Felicja Blumental Music Centre Assosiation
Shvil Hameretz 2
Tel- Aviv
Israël
- Arts
The Rana Arab-Jewish Women's Choir has been independent since 2016 and consists of a unique group of Muslim, Jewish, and Christian women from Jaffa who have been singing together for more than fourteen years. Rana is the only Arab-Jewish women’s choir in Israel and as such serves as a unique example of the possibility and potential of creative collaboration and shared society. Furthermore, Rana provides a space for women’s empowerment, leadership and women’s voices, which are not heard enough in this region of the world. The choir's repertoire includes folk and women's songs from various cultures in the Mediterranean, as well as songs written by the members of the choir which are based on their own life stories and experience. Our songs are performed in diverse languages (Hebrew, Arabic, Ladino, Persian, Greek, Yemenite, and more). We believe that our organisation contributes to building the public’s faith in the possibility of a multicultural, equal, and shared society among Arabs and Jews in Israel and for peace among Israelis and Palestinians in the region.
Organization Structure: Women-led organisation with 4 permanent staff members and roughly 16 Choir members. Budgetary resources: mostly foundations and private donors. Modalities of action: Performances, Rehearsals, Song & Discourse Encounters. Main partners: The Rana Choir sits under the umbrella of The Felija Blumental Music Centre.
The Rana Choir operates from the belief in the power of shared artistic creation to enable peace-building, to foster inter-communal cooperation and to deepen human relationships.
Our three primary objectives are:
- To provide a space for Jaffa’s Christian, Muslim, and Jewish women to meet, sing, and exchange cultural and interpersonal knowledge.
- To raise awareness of the possibility of a shared, peaceful, intercultural society in Israel.
- To create an opening for intercultural dialogue and exchange through women's voices, song and music for different audiences throughout Israel and abroad.
Our main activities include:
Performances: Rana performs a number of concerts throughout the year as well as taking part in many events by organisations focusing on matters such as women’s causes and peace-building and takes part in performances for local communities on an ongoing basis. The choir meet weekly for rehearsals in which they persist in their commitment to listen, to empathise and to create music with one another.
Song and Discourse Encounters: These events include samples from Rana's musical repertoire as well as providing a platform for women of the choir to share personal stories and narratives, in both Hebrew and Arabic, from their experiences. This is followed by an open dialogue session with the audience in which audience members are invited to ask honest questions and share their thoughts and aspirations regarding Jewish-Arab relations in their communities. These encounters are offered for both local and international audiences.