between people lose their importance when they laugh at the same things, make music and dance side-by-side, and encourage each other.
Participants feel that they are treated equally, creating a welcoming vibe. As a successful model of natural and organic coexistence in action, our work affirms that alternatives exist to separation, mistrust, and despondency. We firmly believe that this is a blueprint for other locations in Israel.
The Centre’s Founder: Mohammad Fahili
Since 1985, Mohammad Fahili has led the Centre. Well-respected throughout Akko, he inspires all who have had the privilege of meeting him and hearing his inspiring story.
Mohammad is a pragmatist who brings his ideas to fruition, a trusted advisor to whom people turn for guidance, and a mentor who inspires those who work with him. He is a visionary who understands the challenges of the past, the needs of the present, and believes in a peaceful future for all residents of Israel.
He is trusted by the leaders of Akko, who turn to him in times of unrest, when he helps quell violence or its potential eruption. By providing a safe place for Akko’s diverse population, he enhances the community in this ancient port city.
Mohammad is regularly invited to address organisations in Israel, the US, and the UK, where his work and vision are creating a blueprint for similar initiatives.