Jaffa is an area where collaborative projects can foster relations between the Arabs and Jews.

"They who want to live in peace have to learn to live together". To Michel, a Christian Arab resident of Jaffa, his words made the utmost sense and were an incontrovertible adage by which to live his life - yet both he and I knew he'd have an uphill struggle convincing the country at large of that fact. He said as much, noting that "I can't teach everyone; only my kids and those around me", resigned to the winds of division that swirl around this region at an ever-quickening pace.

We met at an exhibition where his teenage daughter's photography was on prominent display, as part of a project involving Jewish and Arab residents of the port city. The girls who took part were brought together by Sadaka Reut, an NGO that works to effect social and political change in Israel via joint youth activism with members of the Jewish and Arab communities.

The project, according to photographer Leila Segal, one of its leaders, "is different from other coexistence schemes, since it is deeply rooted in real relationships. The girls live and study in the same community - Jaffa - and this project helps them know and understand one another".

During the project, the girls gathered in a series of workshops on "home", "community" and "the other" to talk and explore these themes through photography. With Jaffa as their backdrop, they learned to use the camera as a tool to communicate their lives - to each other, as well as to the viewing public.

At last night's opening - the culmination of their month-long efforts - it was clear that the scheme had achieved exactly what it set out to do. Arab and Jewish families mingled happily in the gallery's high-ceilinged halls, proudly inspecting their children's work and interacting as casually as in any other community where religious division plays no part. Of course, as individuals, those present were clearly not the type to preach separation and isolation, or else they'd have boycotted the event as many others do in similar situations on either side of the divide.

Despite Jaffa being one of the few areas of Israel where Arab and Jew live side by side in a physical sense, there is still a great deal of resentment and hostility bubbling under the surface, not least because of recent efforts to gentrify the area. Developers have spotted the arbitrage opportunity - the fact that Jaffa's underprivileged coastal streets are way behind the rest of Tel Aviv in terms of being built upon and sold off to wealthy investors - and the resulting invasion has caused a high level of friction.