ABSTRACT
The Kedma School, whose name means “East” in Hebrew, was one of the products of the Arab Jewish movement founded by Mizrahi intellectuals and activists. The movement strived to change the face of the Israeli education system by developing 15 high-quality schools in underprivileged areas throughout Israel. The Jerusalem branch, together with the residents of the Gonenim neighborhood, established the Kedma Jerusalem high school. Gonenim – as the area was named in Hebrew – is still called by the neighborhood’s residents Katamonim, after its former Palestinian name. Gonenim/Katamonim is located in the southwest part of the city. Kedma was covered with the political narrative of its founders, which served as its visual landscape for years. Kedma offered a multilayered change that criticised and challenged the assumptions of the Israeli education policy for the underprivileged. On top of all the accusations, Kedma was perceived as racist due to its students’ composition.
