From the Negev to the Galilee: Jews who choose to live in Arab villages

A feature article about Jews who chose to live in Arab, Bedouin, and Druze communities across Israel, for ideological, economic, or community reasons. The story focuses on figures such as Efrat Tahar, who teaches Hebrew in a Bedouin village; Irit and Yizhar Guryon, who live in Tuba; Margalit Zinati from Peki'in; and Tamara and Igor Berkovich, who moved to Daliat al-Carmel. The article presents the challenges and successes of shared living.

A magazine-style investigative report by Kan News examines the phenomenon of Jews choosing to reside in Arab, Bedouin, and Druze villages in Israel. The article covers several representative cases: Efrat Tahar, a Jewish volunteer teaching Hebrew in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Al-Sira in the Negev, describes mixed reactions from her surroundings and the warm connection formed with her students. Irit and Yizhar Guryon, who have lived for over thirty years in the Bedouin village of Tuba in the Lower Galilee, describe how neighbors have become family, even earning the nickname 'Arab al-Yahud'. Margalit Zinati, nearly 95, a descendant of a Jewish family that has lived in Peki'in continuously since the Second Temple period, testifies to the good neighborliness of the past. Ruth de Jong, who immigrated to Israel and settled in Peki'in about four decades ago, experienced difficult events such as the torching of her car during riots in 2007, but chose to stay. Tamara and Igor Berkovich moved from Yokneam to Daliat al-Carmel due to high rental prices in Jewish cities and found a welcoming community. The article presents the complexity and beauty of shared living, emphasizing values of patience, mutual respect, and true neighborliness.