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A panel of opinion leaders and public figures was held at the Studio Theater Hall in Beit Hecht in the center of Carmel, on Friday, 22/2/2019. The hall was full of Hifaites who came to hear and speak, in a good spirit.
Jonathan Schwartz, the professional director of the Studio Theater thanked the organizers and the theater staff, who prepared great conditions for the panel - excellent sound and good lighting. Here is the place to point out that the studio theater opens its doors for conferences and panels, up to 90 people, with high production quality and at an affordable price
Amnon Argman Rothstein - director and acting teacher, moderated the panel, and gave the stage to the opinion leaders who presented a variety of opinions. Argaman began by saying: the status of the spiritual people suffers from corrosion at the national level. In this conference we will deal with the field of creativity and art and also with the question - why is Haifa sinking?
The course of the panel discussion
Shmuel Galbhart - Deputy Mayor of Haifa and former chairman of the Greens: Wrong decisions were made here by people who are not in the city and without the participation of the residents: petrochemical industries, a huge port, the pollution that follows them. The characteristics of the population are also derived from this. Haifa needs to do professional, economic and occupational retraining, for example tourism. The urban center was actually expropriated in favor of one private entrepreneur, who owns the Grand Canyon. Those people simply disappeared from the heart of the city.
Professor Danny Gutwein - from the Department of Israeli History at the University of Haifa: The mechanism of Haifa's degeneration - Haifa is actually a periphery that lives in denial. Israel abandoned the periphery. Capital is concentrated in the center of the country. The name of the management centers and the name of the money. The main mistake of the Haifa people is that they blame themselves for what is happening. But this is a fundamental mistake. Haifa is no different from Shlomi in this regard. In Haifa there is still a "shell" that gives the feeling of a strong city, but this shell is based on a thin layer that still sells well. This shell is disappearing, a bit like the sinking of the Titanic, when the poor on the lower floors drowned, while the rich on the fifth floor were still drinking champagne.
In Haifa, there remain a few institutions that function as closed complexes of an established population, such as the Reali School, or Leo Buck, for example. Complexes based on privatization. The same shell, which studies in Reali, based on privatization, has no interest in fostering public education.
The restoration of the city will happen when there is a motivation among the Haifa elite to dismantle these complexes and act for urban change. A politics of dismantling the complexes should start here. This is not done by injecting additional budgets into the private schools.
Gil Gorin - international artist, one of the founders of the pyramid exhibition concept: The city does not believe in itself and the ability of the people here to change their situation. I believe in people and their ability to change the state of the city and move it forward.
Sahira Shelbi - City Council member and social activist: The question is whether Haifa looks north or south. Haifa needs to be convinced that it can be a prosperous Jewish-Arab city. Many Arab students stay in the city. They create music, theaters, cafes and more here. The Haifa Municipality Youth Center does not serve this piece. It serves the population that lives on the Carmel. The complexes that the Haifa Municipality trained in the lower city actually contributed to this creation, but there is a disconnect between the young Arabs in these complexes and the proactive activity of the Haifa Municipality.
Rabbi Dobi Hayon - Deputy Mayor of Haifa: There has been multiculturalism since Hassan Shukri. We didn't invent it here. The LGBT community from the villages come here. Here you get them. Multiculturalism is a center of attraction. The downtown is deserted in the morning and alive at night. We want to fill the downtown in the morning as well. In recent years, the municipality has fostered bread and entertainment, as part of outdoor events.
Alona Netzen-Shiptan - Professor of Architecture from the Technion: There should be more professionals here, who will express their professionalism in the urban fabric - curators in galleries, architects in planning, etc. Haifa is a prom, but due to the fact that it is not expensive to live in, it creates an opportunity for people from all over the country to come and create here.
Sinai Petar - director, actor, acting teacher: When I'm in Haifa I feel like I'm abroad. Here you can dare and create everything I dreamed of. There is an amazing and fascinating mosaic of cultures here. It is possible to have a real laboratory here that will mark the direction in which Israel can grow.
A discussion regarding the space of the Jewish-Arab discourse in general and concerning the Almidan Theater in particular
Professor Danny Gotwin - Haifa lives in the State of Israel and therefore the city cannot conduct a policy detached from the State of Israel. The goal of the attack by senior government officials on the Arab public in Haifa stems from a policy of subjugation. Its purpose is to cut budgets for creators perceived by the government as "problematic". Almidan is not a center of significant creation, because we are a periphery. The theater hardly generates interest and therefore can easily be harassed. Until there are full halls that come to see a significant work, it will be easy to harass this theater.
Sahira Shelby Almidan Theater also has an internal management problem. The administrative errors need to be fixed there and the problems need to be admitted and responsibility for the proper administration of the theater needs to be taken.
Regarding the statements concerning the terrorist organizations Hamas and Hezbollah, Shelbi said: Journalists approach me firmly and constantly demand from me clear statements regarding support for Hamas and Hezbollah - "Say now, support or condemn..." . I think the answers are complex about moral and immoral acts of both parties. If someone holds an in-depth discussion on both sides, I would be happy to take part in it, because I believe in an in-depth discussion and not in throwing slogans.
In the "Mc Jesus" case, there were instigators who took advantage of the Mc Jesus event to start a fire and use the matter for their political benefit. They actually did a tour of Haifa.
Rabbi Dovi Chayon - Deputy Mayor of Haifa: Improper management was discovered at the Almidan Theater. As soon as the municipality of Haifa wanted to transfer a budget there, it was forbidden for the municipality to transfer money to an association that does not have proper financial administration. This matter is currently under administrative treatment. The spiritual principle is that free creation should be allowed. People here should be allowed to express themselves freely, as long as it is within the law.
Sinai Petar - director, actor, acting teacher: When the "Mc Jesus" affair took place and there was a demand from the Arab-Christian public for the removal of the work, I agreed with the process of dialogue between municipality captains and the Arab public, so as not to add to the harm to this public, despite the certain harm to creative freedom. Petar claims that there are no red lines in the work, as long as it meets the requirements of the law. To the extent that the decision is transferred to the government, control over the contents is created.
We need to enable a joint Jewish-Arab discourse space in order to enable the shared spaces. It is hard to agree with the fact that the most important theater for Arab artists is closed (Almidan).
Hayon bears He emphasized that the legal hearing and the court ruling transferred a lot of power to the authorities and therefore the very legal hearing was a mistake by the petitioners.
Discussion regarding the future of the "Pyramid" gallery and the termination of Galia Bar-Or's employment contract
Chinese solved: Haifa has a very bad reputation when it comes to hiring curators. Many were fired and left. In the pyramid, make a correct creation. A dense network of connections was created and suddenly it was interrupted.
Rabbi Dovi Chayon - Deputy Mayor of Haifa: Regarding the employment of Galia Bar Or, as curator of the pyramid, the legal advice stated that her contract cannot be extended, due to a defect in the contract. We are trying to extend the activity of Galia Bar Or in the circle of activity in Haifa, therefore we proposed to Galia to hold another exhibition and at the same time amend the tender.
Regarding the creators in the pyramid - not everyone who arrived first and got a studio for NIS 60 will hold the studio for life. Regarding the contents in the pyramid - a festival of poets will be held soon (the place is changing its character).
Orit Siman is a good sign, a creative photographer, who exhibits in the pyramid, burst into the discussion, from the audience and claimed that the end of Galia's auction is personal. Siman Tov demanded that Mahion commit to the audience for an upcoming production in conjunction with Galia Bar Or.
Additional photo from the panel (photo: Aki Flexer)
