The Arab Cultural Association is a nonprofit organization in Israel that is focused on promoting Palestinian culture and the Arab language among Palestinians in Israel. It administers various cultural programs and events, the largest of which is a scholarship program to help Palestinians attend university. Most of the association’s budget is dedicated to this scholarship program and is funded through the United Kingdom-based nonprofit Galilee Foundation. ^{1 2 3}

Founding and History

The Arab Cultural Association was founded in 1998 to promote and preserve the culture, language, and identity of Palestinians living in Israel. The association is especially focused on promoting and preserving Arab history, culture, and art and on ensuring that Palestinian youth receive Arabic-language education and that Arabic remains in use in the public sphere. The association also states that it works to promote pluralistic and democratic values. ⁴

Funding from Galilee foundation

The Arab Cultural Association receives a large amount of funding from the United Kingdom based nonprofit, the Galilee Foundation. This foundation is focused on Palestinian youth through supporting local organizations. In 2020 the foundation provided the Arab Cultural Association with $2.7 million, which made up nearly three quarters of the association’s budget for that year. ^{5 6}

Policies and Projects

Cultural Activities

The Arab Cultural Association promotes and hosts a number of events and programs designed to preserve and promote Palestinian culture. These programs include hosting courses, such as narrative writing workshops, creative writing workshops, poetry workshops, media narrative training, and the digital publication of a course on learning and teaching Arabic. ⁷

The association has also hosted various events, such as a symposium focused on its historical, archaeological, and anthropological researchers and their work on Palestinian history in the 20^th century, art exhibits, and discussions about memes and digital culture in Palestinian society and politics. ⁸

Videos hosted by the association include subjects such as the work of Palestinian writer Sheikha Heliwa, “Palestine between reconstruction and destruction,” and political graffiti. ⁹

Bishara-Atallah Kindergarten Scholarship

One of the main programs the association runs is the Bishara-Atallah Kindergarten Scholarship program. This scholarship is named after Bishara-Atallah, the first Arab doctor in Israel who founded the first nursery for Arab children in 1980. The program provides students with scholarship funds for university education, as well as administers various workshops and events for students to participate in focused on Palestinian identity and culture. ¹⁰

Leadership

The Arab Cultural Association is led by Antoine Shalhat, who has authored books such as Benjamin Netanyahu: The Doctrine of No Solution, Israel: Security Pursuit as a Political Tool, and Oslo Ring: The Consolidation of Israeli Colonial Control. ¹¹

1. “About the Assembly.” Arabca.net. Accessed November 21, 2022. https://arabca.net/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%AD%D9%86.
2. “Bishara-Atallah Kindergarten Scholarship.” Arabca.net. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://arabca.net/%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AD%D8%A9.
3. “The Arab Culture Association – 2020 Financial Statement ” Arabca.net. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://arabca.net/post/the-arab-culture-association-2020-financial-statement.
4. “About the Assembly.” Arabca.net. Accessed November 21, 2022. https://arabca.net/%D9%85%D9%86-%D9%86%D8%AD%D9%86.
5. “The Galilee Foundation.” Galilee Foundation. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://www.galileefoundation.org.uk/.
6. “The Arab Culture Association – 2020 Financial Statement ” Arabca.net. Accessed November 17, 2022. https://arabca.net/post/the-arab-culture-association-2020-financial-statement.
7. “Courses.” Arabca.net. Accessed November 21, 2022. https://arabca.net/category/%D8%AF%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%AA.
8. “Previous Events.” Arabca.net. Accessed November 21, 2022. https://arabca.net/%D9%81%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%B3%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%82%D8%A9.
9. “Videos.” Arabca.net. Accessed November 21, 2022. https://arabca.net/category/vedio
10. “Bishara-Atallah Kindergarten Scholarship.” Arabca.net. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://arabca.net/%D9%85%D9%86%D8%AD%D8%A9.
11. “Administrative Board.” Arabca.net. Accessed November 28, 2022. https://arabca.net/%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%87%D9%8A%D8%A6%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9.