Advertisement
Thousands of Jews and Arabs fill the winding stone alleyways of a Haifa neighborhood sampling latkes, roasted chestnuts and pastries dripping in honey at a coexistence festival to mark the holidays of Chanukah, Christmas and Ramadan.
Walking a path lined with poems by Arab and Jewish poets, celebrants take in sculptures strung over archways and perched on street corners, colorful murals painted on walls and photographs based on this year’s theme, Utopia.
“It’s all about the longing for something better,” says Hana Kofler, curator of the festival’s exhibition, which featured some 100 Israeli artists. “Everyone wants a better future, both Jews and Arabs.”