«Aravrit: A language of coexistence in the Middle East. Typography designer Liron Lavi Turkenich developed a Hebrew-Arabic Font»

The Jerusalem Post (@Jerusalem_Post)
Andrew Tobin (@andrewjtobin), JTA Digital Editor
(Jewish Telegraphic Agency @JTAnews).

«Middle East peace may remain out of reach, but at least the Hebrew and Arabic languages have found a compromise.

»Israeli typography designer Liron Lavi Turkenich has created a stylized writing system that merges the two ancient alphabets, allowing Hebrew and Arabic speakers to read the same words. Her hope is that Aravrit will promote coexistence in Israel and beyond.

»“I believe Aravrit sends a message that we’re both here, and we might as well acknowledge each other,” Turkenich told JTA. “That applies to Jews and Arab Israelis, but also to Israel and the Palestinians and Israel and the Arab world.”

»Israelis have been receptive. Over 1 million people have watched a Hebrew-language video introducing Aravrit since it was posted last week on Facebook by Kan, Israel’s new broadcasting authority. Dozens left positive comments. A version of the video with English subtitles was released Monday.

»“I think maybe this explains the crazy success of the Hebrew video: We can do something caring for the other side just by reading, without having a solution,” Turkenich said.»

Liron Lavi Turkenich portfolio

On Twitter: @LironLaviTur

Aravrit project’s Facebook page

Aravrit | Liron Lavi

«Aravrit is a project of utopian nature. It presents a set of hybrid letters merging Hebrew and Arabic.

»This new writing system is composed of an Arabic letter on the upper half and a Hebrew letter on the bottom half. The characteristic features of each letter were retained, however in both languages the fusion required some compromises to be made, yet maintaining readability and with limited detriment to the original script. In Aravrit, one can read the language he/she chooses, without ignoring the other one, which is always present.»