Jews and Arabs Meet in the Sharon to Talk about Life and just....BE!

I am proud to report that I, in tandem with my Arabic teacher and friend, Dr. Yosef Bashara, have launched a non-political, socially-oriented encounter group between Israeli Arabs (Palestinians) and Jews in the Sharon area in Israel. 
The launch and the first meeting went great and the group has virtually filled up with next to no marketing efforts....just shows you how much of a need is out there....so get this, one Jewish member told the group that he has lived about 4 kilometers from the Arab town in which we met for about 30 years and had never been before in an Arab home..."What?", an Arab female participant said...." I can't believe what you are saying! I have been to Jewish homes hundreds of times..."! 
So this is what we see, the tale of two people, there are others and other stories but the bottom line is that these dividing lines between people are artificial, breed alienation, stereotypes, fear and much worse....let's change it!

The "Triangle" area in the Sharon is home to about 100,000 Israeli Arabs, who have been citizens of the State of Israel since 1948, most of whom speak Hebrew very fluently (along with their native Arabic tongue), most are well-integrated into the overall economy and yet...the level of interaction between the communities, if at all, is mostly related to blue collar work that the Arabs perform: car repair, housekeeping, restaurants, construction labor, gardening, and son. 
How about deeper interaction with the professionals, medical personnel, intellectuals and entrepreneurs? There is some, not very dominant. 
Friendship and joint socializing? Few and far between. 
In essence the two communities live in parallel, the great majority of Jews do not have a clue how to hold a conversation in Arabic and as we have already seen, many of us have never set foot inside an Arab home...pretty amazing, no? Pretty pathetic, no? 
You can imagine how many stereotypes abound when people really don't actually get to know one another...

So how do we change this? You will hear answers like " politicians need to want it", "the school system should encourage it", and that kind of thing, but what actually happens is very very little. 
To me this is not only deeply unfortunate but much more than that- it is almost criminal to leave such a situation as is....humanity is losing so much by lack of meaningful contact, not to mention the illusive peace which will never come so long as people do not learn to live, appreciate and cooperate one with the other.

Yes, the group is a drop in the bucket, a bunch of wonderful people with good intentions and a positive attitude. 
It was Mother Theresea I think who once said that "One person can't change the world but we can change the world of one person".  
I would like to look at this drop in a bucket as more or less in this spirit. One drop, then another drop and another...a bucket to fill our souls, nurture or humanity and live our lives while meeting, growing and developing ourselves along with our neighbors.