Dressed in party outfits, they distribute the cake to the other kids in their YMCA gan, or preschool.
Mouths watering, the children crowd around, chattering in Hebrew and Arabic.
But for their different languages, it would be impossible to distinguish the Jews from the Arabs. While scenes like this are still relatively rare in Israel, Jewish-Arab coexistence projects are slowly gaining ground here. Although coexistence projects are certainly not new to Israel, many involving Palestinians from the territories were suspended during the intifada, or Palestinian uprising, according to program organizers. Periodic closures on Arab towns and villages, coupled with the fact that the Israeli army routinely denied entry permits to many Palestinian youths, did little to foster good relations. Now we can see peace working every day.