REPORT: With a roll of the dice and shouts of "yalla", Jews and Arabs face off

In the early evening on a backstreet in downtown Jerusalem, Arabs and Jews are milling around, preparing for battle. But this isn't a new round of Middle East violence, it's a showdown over shesh besh, the local name for backgammon.

The gathering is the latest in a series of events organized by Double Yerushalmi, a group trying to build closer ties between Arabs and Jews through cultural activities like singing, dancing and the increasingly popular shesh besh championship.

To the strains of Arabic Dabke music - not usually heard in the western, mainly Jewish side of Jerusalem - around 50 players turned up on Monday, sitting hunched over the backgammon tables, shaking dice and clicking the counters like pros.

Cigarette smoke hung heavy in the air, beers and energy drinks were consumed and shouts of "yalla" and "kadima" - Arabic and Hebrew for "come on" - rang out. Tables were bashed.

 

 

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