"Festival of Festivals" Promotes Peace Between Christians, Jews and Muslims in Haifa

December 14, 2003

Source: Cleveland Jewish News

http://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/articles/2003/12/22/news/israel/rparty1215.txt

On December 14, 2003 Cleveland Jewish News reported, "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...Now in its 10th year, The Festival of Festivals provides a rare occasion of unity for Arabs and Jews, who have grown increasingly wary of each other during the three years of intifada. Residents of Wadi Nisnas, the majority-Arab working-class neighborhood that hosts the festival, say Israel and others around the world can learn a lot from their community and from the city of Haifa, a mixed Arab-Jewish city. Locals here are proud of a long tradition of Jews and Arabs working and living together in peace."