The Branch

Can the arts help heal Jerusalem? Two of the women behind Mekudeshet think so. Through concerts and performing arts events, they're creating spaces where Jews and Palestinians can feel at home, finding culture and new connections.

Singers in the Rana Choir of Jaffa are Jewish, Christian and Muslim, from different educational and socioeconomic backgrounds and different political outlooks. Note by note and song by song, the choir proves that different voices and views can still join together in harmony.

Palestinian physiotherapist Rasha Ghaith has a seemingly bottomless bag of tricks. Blending Arabic and Hebrew, knowledge and warmth, she helps her Jewish and Arab patients at Hadassah Hospital Mount Scopus move forward -- one step at a time.

Israeli author Yossi Klein Halevi and Mohammad Darawshe, a founder of the Arab Israeli Ma'an party, are longtime friends. As intellectuals, they've both been shaped by their many conversations -- and occasional disagreements -- about the country they both call home.

Through cross-cultural dialogue and a personal friendship, powerhouse duo Ola Najmi-Yousef and Ruth Lewin-Chen are empowering local Arab leaders, working with officials, and building trust to make Arab neighborhoods safer. "If we fight together, we can succeed."

As part of their peace-building work, two facilitators are bringing Arab and Jewish teens together to find common ground. And now, they're doing it online.

For three years, Yael has been driving Mohammed and his son, Dia -- who live in Hebron -- to Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem for the 5-year-old's cancer treatments. Over many rides, arranged by Humans without Borders, the two have formed a "very human connection."

A Jordanian, a Palestinian and an Israeli have joined forces in the fight to save their shared environment. As the board of directors for EcoPeace Middle East, they're not willing to let pushback, regional conflict and politics stand in their way. 

At the height of the violence of the Second Intifada, artists Faten Elwi, an Arab Israeli, and Hadass Gertman, a Jewish Israeli, began collaborating on art exhibits. Nearly two decades later, their friendship and powerful new exhibit are bringing Jews and Arabs together in the historically conflict-ridden city of Umm al-Fahm.

Soccer team captain Ali Ottman, an Arab Israeli, and Harel Selah, his Jewish coach, work side by side on the Sakhnin team in the Galilee, proving that sometimes coexistence is as simple as a shared goal.