| About
the Arab Cultural Association
The
Arab Cultural Association is a politically independent,
secular, not-for-profit registered organization.
It was founded in 1998 in response to the need
to preserve the national and cultural identity
of Palestinian citizens. The ACA is made up of
political activists, community leaders and intellectuals
who are dedicated to the overall development of
Palestinian Arab society in Israel. Our mission
is to combat the exclusion and marginalization
of Israel's Palestinian citizens, by supporting
community-based, educational projects in the fields
of history, cultural identity development, and
democracy building. The organization strives to
promote democratic ideals, including the building
of a civil society within the state, and to counteract
traditional ideologies of tribalism and political
and religious fundamentalism.
Goals
- To
educate the Arab Palestinian people in Israel
regarding their national and cultural identity
in order to foster communal pride;
- To educate the Palestinian population on the
principles of democracy, equality, civil society,
and social justice;
- To promote social activism within the Arab community
as a means to achieve their rights as a national
minority;
- To raise political, economic, and social issues
pertinent to the Arab community within a democratic
framework;
- To forge ties between Palestinian citizens of
Israel, Palestinians outside Israel, and other
Arabs as a means for discovering and sharing
common cultural trends and preserving collective
memory;
- To promote the Arabic language and Palestinian
history, media, arts, and music and share them
with people from other cultural backgrounds.
Main
Activities
- Summer
camps;
-
Lectures, including those given by Hisham Sharabi
and Edward Said;
-
Discussions on Arabic literature, Palestinian
history, etc;
-
Art Exhibitions: including Naji Ali, Daoud Hayek,
Ameera Deek, and George Suliman;
-
Destroyed village excursions: guided tours to
Arab villages destroyed since 1948;
-
Music festival: Marcel Khalife in Amman, Jordan;
-
Identity
workshops: To provide a forum for exploring Palestinian
identity as it relates to citizenship, gender,
religion, and national and cultural origin;
Training Program: A year-long project for Palestinian
journalists in Israel, designed to increase their
knowledge of the role of media in supporting democracy;
Courses: Art, calligraphy, computers, English,
Arabic, mathematics
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