Sadaka Reut's Graduates- Agents of Change.pdf

8/14/2019 Sadaka Reut's Graduates- Agents of Change.pdf

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Marking 03years of Sadaka-Reut's activity is a great opportunity to stop and ask

where we are and what we have achieved thus far.

Over the years Sadaka-Reut has strived to promote an equal, shared and just society

for Palestinians and Jews. We swam against the current, and have educated youth

to voice their opinions, take responsibility and act for social change.

Numerous changes have occurred in the organization and in the relations between

Jews and Palestinians during the past 30 years; nonetheless, in essence, Sadaka-Reut

has been and still is today an organization that educates Jewish and Palestinian

youth to be political activists.

A research recently published by Dr. Keren Ross from the University of Indiana

found that Sadaka-Reutsgraduates over the past 30 years demonstrate a critical

perception about the Israeli society, with two-thirds of them actively involved ininitiatives that aim to change the Israeli society, namely through promoting equality

for Palestinian citizens and other minority groups.

We have chosen to devote the 30th

anniversary to our graduates who are involved

in initiatives, movements, organizations and political parties that are committed

to promote social change in the spirit of Sadaka-Reut's vision.

This newsletter tells the stories of eight graduates, the initiatives they are involved in

and the linkages they found between their participation in Sadaka-Reut and their

activism today.

Sincerely,

Adi Maoz and Hana Amoury

Co-general Directors

Sadaka Reut


3/10

Rawan, a Palestinian woman in her early twenties, has a BA in

Communications and English Literature, and is currently completing a

Masters degree in Psychoanalysis and Literature. She works at a youth

center in Al-Achuwa school in Jaffa, where she volunteered while in

Sadaka-Reut's 'Community in Action' project in 2011-2012.

Rawan describes her experience in 'Community in Action' as difficult and full of

challenges both on the intellectual and emotional level;

I t was my fi rst experience in an Ar abJewish f ramework. There is no

option to not confront the other. It was important for me that the

other listens to what I have to say, and I also wanted to listen. As time

went by I realized that the Jewish group did not know much about our

reali ty as Ar abs, and therefore the discussion wi th them was so crucial .

Rawan feels that her experience with Sadaka-Reut supported her forming an identity

and contributed to her intellectual capabilities. In addition, she stressed that it made

her understand the importance of Palestinians being active within their society, either

through awareness raising or through education. Today, she says, she looks differently

at reality.

When speaking about the voluntary aspect of ' Communi ty in Action' ,

she says: volunteering i s the best th ing that ever happened to me!

Volun teeri ng as part of a bi-national group in dif ferent f rameworks in

Jaff a was by far the most meaningfu l experience I was a part of. I am

sti l l working in Al -Achuwa's youth center based on the beli ef that

education i s the most eff ective tool to change society.

Af ter Sadaka-Reut I understood that we need to lead change on the

ground, although I sti ll have barr iers to do just that. Today I have the

abil i ty to go out to the world and speak to a random person about

equali ty or about the occupation. I am capable of voicing my opinions

and taking a stand. And for me that is the biggest change I went

thr ough at Sadaka-Reut.


4/10

Oren, a Jewish man, 28 years of age, lives in South Tel Aviv and

works as a photojournalist. He is one of the founders of"ActiveStills"-

a collective of photographers. Through photography, the members of

ActiveStills are intensively involved in various social and political

struggles in Israel and in the popular struggles in the West Bank

against the separation wall. Oren recalls the establishment of the

collective in 2005 during the demonstrations in Bili'n:

We came there to photograph because we suppor ted the struggle, we

didn' t come as photojournal ists that were sent by someone else .

He added that the members of the collective see themselves as partners in all the

struggles they document. Oren emphasized that:

ActiveSti l ls didn' t change anything on their own, and my opinion i s

that no-one can change anything alone. Many of our photos made an

impact, many became iconic, and in courts of law our photos saved

people, but we sti l l see ourselves as part of somethi ng bigger to which

we contr ibute this small part. Every group or person adds somethi ng,

there are those who give first aid in demonstrati ons and those who givelegal support

Between 2000-2004 Oren participated in different activities of Sadaka-Reut mainly,

in the youth groups, and later joined the 'Community in Action' project.

Looking back, Sadaka-Reut was one of the most meaningful

frameworks in which Jews and Arabs chose to work together The

fact that we li ved together in a commune in Jaff a [joint li ving

arrangement that was off ered by the organization to the program' s

participants unti l 2011] and that Sadaka-Reut was very muchconnected to the activism scene, contr ibuted to my development as an

activist. That is how I got to know more activists, thats how I started

going to the occupied territories, that's how I learned about struggles

even today I continue to live in a communal house

Oren added that he thinks that choosing to work as part of a collective in ActiveStills

was influenced from the type of work he was exposed to in Sadaka-Reut.
http://www.activestills.org/http://www.activestills.org/http://www.activestills.org/http://www.activestills.org/


5/10

Saleh, 40 years old, is a Palestinian advocate who

specializes in human rights. He is also active in Ramle's

local political party "Progress and Equality" and in

various other social change initiatives. Among the legal

cases he focused on was a petition that demanded to cancel the mandatory clause of a

military service as a condition to apply for a job in the Israeli airport, followed with a

request to fine the company for discriminating Arabs who apply. Additionally, Saleh

was active for equal representation of Palestinians and women in the municipal

committees in Lod: while Palestinians comprise 30% of the population of the city

they are completely unrepresented, as do women.

Saleh recalled that:

Sadaka-Reut was one of the most important experiences I went thr ough

in my l i fe. I started being involved in 1984 when I was 17 years old, and

the movement had just been establi shed. I had no background as to the

meaning of Arab-Jewish partnership or even youth movements,

because we didn ' t have similar f rameworks in Ramle. In those days we

had to face an extreme racist attack led by Rabbi Kahana and his

movement, and these were dif f icul t times. We didn' t know how to dealwith this attack or how to resist i t.

He added that Sadaka-Reut contributed to his identity formation and to his political

thinking; it strengthened his feeling of belonging to the Arab-Palestinian collective

and at the same time offered the space he needed to be critical, and implanted him

with the belief of the importance of change."

I n Sadaka-Reut we bui l t Jewish- Arab groups that worked together to

strengthen the partnership, through workshops and protests. The

meaning of partnership was thereby formed for me, as joint work and

coordinati on based on equali ty, justice and respect.


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26 years of age Zohar, a Jewish woman, is a film student at the Tel

Aviv University and works as the Resource Development Coordinator

at the "Coalition of Women for Peace", a feminist organization

comprised of women from diverse communities, who joined forces in

the struggle to end the occupation and to promote a just society. In

addition Zohar edits and writes in"Caf Gibraltar' -a cultural website that recognizes

Israel's geographical and cultural position as part of the Middle East and as an

immigrant society, giving a voice to different experiences and life stories and

marginalized artists. She also produced in the Acre Theater Festival and in Tmuna

Theater the play "We are building a harbor" by Neta and Raz Weiner and YonatanKunda, all three Sadaka-Reut graduates.

Zohar joined Sadaka-Reut's youth group in Jerusalem in 2004, continuing for another

year in the commune and for a following year in the 'Merkaz', Sadaka-Reut's

community center.

Zohar says that her feminist and Mizrachi identity developed and became clearer to

her over the years, since she was part of the commune. At the same time, most of her

understanding of bi-national partnership was shaped when she was at Sadaka-Reut

and it continues to guide her in her actions today.

Something in Sadaka-Reut just entr enched in me the notion that we

are not alone. Not alone, also in the sense that there are other people

here who want to eat and drink but also in the sense that there is a

connection between us Sadaka-Reut was able to implant me with the

idea of partnership in the deepest sense it just ties you to the other

nation in ways that cannot be untangled; a sort of j oint fate in the

sense that we need to create a dif ferent fate for our selves. This

partnership in not something I can just unlearn.
http://www.coalitionofwomen.org/?lang=enhttp://www.coalitionofwomen.org/?lang=enhttp://cafe-gibraltar.com/http://cafe-gibraltar.com/http://cafe-gibraltar.com/http://cafe-gibraltar.com/http://www.coalitionofwomen.org/?lang=en


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Rula a Palestinian woman, 30 years of age, lives between Ramallah,

Jerusalem and Haifa. She works as a curator, an art teacher in colleges

and is the academic director of the Arab students at the Bezalel Art

Academy. Rula conceptualizes her work as means to impact and

change reality:

When I choose the topics I curate it is important for me that the issues

bring about change. Change is not only achieved through

demonstrations and shouts but also through awareness raising and art.

Al l the themes of the exhibiti ons I curated deal with a social problemwe need to discuss issues, not avoid them; we need to be more poli tical.

Rula was a participant in Sadaka-Reut's youth groups in Haifa when she was 14-15

years old, and continued to be a part of the movement until she was in the 12thgrade.

She said that the relationships she made back then continue with her till this day.

Through her participation in the group she learned how to define herself and her

identity in more complex ways:

I learned which words to use, and the meanings that stand behind these

words. I learned how to debate and express my opinion."

Theactivities made her feel more independent, and so at the age of 19 she moved out

of the family home to Jerusalem.

Her participation in Sadaka-Reut exposed her to other social change organizations,

later joining the Palestinian youth movement Baladna, where she facilitated a group

focusing on issues of identity and democracy, and curated an exhibition of students.

Partnership, says Rula, means that I can be with the people around me without having

to hide my identity.

These are basic things that I learned at home and also in Sadaka-Reut:

all people are equal, no-one is better than the other, all rel igions are

equal al l barr iers that existed between people would shatter at

Sadaka-Reut's seminars.


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In his late thirties, Amit, a Jewish father to two, grew up in Petach

Tikva and moved to Haifa, where he lives today, following his

involvement in Sadaka Reut. Amit has been working for the past three

years at Elem (an association for youth at-risk) with multi-cultural and

multi-ethnic population, accompanying youth at risk, and responsible for training and

supervision of volunteers. Additionally he is active in the bi-lingual school initiative

in Haifa.

During the 80's Amit participated in Sadaka-Reut's youth group in Jaffa. In 1993 he

joined the commune and thereby became more involved in the movement. He later

established a commune for the graduates of Sadaka-Reut, aimed to tighten the

relations with the movement's former youth participants and to prepare them to

become future facilitators. During 1997-2000 Amit filled various positions within the

organization.

Amit says:

there was a reason why I came to the youth group week af ter week. I

was active back then in other struggles, but being in Sadaka-Reut' s

group was a dif ferent experience. I dealt wi th my own r acism, with mylack of knowledge about the history of the state and of cur rent

affairs. In Sadaka-Reut there was always a very cr itical discourse. In

my time some people were even cr iti cal towards the Oslo Accords. We

always dir ectly addressed the national conf l ict and the Palestinians'

needs to develop their own identi ty and to demand their coll ective

rights. As a youth i t was very important for me to be anti -Zi onist, very

few groups spoke of it back then Sadaka-Reut before 2000 was a

force, a dif ferent language the entered into the field of activism.

In response to the question: how his participation in Sadaka-Reut influenced him,

Amit says:

I currentl y work as a facil i tator and an educator. Sadaka-Reut i s part

of who I am and of my educational approach. I t is the poli tical home

where I grew up. I t shaped who I am in every possible way. So much

so, that my cir cle of f r iends til l this day is compri sed of graduates of the

movement, and my partner- I met her in the movement.


9/10

22 years old Samer studies Political Science and Sociology at Haifa

University. He is one of the initiators and main activists in the campaign

against the mandatory military service of the Druze. Samer said:

We are a group of Dr uze who refused to go to the army, and now we

are active to abolish this law. Through the campaign I want to reach

out to youth and expose them to al ternative options, because serving in

the mil itary disconnects the Druze fr om our nation. The whole idea to

be active as part of a group came from Sadaka-Reut. There I learned

what i t means to work together, the importance of a group and the

strength that comes with i t.

Samer participated in the 'Community in Action' project in 2010-2011. When

speaking about his experience he said:

I learned to see reali ty in a dif ferent waymore cr iti call y. Before I

entered the commune I bel ieved in partnership, but on a superfi cial

level. I n the discussions between Jews and Palestinians partnershi p

means that I can speak my language and not that when a Jewish

person j oins the struggle we need to switch to Hebrew or have to cater

everything to his needs. He is a partner in the struggle, but a joint

struggle means that I can speak my language - and he can understand,

and that I am enti tled to call out slogans in my language li ke he can.

He added that from his perspective the reality in Haifa and in the university can, at

most, be defined as co-existence, but not as partnership.

Arabs and Jews live side by side, study together; I live in a bui lding that

is populated predominately by Jews, yet th is is not partnership.

Partnership wil l be achieved when my cul tur e wil l also be part of the

dominant culture

He concludes and says that bi-national activism should be similar to what he

experienced at Sadaka-Reut.

My opinions today and my approach were shaped in Sadaka-Reut. The

commune changed my personal i ty, leaving home and l iving on my own

with f r iends strengthened my sense of responsibil i ty and of

independence.


10/10

Gal, a Jewish woman is in her late thirties and a mother of a five year

old son, is one of the founders of the Social Justice Program at the

Kibbutzim College in Tel Aviv, where she is also one of the leading

teachers on topics of education for social and environmental justice and

peace education. Alongside this, she teaches in a graduate program on

social change in the Society and Arts College in Netanya and in various other

academic programs across the country and abroad. Gal also facilitated conflict groups

in a number of organizations over the years. She wrote her dissertation on gender

analysis of Jewish-Palestinian dialogue. She is politically involved in social change

organizations, among them the 'Community Education Center'- a center that offers

courses to asylum seekers and migrant workers. She also serves as a board member of

Amnesty International Israel.

In 1988 at the age of 14 Gal was a participant in a group of an organization which

later became part of Sadaka-Reut. In 1992 she began to facilitate youth groups at

Sadaka-Reut, and between 1998 - 2001 she worked as the Educational Coordinator of

the organization.

When a participant in SadakaReut, Rabbi Kahana visited her school as part of a

program called "Meet the Politician:

I knew it was wrong but I didn' t know how to say it poli tical ly. We

decided that we'd demonstrate and our facil i tators from Sadaka-Reut

gave us the words to express what we felt, and thr ough the

demonstration I got the tools to speak about i t.

I was asked what changed the course of my l i fe from being a

mainstream Zionist to who I am today. I answered that at a young age I

met Palestin ians that I could converse with and engage in poli tical

debates that would change my social and poli tical perceptions and myidentity I suddenly felt that I was an activist.

Documents

Sadaka Reut's Graduates- Agents of Change.pdf