Photo: Shutterstock.

The month-long Ramadan fast which this year ended last week was another reminder of how the Jews in Akko — an ancient port city on Israel’s northern coast — have to navigate the intricacies of living side by side their Arab neighbors. While the country — especially in the north — has many exclusively Arab towns Akko is a rare social experiment by default where Jews and Arabs live in mixed neighborhoods and even in integrated buildings.

During Ramadan loudspeakers broadcast verses of the Koran every evening toward the end of the fast and after Jewish neighbors complained about this several years ago (it’s a violation of the city’s bylaws to broadcast religious announcements in a residential neighborhood) the municipality reached a compromise with local Arab leaders wherein the Muslim chants would be broadcast for two minutes at less-than-maximum volume.

This year’s Ramadan passed without incident but Jewish residents are still reeling from the siege on the town’s hesder yeshivah a few years back when the end of the Muslim fast days coincided with Simchas Torah. As yeshivah students were dancing in the streets with sifrei Torah they were attacked by their Arab neighbors and the violent gunshot-induced riot was soon pushed back to the yeshivah building which was blockaded by Arabs as the bochurim retreated inside. There were no injuries yet the incident still left a gaping wound on the delicate social fabric of this mixed city.