Process of designing Aravrit for Jerusalem

ーI thought there are some similarities between Hebrew and Arabic but not all characteristics seem to be similar.

　So Hebrew and Arabic linguistically they have a lot of similarities. Because they are both Semitic languages, and reading from right to left and written in the same tool. But when you look at them, they are very different. Hebrew is very tight and square and Arabic is a lot more flowing and it is written in a connected way. There is a really really big difference.

　This is the challenge to try and combine them. But also the sound of the words, some are very similar in Hebrew and Arabic but most of them do not sound similar at all. So they are not even using the same sounds. So this made me realize very very early on that I needed to make all the possible combinations of every Hebrew letter and every Arabic letter, so I can actually construct any words that I want.

５. Future Perspective of Aravrit

ーDo you want to use Arabrit for education or just for design?

This is already been shown for kids learning both languages. It’s also in one official textbook for Arabic speakers who are learning about Hebrew so they get exercises and they learn about stories. I am attending a lot of educational conferences and using this like a motivation tool for students to learn other languages. I think this is the future because for children Aravrit is very simple and it’s not complicated. They can just read it. So everyone can read it but for children, it’s very very easy.

ーI know you are not a political person but do you think this is the “peace” activity?

　Actually I posted it on Instagram about this topic, about peace because a lot of people asked me to design the word for peace. And I say no. This isn’t because I don’t want peace. I want peace very much just like everyone else in Israel. I think that Aravrit definitely promotes peace. 100 percent it does. It brings us passion. It makes people think about the other one. I get a lot of images which telling me “wow I just now realize that I do not have Arabic on the street sign in my city. I just realize that I don’t have any Arab friends for instance.

　My mom whenever she wears the necklace of Aravrit people come to talk to her and every time she comes back she has another friend which is Arab and just because of the necklace they started talking to her. So this promotes the practical way not in a state’s government way, but just in daily life.

　The reason I don't want to design the word peace is that I think it kind of doubles the messages.

　I think peace comes out when the chain of the letters affects their combination.

　And I would prefer to use more daily words. To show this, people feel to get peace by seeing this. We do not need to say peace and show peace.

ーUsing the same languages promotes understanding of each other. It means it creates a new culture and it will be a tool that we take over this new culture with. And this kind of activities will be the first step which is an amazing point.

　I also agree about this. And I think this is maybe one of the reasons why a lot of people around the world and in Israel love Aravrit. And I think it is because using languages and using letters, these two things are the basics of communication in daily life. This is really basic. But language is the means of communication. And letters are something we see and we just read it. We don't say Okay I am going to read. We just read it. So I think these things make the Aravrit very approachable. Anyway, It’s letters, anyway it’s words.

　The concept that you know and take this to modify them, to do something with them, all a sudden something clicks you change your perception or something. You get your ideas about what you can do or what you should do. So I completely agree with you I think the language is the best means of communication.

2020.05