june 2010

farewell
Dear partners and friends,
After eight and a half years of
challenging and interesting work
at Sadaka Reut, I am leaving my
position as a c.e.o at the end of this month. In the
course of my years with the organization, I have
learned a lot and I have had the chance to meet
many charismatic and wonderful people.
My family and I, have decided to move to Cana-
da for some time. There, I plan to look for a schol-
arship to pursue my studies and I hope to enjoy
the snow a little for a change. Also, I am sure that
there will be many opportunities to continue and
take part in the struggle for Palestine and a differ-
ent Israel in Montreal.
As director of Sadaka Reut, I will be replaced by
Hana Amouri who comes from within the organi-
zation – she was member of the Board for some
years and has been part of the staff for the past
year and a half. I am sure that she, together with
the staff, will continue to develop and renew the
organization’s activities and actions.
I wish to take this opportunity to thank all of you
sincerely for the time shared, and hope that our
paths may cross again in the future. If any of you
are in Montreal, I would be happy to see you.
thank you again, and hope you'll keep develop-
ing your work and efforts for equality and justice.
I wish you all the best,
Fighting Racism
In The Educational
System
by Adi Maoz (educational direc-
tor)
It has been almost 8 years
since I first began to work in
Sadaka Reut. It has been for me,
during all these years, a bi-national home that in
its essence challenged and went against every-
thing that the Israeli society is and strives to be.
For it is a community of Jews and Palestinians
whom, in the national rampage, clearly say we
choose differently- we will continuously go against
injustice, inequality and oppression, and we will
do it together. We may not agree on everything,
we may argue and in this reality we have faced
times of open warfare, but we continue to choose
to work together. We identify with the pain of the
other and comprehend our roles and responsibili-
ties as Palestinians and Jews in this reality. We
strive for a joint future for the two people of this
land as we understand that our lives are inter-
twined and recognize this as a true alternative to
the reality here.
I feel that for me during these years the political-
educational work I have done was, in part, a quest
to bring to youth this other reality that exists, this
essence of a different home that can be built here.
I feel that what I wanted to offer was exactly what

Fadi Shbita
2
I didn't get from the educational system growing
up here as an Israeli Jew.
"We wanted to offer knowledge that they
were not exposed to and a space that bat-
tles oppression and racism, regardless
to who it is generated towards."
The Israeli establishment, and specifically the
educational system, plays a vital role in repro-
ducing subjects that will maintain inequality and
power relations. It ingrains in the minds of its
Jewish students the need to fear from the Pal-
estinians and to distrust them. We learn that
the Palestinians are a historical equivalent to all
those who persecuted the Jewish people over
time. And that we must be strong or else we will
not exist. We are rarely told of the Nakba or the
Palestinian existence here before 1948, nor are
we told that it wasn't always wars between David
and Goliath, and that the Jewish entity outnum-
bered the Arab forces. We grow up here not rec-
ognizing the existence of Palestinians, and we
may never meet them in our life time.
We also learn that within the Jewish commu-
nity there is equality. Jewish people gathered
together from all places to become one solid
nation. But in fact, we are not told stories of the
oppression that left no place to recognize the dif-
ferent cultures and heritages that make the fabric
of what is the current Jewish community. Nor are
we told about the social gaps that were structured
and are still maintained. We are not told that immi-
gration has been a social-political policy used in
the demographic war.
Political education as I came to understand it
has to challenge these assumptions and to offer
an alternative to them. Over the years we chose
to target the educational system, to create within it
for the youth a space to rethink and re-conceptual-
ize essentials they had been taught. We wanted
to offer knowledge that they were not exposed to
and a space that battles oppression and racism,
regardless to who it is generated towards. Com-
ing from a very basic assumption that racism dupli-
cates itself, and if one is liberated from oppression
s/he is facing, s/he may identify with the “other”
and may be empowered to stop this cycle. More
so, we want to offer these youth a bi-national plat-
form to be active in.
This has never been an easy quest, as it goes
against currents and forces more powerful than
ourselves and against an escalating violent and
racist reality. And yet we continue because we
believe that we can make and are making a dif-
ference. When youth open their eyes, when they
begin to question reality, when they meet the other
side- something changes and there is no going
back. We are told and taught lies. However, the
truth, with all the hardships it brings, may set us
free.
In the words of one of the youth who participated
in our workshops in schools: “I think it is important
to talk about these issues in schools, because if
we don't, we will not know what is happening in the
 3
world. And this can happen to any one of us. Any serious issues. I really enjoyed hearing about expe-
one of us can be a racist... and anyone of us can riences and memories of people who came from a
be in the position of lower status that is treated as different background than mine and who view the
such. It is imperative that we be aware, to prevent conflict from their own perspective. I also liked to
these things from taking place”. get answers to key questions I had concerning the
‘other side’. For desert there were closing words that
gave food for thought and also ideas for action.
Youth Seeking Change- Sadaka
Nevertheless, there is one thing from this banquet
Reut's youth seminar
that I still have a hard time to swallow. In one of the
discussions, a participant talked about the estab-
lishment of a joint government. His words were met
In April, we held a nation-wide seminar in which
by an intervention on the part of the facilitator, who
90 youth from all over the country participated.
said something like “let’s concentrate on the conflict
The seminar dealt with issues related to person-
and not run away towards solutions”. I did not react
al and collective narratives through experimental
at the time because as I said I did not know how to
workshops and the encounter between youth.
swallow this. What kind of pleasure or gain do we
Here is what one of the youth, Nir Yakov Brit- get for ‘concentrating on the conflict’? What if by
shtien, a 17 year old from Kfar Saba, had to say focusing on the hatred we only end up by deepen-
about his experience in the seminar: ing it? I do not see a problem in, at times, ‘running
away’ towards solutions and thus dealing with the
“Generally speaking, it was a great seminar. As
problem called ‘the conflict’. Indeed, these solu-
appetizer, we played acquaintance games which
tions are the reason why we joined the movement
brought us to laugh, let loose and prepared us for
and called ourselves ‘partners for change’ in the
the main course: personal stories which let us see
first place – at least this is my reason.”
deep into our friends’ lives and discussions on truly
4
The Siege Is Not A
Film
Sadaka-Reut’s Commune cam-
paigning against the siege on
Gaza
By Yael Rozanes (commune member)
December 2009. In the course of a team meet-
ing with the commune group of which I am a
member, we heard that in the coming days there
was an international campaign underway to call
for an end to the Israeli siege on the Gaza strip.
The height of this campaign was a demonstration
on December 31st in front of the Erez checkpoint,
one of the key points where the siege is carried
out in and out of the strip. We decided as a Jew-
ish-Palestinian group to take part in the campaign,
but from a slightly different angle. It was important
for us to target the Jewish-Israeli public, which is
not aware of the facts of the siege or knows what
needs to be known in order to support the siege.
We wanted to give people food for thought, out
of the movement’s political and critical approach.
We hoped that people would be interested in what
is truly happening inside the strip and from this
knowledge would desire to take action in order to
end the siege.
The first step consisted in the production and
distribution of information postcards. We designed
5 different postcards, each with on the one side
arguments presented by the Jewish-Israeli con-
sensus supporting the siege and on the other
counter-arguments which deconstructed the dom-
inant discourse. The postcards were distributed in
Tel Aviv, Bat Yam and Jaffa in people’s post boxes
and close to youth gathering spots. In the second
stage, we thought to continue with the same mes-
sage but to try and reach a larger audience. We
made use of the tools learnt in our formation on
activism and internet and we produced a series of
short films on the issue of the siege, concentrat-
ing on three main problems the Gaza people face:
the health system, the educational system and the
issue of water. Work on the films took more time
than planned. In the beginning we have general
ideas on the content of the films. But in the end
we opted for a unique angle: all short films should
be silent, should represent life under siege and
should expose information and facts on life under
the siege. We divided the group in three and each
sub-group explored its issue and produced a short
film. The films were widely and intensively distrib-
uted on the internet and up to this day some 3,400
people viewed them.
" all short films should be silent, should
represent life under siege and should
expose information and facts on life under
the siege."
Before starting to work on this campaign, I was
not fully aware of what happened to the people in
Gaza and what the siege and isolation from the
world do. I think it was also hard for me to deal with
this issue because it is easier to see the people
in Gaza as supporters of terror and as enemies
rather than as human beings whose rights are

being trampled. The campaign helped me under-
stand this. I also learned more about my peers in
the group and how what began as a seemingly
impossible task turned into a campaign we are all
very proud of. I also learned that the internet is an
excellent political tool, if only one knows how to
use it well.
‘Cast’ Identity – at last
By Sophie Shanir (commune member)
A year has passed since the war on Gaza, war
that was named ‘Operation Cast Lead’. When the
war began, I was still in the 12th grade in the Ironi D
School which is in Tel Aviv. Until the war, in the six
years I studied in this Jewish school, I managed to
deal with the racist opinions and words that were
expressed in the open – I simply ignored them.
I did not want to start political arguments which
would bring with them calls such as the ‘radical left-
ist’, the ‘Arab’, the ‘anti-Zionist’ – although if I were
to be called these names today, my tender soul
would not take offence. As you can understand, I
would not display my political opinions openly, and
if forced to I would moderate each word in order to
be perceived as the ‘Arab who seeks peace’, not
to mention as one who fully understands Zionism
and Zionists.
When the war broke out, I could take it no longer.
I took out all that I had kept inside – I was upset
by the fact that people could be so indifferent and
depraved. This was added to my long term silence,
a silence which brought me to question my own
opinions and to believe that maybe they do not
have a place. In order to make my life easier and
to express my protest, my anger and my empathy
5
towards the people of Gaza, I took part in demon-
strations and vigils organized in Jaffa in the same
period. There, I finally felt as though I belonged.
After six years disconnected in a Jewish school, I
finally found my community – the Arab/Palestinian
community in Jaffa, and the left activists in Israel
as a whole. I stood in the demonstrations and all I
could think was: “Now I understand why the right
to protest is such a basic right. How can people
live without it? How could I not express my protest
earlier? Who organizes all these actions? Why did
I not encounter the political forces in Jaffa before
the war?
" I finally
found my
community
– the Arab/
Palestinian
community
in Jaffa, and
the left activists in Israel as a whole."
After the war, I went back to my daily life without
demonstrations and vigils. But this was a changed
life – because in the end, people at school could
not accept me with my ‘new’ opinions. But notwith-
standing the difficulties, and this was truly for me
a difficult period, I came out of it with a clear deci-
sion of what I want to do and be from now on. I
decided to be part of the people who create social
and political change in the communities in which
they live.
A year after the war, I found myself in Sadaka
Reut’s commune program, taking part in meetings
and organizing campaigns calling for the end of
the siege on Gaza. Who would have thought – not
me! – that I would be where I am now? Fully con-
tent with the fact that I have found my way.
6
Sadaka Reut – the
Where To?
By Noa Rodriguez Oria (ex-commune member)
In March, we held in Sadaka Reut a process of
strategic clarification whose purpose was to dis-
cuss the movement’s activities and to build a plan
action for the coming years. The staff members
presented their respective projects and there fol-
lowed discussions on the movement’s goals, its
vision, the challenges it faces and the resources
it has. In the end, a strategic outline was drafted
for the achievement of the goals set. This process
made room for all movement members – activists,
facilitators, staff members and board members
– to come and influence the outcome. I partici-
pated in the seminar as a member of a previous
commune and as an activist and I was thrilled to
learn more from the different people involved in
the movement.
Following the seminar, I met with Gideon Kunda,
a member of the board and a professor in anthro-
pology and sociology in the Tel Aviv University, and
with Hana Amori, Sadaka Reut's new director, in
order to hear about their consequences from the
seminar. Here is a summary of our discussion:
Gideon, What were your thoughts about
movement
before
nar?
the semi-
Gideon – As a mem-
ber of the board, I am
a bit disconnected with
the movement’s daily
activity. The general
perspective I had was
that there needed to be a balance between the
movement’s educational work (mostly the youth
group activities) on the one hand and on the other
the movement’s social and activist activity here in
Jaffa. I thought that the attempt to open a cultural
center was very important and I was disappointed
that it did not work out. I think it is important to
deal with the difficulties that came up and not let
go of the idea. In addition, I think it is important to
strengthen the movement’s implication in Jaffa as
a whole.
and what did you think of the process in
general? What did you discouver?
Gideon – I discovered that there were a lot of
people in the movement I was not acquainted
with. But at the same time, even though people in
the movement change, most of the problems stay
the same. I think that the process was very impor-
tant – that take some time out to think about these
issues. Many important things were exposed, for
instance the need to define priorities. The process
was short, and therefore we were not able to reach
deep into each issue. But I am sure we will con-
tinue to discuss each and every one. In the end, I
believe it is important to make sure a process an
integral part of the movement’s daily action, that it
not be a one-time event.
 7
Hana: I think we discovered the importance of
strengthening of the ties between the movement’s
different levels and circles, i.e. higher involvement
of the movement’s graduates in the activities, reg-
ular discussion forums on fundamental and ideo-
logical issues and maximization of the graduates’
potential in their involvement in the movement.
Another angle is the strengthening of our activi-
ties in Jaffa and our involvement with its different
communities. them.

so how are you planning to make the con-
sequences an integral in Sadaka Reut’s
way of life?
Hana: a few actions have been taken: two of the
commune’s graduates have been chosen to take
the place of exiting staff members – this decision
‘takes home’ the graduates’ experience and their
insight on the potential amelioration of the exist-
ing projects, but more importantly it shows that
Sadaka is in fact a movement in which members
can grow and become influential. Another action
is the ‘graduates’ reunion’ planned for the sum-
mer, which intends to meet between members
who have not been in touch for some time and try
and encourage them in taking a more active part
in the movement. The hope is that the reunion cre-
ate a sense of ‘political home’ where people who
are involved in different areas can meet, exchange
experiences and analyze the political reality and
ways to act upon it together.
In the coming activity year, resources will be
invested in educational work with the formal and
informal frameworks where youth can be found.
In addition, the movement will try and enlarge the
circle of volunteers who take part in existing com-
munity frameworks, both in order to strengthen
these frameworks and to strengthen our ties with
What do you think should be passed on
with the current staff changes?
Gideon – People change a lot in the movement,
but this is the first time since I am here that central
staff members such as Adi and Fadi are changing.
There changes are specifically important. The first
thing I think is important to maintain is that not-
withstanding the ideological differences between
staff members, which are many times natural, the
partnership needs to continue. This is probably the
most important mission for the new staff. The sec-
ond thing – the movement’s biggest successes in
the past years came from the staff’s involvement
and investment in the context of serious work and
high motivation to achieve the goals set. This I
think needs to remain the ‘glue’ that binds the staff
and the movement as a whole.
how is Sadaka Reut dealing with all these
new changes?
Hana: we see in the many changes being
brought to the movement an opportunity for new
beginnings and creativity. After years of develop-
ing the movement’s solid base, Sadaka Reut lifts
its anchor and sails on.