January 2009
A look into Israel’s post-war
political atmosphere
In the aftermath of the war on Gaza, mainstream
Israeli discourse can unfortunately be character-
ized by its undemocratic and racist tendencies.
Whilst hundreds of Palestinians, citizens of Israel,
have been arrested or detained for taking part in
legal demonstrations protesting the war, the Knes-
set committee has tried to ban Arab parties from
the forthcoming elections. Though few such inci-
dents, national and local, have found their way into
the international media and have been pushed to
the periphery in the latest Israeli coverage, they
are nonetheless both significant and telling.
Here in Jaffa, “Ironi Z” is a Jewish school of which
30% of its demographic is made up of Arab stu-
dents. During the war, tensions emerged between
the Jewish and the Arab students in the school.
The Arabs, wearing the kaffiyah, proudly said
that they identified with the Palestinians in Gaza
while the Jews, adorning the Israeli flag, largely
supported the military bombardment meted out.
Whilst the school was unsure of how to tackle the
situation, the municipality’s education department
categorically denied the problem, stating that this
was “a false description. [For more than a week
now] there is no Arab student that has come to
school with a kaffyiah”.
In another Jaffan school, consisting of only Arab
students, the students decided they wanted to
raise a mourning tent in remembrance of Gaza’s
victims. The school’s Jewish teachers had stat-
ed that it has become more and more difficult
for them to teach there during the war, and they
feared that the mourning event would only make
matters worse. On this occasion the municipality
stated that "Israel is a democratic state and each
has the freedom of expression, but only within the
limits of the law. The use of municipal buildings for
political purposes is prohibited, and therefore the
tent must be taken down." It must be of note that
this principle does not negate the school holding
army lectures, memorial days for the military and
meetings with political candidates during election
periods throughout the year.
We are deeply concerned by such contradic-
tions in the machinery we are facing. In our opin-
ion, it is imperative that educational bodies have
the capability and the tools to deal with these
challenges in the spirit of an equal treatment to
both sides. The educational system is part of and
is influenced by the national conflict, and as such
needs to acknowledge it obligation to tackle those
harsh and often difficult questions that inevitably
arise from it.
For this reason, we at Sadaka Reut have decid-
ed to initiate a convention specifically looking at
the role of the educational system in relation to the
conflict. We want to explore those specific chal-
lenges faced by both the formal and informal edu-
cation work frames, and to find solutions to prob-
lems others would rather we left alone.
The Jaffa Convention for Education will
be held during the month of March. We will
keep you updated with the details of the
event.
2
A Space for Honesty and
Reassessment
The Markaz began its activities in Novem-
ber with four Jewish groups and five Palestinian
groups each using music, theatre, photography,
video or activism as vehicles for empowerment
and expression. With a new uni-national approach
adopted after the success of the Building a Cul-
ture for Peace scheme, we have attracted more
participants across all our groups than any other
year.
“There are two different pro-
cesses that Jewish and Pales-
tinian groups go through, with
different goals, emphasis and
educational purposes necessary
for the project to really work.”
are coming from families of the Jewish-Israeli con-
sensus, where the influences are staunchly pro-
war. As she notes, “what is vital is that we do not
outcast participants because they do not fit in with
our stance on Gaza, or even my own.” The free-
dom the Markaz’s uni-national system provides has
already proved extremely important in creating a
space for honesty and re-assessment among her
group. In their last sessions, the youth were able
to raise mainstream positions regarding the con-
flict, and then to analyze them critically together
– without the stress of the bi-national clash on the
issue of the war. After having deconstructed their
positions, the youth already have a better under-
standing of the political and social reality that sur-
rounds them. This can only lead to the emergence
of more democratic attitudes and a more fruitful
bi-national process in the future.

Although the uni-national approach has made it “what is vital is that we do not
easier to attract a wider political range of appli- outcast participants because they
cants, it was also a logical change for Sadaka. As do not fit in with our stance on
Adi Maoz, our educational director explains, “There Gaza, or even my own.”
are two different processes that Jewish and Pal-
estinian groups go through, with different goals,
emphasis and educational purposes necessary for
the project to really work.” The uni-national work,
coming prior to the bi-national stages, is there to
create a safe, freer ground, where many issues
can be raised that would not necessarily come up
in a bi-national setting. This gives the group an
opportunity to work through its own issues before
developing them in conversation alongside their
parallel.

This point has proved particularly relevant in

recent weeks what with the situation in Gaza.
Anna Cohen, facilitator of the Jewish photography
group, notes that the majority of her participants

Oldies but Goldies
The bi-national third year group is made up of
nineteen long-standing members of Sadaka-Reut,
who, a year younger than commune members,
have formed a kind of ‘next generation outfit’, as
Wasim, facilitator of the group, brands it. With all
present having gone through over three years of
Sadaka programs, these are mature participants
who are aware of themselves and where they fit
into the struggle.
Starting from a more construc-
tive and responsible place they
are re-assessing their vision: why
are we still sitting here together
after all these years? What do we
actually want?
3
ing them over again. In doing so, they are hit-
ting much deeper levels. For example, the Jews
started saying that maybe they are not as liberal
as they have said in the past – they are afraid of
having a bi-national state or a Palestinian Prime
Minister because they don’t feel they can trust all
Palestinians. The Arabs are asking honest ques-
tions relating to their national and cultural identity
and ways to preserve it within Israeli life, while
elaborating about their role in the struggle for the
establishment of a Palestinian state. This is a level
of honesty you may expect to find in a uni-national
group but to see it at a bi-national level takes a
long time and an enormous degree of trust. More
than anything, this is testament to the participants
themselves who, whilst bonds of friendship all
around them are being severed, are preparing to
meet again, together, next week.

Still, this almost feels like the most difficult Sada- There is no such thing pre-process and post-
ka group to be a part of. With starting groups, the process reality within the bi-national partnership.
main objective is empowering them and getting Essential questions arise at every step of the pro-
them off the ground, looking to approach broader cess, and they must be given their space in order
issues such as identity, society and citizenship, to slowly define a shared vision that can be the
and thinking through them. Only then can they basis for joint life.
really start working on the truly difficult questions
which root the conflict, and this is
where the third year group is at now.
Starting from a more constructive and
responsible place they are re-assess-
ing their vision: why are we still sitting
here together after all these years?
What do we actually want? As Wasim
notes, there are important questions
that arise in any part of a partnership,
and these need to be dealt with.

The youth are therefore going back

to their basic assumptions, and check-
4
The New, and much welcomed, push through any emotional hurdles in the belief
Next Generation that something positive would emerge at the end.
As Mariam Abedeldayem, coordinator of our Build-
Held this year in Neve Shalom, 81 participants,
ing a Culture of Peace project observed, “it takes
6 volunteers and 14 staff, gathered for our largest
a certain quality to be a part of Sadaka-Reut. You
ever seminar. Separated into first timers, second
have to be a very brave person. Especially at the
and third year groups, the weekend was dedicated
ages our participants are....it is not easy to chal-
to exploring issues of belonging, responsibility and
lenge society around you or analyze your place
social action. For many it was the first time they
within it when you are so young.” Indeed, Sada-
had met their Palestinian or Jewish parallel. For
ka’s very aim, to encourage youth to think critically
many others it was the first time they had, in an
and act responsibly, inherently deals with issues
absolute impassioned and dynamic atmosphere,
which many adults find impossible to grapple with.
seen Sadaka-Reut in its fuller form, with all its
They are difficult, often uncomfortable, processes
groups.
which even the staff at Sadaka themselves con-
The seventeen Palestinian participants of the tinue to go through.
Arara/Tira group were taking part in their first
Sadaka-Reut seminar. They were asked to outline
the village or country or place they wanted to live
and the criteria which would determine their deci-
sions. How many people would there be? What
kind of people would there be? Would it be only for
Arabs? Would they welcome immigrants? Would
they welcome Jews? Would there be a set reli-
gion? Would there be a set language? Who would
govern? What were to be the role of women? All
participants were aged between 14 and 15. Sitting in with the first bi-national Ramat Sharon/
Taybeh group meeting on the seminar, they arrived
“it takes a certain quality to be
at the issue of the Nakba by themselves, a topic
a part of Sadaka-Reut. You have
usually reserved until the group is more settled
to be a very brave person. Espe-
and aware of each other. Not only are these young
cially at the ages our participants
people preparing to tackle the extremely difficult
are....it is not easy to challenge
issues which surround them, they are actively
society around you or analyze
seeking them out. At a time when polls show that
your place within it when you are
eighty-two percent of the Israeli population believe
so young.”
the military approach in Gaza was not enough and
This last fact is not something to be overlooked. an even larger percentage see dialogue as weak-
Despite dealing with extraordinarily complicated ness, they have never been more brave, needed
and potentially unsettling issues, all were willing to or welcomed.

Active Responsibility
This year’s commune program started with an
even greater emphasis on the training of its partic-
ipants as activists. From the offset, this new direc-
tion was embraced enthusiastically. Unprompted
and unplanned, the new commune members took
the initiative to lead a campaign calling for the
immediate release of Salwa Salach and Sawrah
Siuori, two Palestinians minors held illegally in
administrative detention. For Hana Amoury, the
commune’s project coordinator, this proved a vital
development in their evolution as activists: “It gave
them an early and important grounding not only in
what they are up against in the form of the Israeli
system, but also of what it means to be an activ-
ist. After obtaining over a thousand signatures and
contributing to the girls’ release, they began to per-
ceive themselves as activists and began to believe
in their power to bring about social change.” With
a more dedicated space for working on political
campaigning, this process has been accelerated,
albeit regrettably, by the extremely intensive politi-
cal period over the last six months: firstly the Acre
violent events, then religious settlements in Jaffa,
5
and now Gaza…
Still, it appears that the commune members
understand the necessity of action on all these
issues. When Acre erupted in October it was obvi-
ous to them that they should be involved, not just
as opinionated viewers but as actors on the scene.
Noa, a commune member, notes that ‘there was
a feeling that if we lost our voice on these issues,
there was no point being a part of the commune
project at all.’ In turn, they have become increas-
ingly involved, both alongside Jaffa’s Popular
Committee and independently, on the issue of
challenging the ongoing construction of a yeshivat
hesder in Jaffa.
This is not to say that a unified front is always
so easily agreed upon. Indeed, whilst all saw
the ‘development in Jaffa’ as code for ‘the dan-
ger of expulsion of Arabs off their city’, the indi-
vidual make-up of the commune meant disagree-
ment abounded over the message Sadaka-Reut
should put out. With one member from a religious
background, and another born and bred in Jaffa’s
Ajami district, decided differences appeared as
to how strong the message should be. As Hana
observes, “these are the difficult but necessary
discussions that course through the commune
on a daily basis. Living with each other, getting to
know where each other are from - they are learn-
ing that they are part of the conflict. The next step
is a logical one: being part of the conflict goes
hand in hand with a responsibility to act against
it.” And, as I write, all commune members can
be seen preparing posters to be plastered on the
walls and streets of Tel Aviv and Sderot in protest
to the attacks on Gaza…
6
Insight in partnership
This October saw the Beit Jalah seminar where,
structured around a series of theoretical and ide-
ological workshops, all of our facilitators met to
discuss the organization’s educational goals and
methodologies. Participants were divided depen-
dent on their levels of experience within Sadaka –
commune members, new facilitators and veteran
facilitators. Over the intensive two day period many
issues were raised, and those which emerged
from our most experienced
pool of leaders proved par-
ticularly interesting.
Two main topics domi-
nated their agenda. The
first centered on the very
dynamics of the veteran
facilitators group itself, with
both Jewish and Palestinian
leaders asking for reassur-
ances from each other. Even after two years work-
ing together, there were still some fears, concerns
and expectations of each other that needed to be
discussed and analyzed. Whilst Palestinian facili-
tators acknowledged and appreciated their Jewish
colleagues, they still wanted them to declare their
positions politically, something the Jewish facilita-
tors felt was unnecessary and should have been
taken for granted. In turn, the Jewish facilitators felt
comfortable in accepting criticism of the state and
damage it has caused to the Palestinian people
but with this awareness, they still wanted to know
what the Palestinian facilitators ultimately wanted
from Israelis – did they want to work alongside
them? Did they want them to ‘go back where they
came from’? Deconstructing these needs, the
group came to the overall conclusion that whilst
it was obviously important that they met once a
month to discuss and evaluate their methodolo-
gies and practices with the youth, time should also
be allocated for their own continued development
and internal processing.
Secondly, there was passionate debate over
Sadaka-Reut’s political emphasis and actions.
Questions abounded over the link between educa-
tion and activism, dialogue and outreach. How do
we continue with our long-term educational work
with youth and, in paral-
lel, function as a politi-
cal force which takes
actions on the ground?
Moreover, what do we
mean when we say we
are a movement that
wants to carry out politi-
cal actions? What is an
effective action? Do we
mean organizing demon-
strations and distributing petitions or do we also
include encouraging bi-national artistic voices and
being ourselves as alternatives in the same brack-
et? Whilst opinions differed over all of these ques-
tions, all agreed that there was a need for some-
thing defined and written which outlined clearly
Sadaka's methodology and vision. These conver-
sations would continue, but we as Sadaka had to
know where we wanted to go with them.
All of the seminars debates proved incredibly
useful in gaging how far we have come as an
organization but also outlined again the important
fact that we are forever evolving as a movement: a
movement on the move...