Arik Saporta, principal of the Max Rayne Hand in Hand Bilingual School in Jerusalem, at first estimated that 500 people would come to a march in support of the educational institution after one of its classrooms was set on fire Nov. 29, apparently by right-wing extremists, who also tagged the walls with racist graffiti. Later, trying not to raise expectations too high, Saporta hedged, telling Al-Monitor, “Maybe only a hundred people will show up.”

On Dec. 5, however, you could see the excitement on Saporta's face, as some 2,000 people of all ages from across the country took part in a short march along the Train Track Park, which passes through the Beit Safafa neighborhood, to the school. Various activities for kids — including a clown performance, a cheerful band, food stands and inflatable bouncers — were set up at the school.

“It was a huge and happy event. Not to get into religious connotations, but I would say it was a revival for all of us,” said Shuli Dichter, executive director of the Hand in Hand Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel, which administers the school. Saporta added, “This was an event that was larger than the relatively narrow community of Hand in Hand.”

Jews and Arabs, secular and religious (including a few ultra-Orthodox), both leftists and rightists took part in the march. All of them considered the arson at the school a dramatic crossing of a red line. Some described the march as a wake-up rally for Israeli humanism, which crosses political lines.