November 14, 2025 | 23 Cheshvan 5786
Candlelighting 4:45 p.m. | Havdalah 5:46 p.m. | Vol. 68, No. 46 | pittsburghjewishchronicle.org
Sharaka brings message of peace, understanding and partnership to Pittsburgh
NOTEWORTHY LOCAL An oasis in the desert
Rehabilitation in the Negev
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That, despite the fact that the country continues to be home to a small Jewish community more than a century old, Alharbi said. “The picture we saw through the media is an evil figure, an enemy, people we’re supposed to hate because they are Jews, because of their religion. And they are supposed to hate us because we are Muslim,” she said. Growing up, Alharbi told her parents she would like to one day visit Israel, but didn’t believe it would be possible until the Abraham Accords. In 2020, she was invited to the Jewish state by Sharaka. It only took a few minutes in Tel Aviv for her to realize the lessons she grew up with were false. Alharbi said as she was exploring the city, a stranger approached her asking where she was from. When he learned she was from Bahrain, the stranger said, “Welcome. We’ve been waiting to have peace with Arabs for a long time.”
fter more than a year of trying, UE Local 667 gathered enough signatures to present a petition to the East End Food Co-op’s board of directors lobbying for the boycott of Israeli goods at the grocery store. The United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America Local 667 represents the workers of the EEFC. It has endeavored since last July, when it approved the petition’s language, to gather the 500 signatures required by the food store’s bylaws to present the document. The union has been promoting the EEFC’s Nov. 6 annual meeting and its intentions since at least October, asking members who agree with their position to attend in support of the petition. Co-op member Simone Shapiro attended the meeting and said the group’s promotion worked. “There were 80 to 85 people that attended the meeting,” she said. “A large number of those people were wearing keffiyehs.” The union also had a table outside the main room, Shapiro said, where its members distributed information about the boycott and “Co-ops Against Genocide” stickers. As a Jewish member of the co-op, Shapiro said it was a “disturbing” scene. “As a Jew, a keffiyeh is not just an item of clothing. It’s something that has an association with a threat,” she said. “I’m not saying there was a threat of violence in the room, but it does trigger a reaction, especially in a situation like this where we know there are disagreements about what will be said.” Those disagreements started with claims made in the petition which, Shapiro said, is filled with lies about Israel. The petition alleges that Israel is an apartheid
Please see Sharaka, page 16
Please see Petition, page 16
Discovery Day
Bridging Israel and Pittsburgh Page 4
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StandWithUs’ Julie Paris introduces members of Sharaka who visited the Church of the Redeemer for a roundtable discussion. Photo by David Rullo
“We Remember”
By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
S A transgender cantorial concert Page 4
LOCAL Yards and yarns of compassion
Sharing the warmth Page 22
Union presents petition for East End Food Co-op to boycott Israeli products By David Rullo | Senior Staff Writer
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haraka’s mission is daunting: to shape a new Middle East, built on dialogue, understanding, cooperation and friendship. Whatever the challenges, the organization’s members are facing them head-on. The group was formed five years ago in the shadow of the Abraham Accords by Israelis, Arabs, Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze living in the Middle East and North Africa, according to Noah Meirov, managing director of Sharaka. Meirov was in town to host a Nov. 5 roundtable discussion at the Church of the Redeemer in Squirrel Hill, sponsored by StandWithUs and featuring Sharaka representatives Fatema Alharbi from Bahrain, Youssef Elazhari from Morocco and Syrian Hayvi Bouzo. Alharbi began the conversation discussing growing up in Bahrain. “The only things we knew about Israel and Jews was from the media,” she said. “We didn’t ever get to meet the people.”