שתיל - שירותי תמיכה וייעוץ לקידום שינוי חברתי

A ray of light amidst all the difficult news from the south: Rahat's 14,000 schoolchildren will have safer, cleaner, more efficient schools following a precedent-setting government decision to appoint a special trustee to oversee the town's education budget.

The move comes after a three-year struggle on the part of the Rahat Parents' Association and the SHATIL-led Umbrella Forum for Bedouin Education in the Negev and is the result of a high court petition submitted by the two bodies.

The Forum and the Association exposed serious irregularities in the education budget of Rahat, Israel's largest Bedouin city, including suspicions of corruption and neglect. The appointment of the trustee is a precedent-setting achievement; it marks the first time a law passed in 2000 enabling such an appointment is being implemented.

Problems in Rahat schools include low standards and achievements, overcrowding, lack of classrooms, poor management, violence and serious security and sanitary violations.

Research by the two bodies revealed that government education budgets were not used for their intended aims but were used to cover municipal debts, creating intolerable health and other hazards in the schools.

"We created a system of deterrence," said SHATIL lobby consultant Shmulik David, who worked on the issue. "The municipality of Rahat will no longer be able to play with the education budgets. Children in school will have cleaner, healthier environments, and schools will be more orderly and efficient. The system will be less corrupt and people will feel less neglected and cheated. And Rahat parents are empowered as they see the tangible results of their efforts."

SHATIL works hard to reach disempowered populations in Israel's periphery and that is in large part the rationale for our regional branches - including Be'er Sheva. The staff in SHATIL's southern office lives in Be'er Sheva as well as in Kiryat Gat, Rahat, Sderot and other communities - all within the range of rocket fire from Gaza. Several staff members live close enough to the border to hear every bomb that is dropped. Others, such as Bedouin in Rahat, while themselves under fire, are consumed with worry about relatives in Gaza. With the stresses of balancing family needs in a time of emergency with work and great worry about the situation, the atmosphere in the Be'er Sheva branch is difficult. And, throughout SHATIL, staff are concerned about their sons, brothers, husbands and boyfriends who have been called to the front-lines.

"The heart of the Be'er Sheva staff goes out to all civilians," said Yarona Ben Shalom, co-director of the Be'er Sheva office of SHATIL. Yarona has two small children and a husband who is a pediatrician at Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva - the hospital to which seriously wounded soldiers and civilians have been evacuated. He has been working around the clock as the regional hospital is on alert.

Dvora Dasta, a SHATIL organizational consultant (mainly for the Ethiopian community), has been working from home in Kiryat Gat, where her three young children are spending their days. School and day care have been cancelled since the Hanukah vacation. The older ones receive school assignments by email. Dvora has had many offers from friends, family and colleagues outside the danger area who want to host her but she prefers to remain at home. "My children and I prefer to stay in a familiar environment, despite the danger," says Dvora. "Familiarity, and the fact that everyone else is here and we are with them in this, brings comfort and solidarity in a time of crisis."

For Warda Elkrenawi, coordinator of SHATIL's Empowerment of Bedouin Women Project, this period has been particularly challenging. "I have friends and relatives in Gaza, so this situation is very difficult for me," said Warda. At the same time, Warda's hometown of Rahat is subjected to rocket attacks. Since there are no sirens or shelters in Rahat, Israel's largest Bedouin city, SHATIL enlisted the help of Mubadara (Initiative) - a coalition of eleven Arab organizations initiated by SHATIL following the Second Lebanon War and the disproportionate harm it inflicted on the North's Arab population. Relying on lessons from that war, Mubadara is engaged in communicating with the authorities and helping the Bedouin population cope with the current threats in a safer and more effective manner.

As ever in situations of war and escalation, SHATIL reaches out, networks and gives a voice to those moderate, restrained voices that are not necessarily part of the mainstream consensus -- even in times of crisis. The Be'er Sheva office and SHATIL's media staff is working closely with A Different Voice, a grass roots group of residents of Sderot and the surrounding kibbutzim consisting of young and old, Ashkenazim and Sephardim, who are calling for an end to the hostilities and a cease fire that will respect the rights of both sides. In addition, SHATIL provides consultation to a group of Arab and Jewish students who got together to call for an end to the violence, as well as to established organizations promoting co-existence in the Negev - a mission that is all the more critical in such tense times.

We are all hoping for a speedy resolution to the crisis.

SHATIL's Yachdav (Together) Ethiopian Women's Coalition to Address Domestic Violence has had tremendous impact on the field. Since the Coalition began its work, the numbers of Ethiopian women killed by their husbands has dropped from six in 2006 to three in 2007 and none - until last week - in 2008.

A tragic irony occurred just after the New Israel Fund's Chanukah greeting, extolling as a miracle that for the first time in 10 years no Ethiopian woman had been murdered by her husband this year, went out. To our great sorrow, on December 22, Jamra Ananei, a mother of six, was murdered by her husband, making her the first such woman this year from the Ethiopian community. As is common in such cases, he then committed suicide. Yachdav has been working tirelessly for the past two years to educate the Ethiopian community toward prevention and to get the government involved in prevention and treatment efforts. Ethiopian women throughout the country are far more aware of the signs of abuse, of their rights and of where to turn for help. In fact, Ananei did turn for help, but just two hours after she met with a social worker, her husband attacked her in a public park.

"In examining the background of this tragic event, we discovered that while the family lived in the Mevasseret Zion Absorption Center up until several months ago, Ananei's husband tried to kill himself," said Shulamit Sahalo, Yachdav coordinator. "We believe that if the man had received proper treatment at the time, the tragedy could have been prevented. Today, the Jewish Agency understands this and addresses these problems professionally, based on research and with an orderly work plan.

"Ethiopian immigrants arrive in Israel with heavy emotional baggage as a result of a lack of attention and treatment in the transit camps in Ethiopia," Sahalo continued. "If appropriate treatment and attention are not given in the absorption centers in Israel, immigrants move to permanent housing without proper emotional support. This can to difficult events such as this. The policy of the Jewish Agency and the Ministry of Absorption must include intensive treatment for every Ethiopian immigrant so that violence will not erupt later, when the immigrants are living independently in the community."

Although we are filled with sorrow at Ananei's death, we applaud the magnificent work the Coalition is doing to address the underlying issues that result in these tragic murders. We hope that in 2009, a lack of such violence will no longer be considered a miracle.

As part of SHATIL/NIF's efforts to minimize the effects of the world financial crisis on Israeli social change efforts, SHATIL Director Rachel Liel met with the director general of the Finance Ministry last week along with Ran Melamed, associate director of Yedid, the Association for Community Empowerment. SHATIL and Yedid are partnering in an effort to advocate for government policies to assist an ailing third sector. In this and other meetings with government officials (including NIF Executive Director Eliezer Ya'ari and Melamed addressing the Knesset Finance Committee,) SHATIL and Yedid are advocating for special emergency measures such as tax breaks for NGOs, the provision of bridging grants, policies to encourage philanthropy, and other steps to provide a safety net for the third sector. Forty additional NGOs are partners in this effort.

Since the trend toward privatization in the 1990's, NGOs have been providing for many of the needs of the most vulnerable. Thus, the weakest population groups in Israel would be those hurt if NGOs were to collapse.

"Aside from its unique and unparalleled contributions to Israeli society, civil society is also a big employer in Israel, providing jobs for at least 250,000 people," said Liel. "Just as the government is planning a safety net for businesses, it has a responsibility to do so for NGOs as well."

SHATIL presented the government with a policy paper outlining steps the government should be taking to assist civil society which includes a detailed analysis and costs.

On a second track SHATIL is providing valuable guidance to our partners in the field with a task force specifically created to address the problem and targeted capacity building to NGOs on how to best survive the crisis.

An example: In recognition of the fact that it will likely be years before the market is back on its feet, SHATIL is now placing greater emphasis in its consulting to and training for NGOs on raising funds within the community through membership programs, direct mail, special events and income generating projects. This new emphasis is further to the guidebook SHATIL published earlier this year entitled "Raising Funds in the Community" which elaborates on each of these areas of potential fundraising. Emily Gantz McKay, a world renowned expert on NGOs, long time friend of SHATIL and director of Mosaica in Washington DC, is at SHATIL for two weeks, lending her vast expertise to Israeli NGOs to help them weather the crisis.

SHATIL is staying in close touch with nervous NGO staff and lay leaders through a series of town meetings with organizational representatives to continuously assess their current needs.

SHATIL, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, MATAN (the Israeli United Way) and the Israeli Civic Leadership Association, are collaborating on an internet hotline that will make experts available to answer organizations' pressing questions as they relate to the crisis.

In Israel's Negev dessert, a group of women who work in agriculture are being informed of their rights for the first time. The initiative came from Amal ElNasasra after she participated in Bedouin Women for our Rights, a Shatil training course for young Bedouin women with leadership potential. Amal was inspired by what she learned to reach out to what might be most oppressed group in Israel - black Bedouin women farm workers. In the four meetings they've held so far, a dozen women have learned what a salary slip is (they don't get one); that there are laws prescribing minimUmm wage and the nUmmber of work hours (they generally work from 5 a.m. to 5 p.m.) that their employer must give them protective equipment when they work with pesticides (they don't even get gloves.) The women come from the poorest neighborhood in the Negev Bedouin town of Rahat and are often their families' only wage earner. They say they are getting a golden opportunity to learn about rights they had no idea existed.

Hundreds of activists from around the country participated in other Shatil courses this fall, including a course in constructive conflict for social workers involved with Palestinian-Israeli families in the Triangle who are struggling to be reunited; a workshop for environmental activists on promoting green budgets in local councils; Management in a Multi-Cultural Society; a professional course for fund raisers in the South in cooperation with Sapir Academic College in Sderot and many others.

A group of participants in a workshop held jointly by Shatil's Conflict Transformation and Management Center (CTMC) and Responding to Conflict (RTC - www.respond.org) in early December worked feverishly last week to prevent another deterioration of and escalation in Jewish-Arab relations in the Wadi Ara area. The violence threatened to erupt due to a radical right wing march scheduled to take place in Umm el-Fahm, Israel's largest Arab city, Monday. The march was cancelled by the police on Sunday.

"This is a real relief," said Ali Haider, the co-director of Sikkuy, who had worked incessantly to prevent the march from taking place. "We realized the Kahana movement was trying to provoke a new cycle of violence and to cause another deterioration in Jewish Arab relations. We wanted to use the event as an opportunity to strengthen relations and prevent violence."

Haidar came to the realization that this crisis could be used as an opportunity in the workshop on conflict transformation held by the CTMC and RTC, an international organization based in Birmingham, the UK, and specializing in training and assisting NGOs and other agencies to develop interventions in conflict situations. After a two-and-half-year long program, which terminated in a five-day workshop two weeks ago, the participants were certified as "conflict transformation practitioners", having learned such skills as conflict analysis, mediation, negotiation, and bringing conflict transformation into program planning.

Haidar had brought the case of the planned march to the group during the workshop, to see what could be done to prevent the feared violence. After the training, he and other group members set out to make the ideas they developed together while analyzing the case study into reality.

They met with the Umm el-Fahm municipality and several peace and human rights organizations, which were already aware of the danger. Sikkuy organized tours of solidarity with Umm el-Fahm residents last weekend. Visitors were welcomed by Umm el-Fahm mayor, Khaled Hamdan, who promised "Umm el-Fahm is opening its gates to all Jewish visitors, except for those who want to come and provoke us." Around 600 visitors had come to the town to show their solidarity, which gratified Haidar.

"I believe the municipality acted responsibly, choosing to react in a nonviolent way to a violent threat," he said. With many dangers and pitfalls still ahead, there is a lot of work waiting for the conflict transformation practitioners, the new graduates of the Shatil-RTC course.

SHATIL's Conflict Transformation and Management Center (CTMC) is actively building a network of leading international organizations and individuals transforming conflict in Israel. In partnership with Responding to Conflict (RTC), an international organization specializing in assisting organizations working in conflict areas around the world, SHATIL's CTMC convened the Conflict Transformation Strategy Group for a final five-day training session last week. Attended by fifteen Arab-Israeli and Jewish-Israeli leaders of social change NGOs from throughout Israel, the group focused on exploring and better understanding the complexity of conflicts in this region; learning from RTC's international experience; and connecting the tools and skills of conflict transformation to practical work on the ground.

One example of the training's impact: Two of the Strategy Group participants, one Arab-Israeli and one Jewish-Israeli, are sharing what they have learned with a group of Palestinian women citizens of Israel. Initiated in July, the trainings will cover a wide range of information and skill-building to equip these women with new ways of transforming conflict in their communities.

The Arab Israeli facilitator described her experience bringing this group together: "I am learning a lot, specifically how to apply conflict transformation tools to a large, diverse group of Palestinian women living in Israel. I feel empowered. This two-way process of empowerment has been striking, and is enriching my sense of belonging. My understanding of conflict transformation tools is becoming stronger as a result."

The Strategy Group established a task force that will continue to meet to identify and implement ways to prevent such violent clashes as those that erupted on Yom Kippur in Acre this year.

Can the "big change" that happened November 4th in the U.S., happen in Israel as well? What can social change organizations do to best advance their agendas during an election season?

These questions have been the focus of SHATIL's Center for Policy Change as it gears up for Israel's 18th national elections, to be held February 10. In an effort to assist social change organizations that want to influence the election process and to promote civic responsibility, the Center has embarked on a number of actions:

• Publication and distribution of a new booklet for social organizations: What's in it for Us? A Took Kit for Promoting Social Change during the Elections is a practical guide for activity and involvement during and after the elections, including how to leverage the election period to advance one's agenda, how to get covered in the press, how to use the internet, legal limitations and more.
• A daily email newsletter listing relevant newspaper and internet articles sent out to a list of 200 organizations and individuals. The extensive survey includes headlines and links and is divided by categories such as politics, political analysis, society, economy, religion and more.
• The creation of a special election-related internet site (http://SHATIL.org.il/sites/elections2009) that will include the daily media survey, contact information for parties, officials and journalists, a platform for organizations to publicize petitions, the new election booklet in pdf format and a calendar of events.

A major workshop in the center of the country on how to utilize the election period to advance a social agenda is being planned for the end of December and SHATIL is checking the feasibility of conducting two local courses. A questionnaire has gone out to all organizations regarding their needs for election-related consulting, guidance and courses.

"Election season is a time for citizens to take responsibility, work for change and demand their rights," says SHATIL's Center for Policy Change Director Shimon Malka. "SHATIL is working to help citizens working for social change to maximize their impact during this critical period."

Can the "big change" that happened November 4th in the U.S., happen in Israel as well? What can social change organizations do to best advance their agendas during an election season?

These questions have been the focus of SHATIL's Center for Policy Change as it gears up for Israel's 18th national elections, to be held February 10. In an effort to assist social change organizations that want to influence the election process and to promote civic responsibility, the Center has embarked on a number of actions:

• Publication and distribution of a new booklet for social organizations: What's in it for Us? A Took Kit for Promoting Social Change during the Elections is a practical guide for activity and involvement during and after the elections, including how to leverage the election period to advance one's agenda, how to get covered in the press, how to use the internet, legal limitations and more.
• A daily email newsletter listing relevant newspaper and internet articles sent out to a list of 200 organizations and individuals. The extensive survey includes headlines and links and is divided by categories such as politics, political analysis, society, economy, religion and more.
• The creation of a special election-related internet site (http://SHATIL.org.il/sites/elections2009) that will include the daily media survey, contact information for parties, officials and journalists, a platform for organizations to publicize petitions, the new election booklet in pdf format and a calendar of events.

A major workshop in the center of the country on how to utilize the election period to advance a social agenda is being planned for the end of December and SHATIL is checking the feasibility of conducting two local courses. A questionnaire has gone out to all organizations regarding their needs for election-related consulting, guidance and courses.

"Election season is a time for citizens to take responsibility, work for change and demand their rights," says SHATIL's Center for Policy Change Director Shimon Malka. "SHATIL is working to help citizens working for social change to maximize their impact during this critical period."

The camera slowly pans a well dressed woman starting at the tips of her fashionably high black boots, rising through her flowy dress, attractive décolletage, necklace and pendant…and ending at her badly bruised brown face. The short film was shown throughout the day on Israel's Amharic language television programming on November 25, the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and will be broadcast repeatedly all month. Along with newspaper articles and radio spots, the film launched the government's public education campaign to prevent domestic violence in Ethiopian Israeli families. The campaign was the initiative of Yachdav (Together) the SHATIL-led Ethiopian Women's Coalition to Prevent Domestic Violence.

Although wife murder was virtually unknown among Jews in Ethiopia, 22 Ethiopian women have been murdered by their husbands or partners in the past 11 years. Yachdav formed in response to this crisis and has been actively educating the Ethiopian community and recruiting government support since its founding three years ago. Six Ethiopian immigrant women were murdered in 2006, three in 2007 and none so far in 2008.

In the film, Ethiopian men and women of all ages caution viewers about the warning signs of domestic violence. Against a background of ominous music and after the slow camera pan, young Ethiopian Israeli actors declare:

"Beatings, curses, humiliation and forced sex are violence that must be prevented." This is followed by warning signs women should be on the look out for:

"He hurts you and then apologizes."

"He yells at you for no reason."

"You never know how he'll act."

"He threatens suicide if you don’t do as he says."

The film continues, educating women who come from a society in which a certain amount of physical force against women is tolerated but which did not know wife murder. It ends with the number of a national hotline and encouragement to call. The film, which has Hebrew subtitles, can be seen at http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1040600.html

As part of the campaign, Malka Avraham, a member of SHATIL's Yachdav coalition, spoke on the radio about violence prevention in Amharic. The campaign will continue throughout the coming months with short films, public events, lectures, panel discussions and television and radio interviews and spots.

The campaign was planned by a group of organizations brought together by Yachdav and paid for by the Prime Minister's Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, the Ministry of Absorption and the Ethiopian National Project. Co-sponsors include the Coalition, WIZO, the Ministry of Welfare and other bodies.

"After two years of intensive work, the Yachdav Coalition sees the fruits of our collaborative efforts translated into facts on the ground and to data that point to a decrease in violent episodes," says SHATIL's Shulamit Sahalo, Yachdav's coordinator and newly elected vice mayor of Kiryat Gat. "We believe that only a collaborative effort with the relevant government offices and organizations could bring about such results. Yachdav, made up of Ethiopian Israeli women and men who are active in the field, brought the cries of the community to the tables of the decision makers and succeeded in achieving real change."

The camera slowly pans a well dressed woman starting at the tips of her fashionably high black boots, rising through her flowy dress, attractive décolletage, necklace and pendant…and ending at her badly bruised brown face. The short film was shown throughout the day on Israel's Amharic language television programming on November 25, the UN's International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and will be broadcast repeatedly all month. Along with newspaper articles and radio spots, the film launched the government's public education campaign to prevent domestic violence in Ethiopian Israeli families. The campaign was the initiative of Yachdav (Together) the SHATIL-led Ethiopian Women's Coalition to Prevent Domestic Violence.

Although wife murder was virtually unknown among Jews in Ethiopia, 22 Ethiopian women have been murdered by their husbands or partners in the past 11 years. Yachdav formed in response to this crisis and has been actively educating the Ethiopian community and recruiting government support since its founding three years ago. Six Ethiopian immigrant women were murdered in 2006, three in 2007 and none so far in 2008.

In the film, Ethiopian men and women of all ages caution viewers about the warning signs of domestic violence. Against a background of ominous music and after the slow camera pan, young Ethiopian Israeli actors declare:

"Beatings, curses, humiliation and forced sex are violence that must be prevented." This is followed by warning signs women should be on the look out for:

"He hurts you and then apologizes."

"He yells at you for no reason."

"You never know how he'll act."

"He threatens suicide if you don’t do as he says."

The film continues, educating women who come from a society in which a certain amount of physical force against women is tolerated but which did not know wife murder. It ends with the number of a national hotline and encouragement to call. The film, which has Hebrew subtitles, can be seen at http://www.haaretz.co.il/hasite/spages/1040600.html

As part of the campaign, Malka Avraham, a member of SHATIL's Yachdav coalition, spoke on the radio about violence prevention in Amharic. The campaign will continue throughout the coming months with short films, public events, lectures, panel discussions and television and radio interviews and spots.

The campaign was planned by a group of organizations brought together by Yachdav and paid for by the Prime Minister's Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women, the Ministry of Absorption and the Ethiopian National Project. Co-sponsors include the Coalition, WIZO, the Ministry of Welfare and other bodies.

"After two years of intensive work, the Yachdav Coalition sees the fruits of our collaborative efforts translated into facts on the ground and to data that point to a decrease in violent episodes," says SHATIL's Shulamit Sahalo, Yachdav's coordinator and newly elected vice mayor of Kiryat Gat. "We believe that only a collaborative effort with the relevant government offices and organizations could bring about such results. Yachdav, made up of Ethiopian Israeli women and men who are active in the field, brought the cries of the community to the tables of the decision makers and succeeded in achieving real change."

In early November, SHATIL brought together 14 representatives of nine grass roots environmental organizations in the south in order to acquaint each with the other's work, to coordinate between them and to coach them for the upcoming grant cycle of the Sheli Fund, the part of the Green Environment Fund that supports grass roots environmental efforts. A staff member from the southern branch of the Environment Ministry attended to become better acquainted with the grass roots groups.

The day included a discussion with a grants officer from the Sheli Fund, a go around in which each organization presented its interests, work, and priorities, a session with SHATIL resource development consultant Gali Bessudo, "How to have a Big Impact with a Small Grant," and a brainstorming session on how the organizations could work together to achieve their common aims.

It was good to see new organizations present that have not previously worked with SHATIL, such as the Committee for the Preservation of Beit Guvrin/Laskhish, an area in the northern Negev. Participants ranged from a group of immigrant scientists from the Former Soviet Union to a community organization of Ethiopians and non-Ethiopians in Gedera who are working on establishing community gardens, to a committee opposing a phosphate quarry in Arad and more.

The group asked SHATIL to organize another such meeting to discuss work vis a vis semi official organizations such as the Jewish National Fund and the Nature Reserves Authority. SHATIL will try to expand this group in the hopes of creating a forum of environmental organizations in the south which together can deepen and broaden efforts toward a healthier, more sustainable Negev.

Negev Seminar on Air Pollution

Thirteen members of the Coalition for a Healthy Environment in Ramat Hovav met for a day long seminar on air pollution at SHATIL's Be'er Sheva office on November 12. They were joined by the Committee on the Environment of the Ramat Hovav Regional Council and the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel. Ramat Hovav is an industrial zone containing chemical plants as well as the national hazardous waste dump. The SHATIL-led Coalition of local activists and organizations has been fighting the air pollution and other serious environmental hazards caused by the plants and the dump. The area is located just 10 kilometers from Be'er Sheva and adjoins the unrecognized Bedouin village of Wadi el Na'am. There is no warning, protection or evacuation system in place for the village in case of an accident - and unfortunately serious accidents have occurred.

In August 2007, an explosion at a chemical plant in Ramat Hovav shot a potentially lethal insecticide into the atmosphere, injuring nine workers. Thousands of Negev residents were exposed to the toxic substance. A major SHATIL report at the time exposed the fact that the 5,000 residents of Wadi el Na'am received no notification of the accident and no instructions as to how to behave and warned of possible future deaths if appropriate steps are not taken.

After deciding that its work would focus on air pollution, the Coalition asked SHATIL to organize a study day to better educate itself on the issues and methods of achieving its goals. Experts led sessions on the current situation, relevant laws and regulations and their implementation (or lack thereof) and other related topics. The coordinator of public activities of the SHATIL-founded (and now independent) northern-based Coalition for Public Health shared his experiences and examined collaboration options.

Coalition members decided to focus their clean air efforts for the coming year on effecting business licensing procedures in an effort to ensure that government regulations are both effective and implemented. They also identified several collaboration possibilities with the non Coalition members who attended the seminar.

At Gedera High School, Ethiopian Israeli youngsters participating in SHATIL's Back from the Edge program to help youth-at-risk get back on track, are gaining strength by giving. This approach comes out of NIF grantee Friends by Nature's belief in strengthening rather than helping the Ethiopian community. Friends by Nature is one of six immigrant groups throughout the country that are implementing Back from the Edge in their communities. Each attended a special SHATIL course on immigrant youth in the education system and are part of a forum of organization directors involved in the project.

While children who need it get Homework at Home help - in itself an innovation in Israel -- a group of them are giving it as well. Called Maratziot, an acronym much in use by the kids that stands for Young Teachers, this group of eight motivated youngsters spend four hours weekly tutoring seventh graders in the subjects in which they themselves are strong. In preparation, they participated in a week-long training with high school students from other communities. The group meets weekly with Shachar, one of two young Ethiopian counselors employed by the high school, for supervision.

Shoshana, 15, gets tutoring at home in English (she is striving for a five unit matriculation in English - the highest possible) and in turn tutors a seventh grader in biology. Asked why she is wearing a red string around her wrist, Shoshana (whose Amharic name, Antegvush, means "the best") says, "To bring me luck."

"For what?"

"To realize my dream. I want to become a doctor."

Shoshana has six siblings. Her father is unemployed and her mother works as a cleaner.

When asked what she likes to do in her free time, Shoshana laughs shyly and says, "I don't have any free time." In addition to carrying a heavy load at school and being a Young Teacher, Shoshana is a leader in the Sheba Scouts and participates in a special science program at the Weitzman Institute.

The Young Teachers don't just teach. "I also help the seventh graders get used to being in a new school," says Shoshana. "I remember what it was like for me: There were higher expectations and I felt pressured. And their parents - like mine - don't know how to help them. So it's like being a big sister. And I know these kids from the neighborhood so it's fun for me to teach them.

"And it's really cool for the parents. They say, How do you, a young girl, come and teach our boy? But then they see that I do it well and that he understands and it's fun for him."

As Shoshana speaks, a teacher who taught her for three years walks by. "You can see who she is," she says. "She will go far. She is motivated and she achieves. But she needs constant support."

That "constant support" is what Shoshana and the Ethiopian pupils at Gedera High get from Friends by Nature - both in school and out. In the harsh reality faced by many Ethiopian youngsters, the sensitive work of Friends by Nature, which comes out of a deep and personal understanding of Ethiopian culture and issues, is a ray of hope.

The five-month long campaign for greater government aid to people with disabilities came to a close last month when the government agreed in writing to meet many of the protesters' demands. Demonstrators living in a tent city opposite the Knesset since June received ongoing guidance from SHATIL advocacy, media and organizational consultants.

"Given the economic situation, our success was amazing," said Simcha Benita, a leader of the protest.

The severely disabled will get additional government allowances which will help them live independent lives by making it easier for them to hire caretakers and to adapt cars for their special needs. The additional sums are meant to cover a rise in the minimum wage as well as in the cost of food and utilities.

"SHATIL was always there for us - even during non office hours," said Benita, who suffers from polio. "We didn't know how to get the media interested, we didn't know how to approach Knesset members - and SHATIL gave us the tools to do so. From deciding on a focus to writing letters and speeches; from mediating disagreements among ourselves to writing slogans and giving us direction and hope when we felt discouraged -- SHATIL was by our side."

SHATIL also helped the protesters network with other social change organizations and recruit them to the effort as well as to relate the struggle to broader issues such as national budget decisions and the problematic Economic Arrangements Law.

"Shocking."
"Harmful."
"A cultural crime."
"An embarrassment."

These were among the emotional reactions of luminaries such as the poet Haim Guri, Bar Ilan Bible Professor Uriel Simon and journalist Bambi Sheleg at Monday's protest against the closing of the Russian library in Jerusalem. The colorful, lively demonstration was organized within days by a SHATIL-initiated Forum of Jerusalem Immigrant Culture Organizations, after a commitment by the municipality to find the library a new home went unmet (as reported in NIF News on August 19.) Now, the librarian has been threatened with dismissal and books are being packed.

As reported in NIF News on August 19, the 100,000-volume library is the largest Russian language library outside of the Former Soviet Union and the most used of Jerusalem's 25 public libraries. It serves as a cultural center and home away from home for thousands of immigrants from the FSU.

"It can't be that the biggest Russian library outside of Russia will close," Ira Dashevsky, a leader in Machanayim, a Russian immigrant group that promotes Jewish education, told the more than 100 demonstrators, among them four MK's who participated even though they were not invited and not given a platform to speak. "The last time I attended a demonstration was as a refusenik in Russia. It never occurred to me that I would demonstrate in Israel."

Professor Simon told the crowd: "I came today because I am shocked that the mayor of Jerusalem doesn't understand the symbolic significance of the closing of a library in Jerusalem. He should remember that Soviet Jews fought for the right to read in Hebrew and Yiddish - the authorities prevented them from doing so.

"Now they come to Israel, which is supposed to be their homeland - and we don't understand that they have a right to read books in their own language? Those who can't identify with immigrants and their traumas - which they came here to heal - now add a new Israeli trauma?

"There is no lack of respect and appreciation for culture in Israel, but everyone respects his own culture - Hebrew culture, religious culture - and doesn't appreciate the culture of others. That's what we must learn now."

Sitting amid signs that read, "The People of the Book without a Library?" and "Dostoyevsky is turning over in his grave," 78-year old Inna Braslavski, who immigrated to Israel from the FSU nine years ago, said the library was a lifeline for her.

"I was a teacher of German in Russia. I no longer work, but I need this library for my wellbeing. I come here several times a week (an hour round trip commute from her home in Gilo.) There are fascinating meetings with famous people; there are discussions and very special books. It's interesting. It's important. And it's necessary for the soul, for the mind -- for life itself."

The demonstration received wide media attention on television, radio and internet news sites.

"The struggle is not yet over and the road is long," said SHATIL's Ilana Litvak, one of the demonstration's organizers. "But we now see we have with whom to work - there is a community that cares and that is beginning to awaken."

In anticipation of the upcoming municipal elections in Israel, SHATIL has been training activists and reaching out to citizens to ensure public participation and the inclusion of social and environmental agendas in candidates' platforms. Following is a bird's eye view of several such events.

Kiryat Shmona
Two hundred local residents met mayoral candidates October 22 at an evening co-sponsored by SHATIL and Citizens' Platform, a group of local social activists. The candidates spontaneously answered questions composed by residents. The candidates signed a visionary public declaration for improving the lives of Kiryat Shmona residents with a focus on environmental, educational, women's rights, employment and accessibility issues. Local appreciation of SHATIL was reflected in the headline in the area newspaper, Chadashot (News): "Kudos to SHATIL for organizing the candidates' forum..."

Tzfat
Three hundred people attended a mayoral candidates' forum that focused on environmental issues in Tzfat on October 27. The forum was organized by Tzfat - the Pearl of the Galilee, the NGO Halevav (Heart) and SHATIL's Galilee office. Four of the five candidates attended, marking the first event in this election cycle to bring together the candidates and the public. Candidates answered questions written by residents related to conservation, trash collection, water drainage and other environmental issues that impact their daily lives. The candidates unanimously agreed on the importance of preserving the pristine beauty of Emek Hatchelet, the valley that local organizations -- with SHATIL's help -- have been working to save from building contractors. At the end of the evening, Pearl of the Galilee chair Mimi Smucha said: "...It was clear that all present understand that the conservation of Tzfat, one of Israel's four holy cities and a treasured jewel of the entire Jewish people, must be a top priority in the current elections."

Haifa
Four of the nine Haifa mayoral candidates participated in a conference organized by the Association for the Promotion of Arab Education in Haifa and SHATIL, called "Arab Education in Haifa: Directions and Trends." All four signed a declaration committing themselves to specific steps to advance Arab education in the city.

Ensuring a Green Agenda in the Negev and Throughout the Country
SHATIL's Environmental Justice Project conducted intensive grass roots trainings related to the elections in Haifa, Kiryat Shmona, Tzfat, Arad, Be'er Sheva, Mitzpe Ramon and Rahat. In its role as a member of the steering committee of the Green Environment Fund -seeded national project, Green Now, SHATIL conducted an election advocacy training for Negev environmental activists. SHATIL also provided organizations such as the Society for the Protection of Nature's Society Environment Forum in Be'er Sheva with advocacy and media tools to turn local elections in the Negev "green." Together with Life and Environment, SHATIL held two sessions of a three-session seminar for 30 environmental organization representatives on influencing municipal budgets. To maximize impact, the last session is scheduled for after the elections.

"The deepest hunger of the human heart is to feel understood, valued and respected." - Dr. Ava Ruth Baker

SHATIL's new focus on disabilities has led to the creation of projects that improve the lives of people with special needs, initiated by new activists as part of their SHATIL course requirements.

People with disabilities will spread the message about their rights and their lives through a new lecture/workshop bureau created by participants in the recent Combined Course for Social Change in the Area of Disabilities for people with disabilities and students at David Yellin College of Education.

Social Change Fellows in the Area of Disabilities, a SHATIL course run in cooperation with Beit Issie Shapiro, resulted in the formation of an Arabic language hot line in the Triangle for parents of children with disabilities. Twenty five volunteers were trained to provide guidance and information about rights and services in an area with a dearth of guidance for this population. A second project, the new Community of Families of Mentally Ill Individuals provides a support network and educational projects such as a web site and lectures aimed at changing the attitude of the broader public toward people with mental illness.

In an attempt to launch a discourse about Israeli society's attitude toward autism, two other graduates of this course, Ronen Gil and Sola Shelly, organized a day long seminar, Toward Quality of Life for People on the Autism Spectrum: Community, Self Definition and Equal Rights. Led and keynoted by autistic people, the seminar and was co-sponsored by the Center for Independent Living and Beit Issie Shapiro, with which the organizers linked to through SHATIL.

SHATIL organizational consultant Israel Sykes who led the course, called the seminar "a historic event -- the first effort of its kind led by autistic people in partnership with other organizations."

"Autism is not a disease, it's a way of life," said Ronen Gil, director of The Community of Autism Spectrum People in Israel (ACI - http://aci.selfip.org/) in his opening remarks at the seminar. "Until today, autism has been defined as difficulty in emotional interaction, in understating feelings, in verbal and non verbal communication. Today, we ask that you look at autism differently, not as a disorder...but as a difference.

"Social change begins with raising our value in our own eyes," concluded Gil, who credits SHATIL with giving him the tools to carry out his social change work.

The seminar's keynote speaker, New Zealand author and physician Ava Ruth Baker, pointed out that "Current models emphasize an outsider viewpoint rather than an insider experience. Autism is only a disability because of society's current response to it."

To drive the point home, Dr. Baker joked about "neurotypical syndrome," (i.e. people not on the autism spectrum) saying it is characterized by a preoccupation with social concerns, obsession with conformity, difficulty in being alone, intolerance of minor differences in others, and social and behavioral rigidity!

Dr. Baker said, "The deepest hunger of the human heart is to feel understood, valued and respected. My recent residual Asperger's diagnosis has helped me to feel these three things for and about myself - which I had never been able to do before."

She continued: "Solution focused counseling using the client's own goals and strengths is a promising approach. Instead of failing to succeed in what you're not, you can start succeeding at what you are."

"The seminar was an eye opener for me," said Ella, a social worker who came because she suspects one of her children is at the edge of the autism spectrum. "The lack of superfluous social convention was refreshing. I felt I could be myself without worrying how others saw me.

"And when I got home, I began seeing my son differently - not as someone who needed to be fixed, but as a neurologically atypical individual who needed only to be accepted and appreciated for who he is."

Arlene Kanter, Professor of Law and Director of the Center on Disability Studies and Law at Syracuse University and a renowned expert in the area, sees SHATIL's disabilities work as path breaking.

"SHATIL's approach of empowering people with disabilities and supporting them to advocate for themselves is a cutting edge approach, not only within Israel but also with respect to the field of disability rights worldwide," she said.

Last month, SHATIL ran an online hotline for NGOs to answer questions about the narrative financial report that a new law requires all non profit organizations to submit by the end of September. The e-mail hotline was a joint partnership between SHATIL and one of the largest accounting firms in Israel, BDO Ziv Haft Certified Public Accountants - another strategic cooperative effort SHATIL has initiated for the benefit of the non-profit sector. Questions and answers are posted at http://SHATIL.org.il/services/finance/miluli/qa, along with an explanation of the law and its requirements. From the looks of the page, the need was great and organizations have taken full advantage of the offer. A total of 675 users entered SHATIL's financial management page and 233 users entered into the Questions and Answers page. The organizations were very pleased with the service.

While the number of Israeli Arab social change organizations is growing, you can count the number of professional Israeli Arab resource development coordinators on one hand. SHATIL believes that creating a cadre of Israeli Arab resource coordinators will significantly strengthen Arab civil society in Israel. A seven month long SHATIL course in professional resource development in Arabic in the Triangle region should go a long way in doing so. The course included 100 hours of classroom learning and 100 hours of internship. Sixteen volunteer mentors worked with course participants.

Sixteen college and university graduates (some with masters degrees) - including three lawyers, three teachers, a librarian, a director of a community center, and a doctoral candidate - participated in the course. Some are directors or board members of organizations while others are new to civil society.

An added benefit of the course is the creation of a new career option for Israeli Arab university graduates who often are discriminated against in the job market and have fewer opportunities than their Jewish peers for finding suitable work. Furthermore, having Arab professionals in fundraising will facilitate new funding sources from the Arab/Moslem world, making them more accessible to non-profits in Israel.

It usually takes a while for the results of a SHATIL course to be felt in the field, but sometimes there is instant karma. In a joint SHATIL - Life and Environment course on green issues in local elections (one of a series offered by SHATIL throughout the country), Pninat Hagalil (Pearl of the Galilee) made a connection with a Ynet reporter that led to an article on Israel's most popular news site about the organization's campaign to prevent the development of a neighborhood for the wealthy in the beautiful "Turquoise Valley" at the entrance to Tzfat. The valley currently includes open spaces, agricultural land, nature reserves and the municipal pool. The NGO is questioning the municipality's decision to sell public lands to a private developer and its decision after the sale to change the planning code - under which this area is designated for recreation - to allow new housing and hotel development. The course provided participants with tools for using the media and the Ynet reporter was among the speakers. Two weeks before the local elections, Pninat Hagalil will, with SHATIL's help, hold a panel in which the candidates will express their views on environmental issues.

Other summer courses included Building Strong Boards for green organizations, Improving English for Activists in Social Change Organizations, Women Renewing Management, Cooperation between Civil Society and the Local Authority in Ma'alot Tarshicha, a special course for organizations who help refugees from Darfur and many more.

And, for dessert (l'kinuach) as they say in Hebrew, some feedback from Yossi Sofer, who is founding an institute to promote changes in halacha and who attended our summer resource development course in Tel Aviv: "Thank you for the encouragement that I drew from you. Thank you for the feedback, the good advice I got for free, for the referrals to important individuals. Thank you for your smiles and for your dedication to improving our society and our country and to making them more just."

Last week, SHATIL participated in the UN Department of Information's (DPI) human rights conference for NGO's in Paris. Our representative, Dr. Nurit Hashimshoni Yaffe, director of Community Organizing at SHATIL, was one of thousands of NGO representatives from more than 100 countries who gathered to give a renewed push to the UN Declaration of Human rights. SHATIL participated in its capacity as an NGO with Special Consultative Status with the Economic & Social Council, Associated with the Department of Public Information of the United Nations.

"The opportunity for SHATIL to represent Israel in such a gathering is very meaningful," Yaffe said. "It allows us to present another face of Israel to the world - the face that works for human, women's and minority rights, education, equality, the side of Israel that is not often expressed. Our UN status gives us a chance to do so."

Yaffe said that listening to presenters from all over the world confirmed that SHATIL is "doing things right -- and perhaps even better" than NGOs in many other countries.

"It's a good place for us to be," she concluded.

And next week, SHATIL lobby consultant Shmulik David will represent SHATIL at the second annual international conference of the Palestinian-Israeli Peace NGO Forum in Pisa, Italy entitled, Europe's Role in the Resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict. He will present Shatil's joint work with the British-based Responding to Conflict (RTC) with Arab and Jewish civil society leadership in Israel. The conference will be addressed by Israel Education Minister Yuli Tamir and Dr. Riad al-Malki, Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs; NIF Board and SHATIL Committee member Dr. Sarah Ozacky-Lazar and Al-Quds University President, Dr. Sari Nusseibeh among other dignitaries. The conference will address the role of civil society in peace building, cooperation between Isareli, Palestinian and European NGOs, the EU as a model for a Middle East Community, insights from other conflicts, and more.

Says David: "Shatil sees the importance of continuing work for peace even when circumstances don't look favorable. Participating in this conference will help me in my work to develop the capacity of Israeli peace groups to work in a more coordinated fashion and to strategically contend with our complex and challenging reality."

The conference will feature Live on "live.in toscana.it"

Under this banner, SHATIL's Ethiopian Youth at Risk Forum in Haifa protested in front of Haifa's City Council about an untenable situation facing a group of Ethiopian city residents. The presence of the residents in the demonstration, including babies, children and old people, moved passersby and City Council members alike.

In surveying the problems of Ethiopian youth at risk in Haifa, the Forum, Andenet Chail No (Together we are Strong,) came across a building housing 12 Ethiopian families who poured their hearts out to the group. As happens too often with new Ethiopian immigrants, the families had bought their apartments through underhanded agents who showed them one apartment but sold them another. The immigrants found themselves in a neglected neighborhood rife with crime and drugs - a neighborhood in which it is difficult to live and even harder to raise children.

Now, the Haifa municipality is throwing oil on these flames by paving a highway a mere meter from the entrance to the building in clear deviation of planning laws, expropriating the building's courtyard and garden without consulting the residents, without taking even elementary safety precautions. The grassy area the kids used as a playground is gone as is the tree in whose shade residents regularly gathered. The activists found a dangerous situation with no cross walk, no sidewalk, noise that began at 5 a.m. and lasted till midnight and residents living in constant fear and anxiety for their children's and their own safety.

But believing that "together we are strong," the activists immediately organized the residents and began a campaign to get the city to take responsibility for the situation. They gained the support of a city councilwoman who visited the building, was shocked by what she saw and submitted an urgent question to the mayor that stated "the residents are in a state of siege. Children are locked in their homes. Families are afraid. A catastrophe is waiting to happen...Did the fact that building residents are from weakened groups (Ethiopian immigrants and some Arabs) make possible this outrageous contempt for human life?"

Forum representatives attended the City Council meeting at which the issue was discussed, gained the support of additional members and the attention of Yefei Nof, the company paving the road, which asked to meet the group. At an on-site meeting, the company promised to build a railing, a crosswalk and, once the street is finished, a playground, lawn, flowers and insulated windows. The group repeated the residents' demand: compensation and evacuation from the building until the work is completed and the danger is past. The group is awaiting a meeting with Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav, mandated by the City Council.

The campaign is being covered in local and internet media.

In the past few weeks, SHATIL marked several successes on the national, regional and local levels:

• The Supreme Court rejected Ramle Mayor Yoel Lavi's appeal of the Attorney General's decision that Lavi could not be appointed as director of the Israel Lands Administration. The Attorney General's decision followed intensive lobbying by SHATIL and its Mixed Cities project after Lavi made violently racist public statements when a SHATIL Mixed Cities staffer approached him about changing street names in Arab neighborhoods in Ramle to reflect Arab culture. (Some street names have since been changed - See NIF News April 29 2008.) Both the Supreme Court's and Attorney General's decisions reflect the position that an official displaying such utter disrespect for his constituency could not carry out the directorship of such an important body as the Israel Lands Administration in a just and equitable manner.
• SHATIL's Guide to Local Elections has been translated into Russian for the use of FSU immigrant organizations in Israel. The Guide offers concrete tools and suggestions for advocating for a social agenda among candidates for Israel's local elections in November. The new guide can be downloaded gratis from SHATIL's web site: http://SHATIL.org.il/services/publications
• SHATIL has added another new booklet to its library of social change tools: Resource Development from the Community, a guide that helps Israeli social change organizations turn to the local population and not rely solely on contributions from foreign foundations and individuals of means. The guide also demonstrates how fundraising from the community empowers volunteers, increases commitment on the part of the organization's target population and helps position the organization in the community.
• In cooperation with SHATIL, Bar Ilan University is offering a new M.A. in Gender in the Field. The program combines theoretical studies with social practice. And in November, Tel Aviv University, in cooperation with SHATIL, will launch the second cycle of its unique Master's program in social change for activists in social change organizations.

On September 3 and 4, SHATIL held an invitational two-day study seminar on Incorporation into Domestic Israeli Law of the International Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD.)

The seminar aimed to promote the ratification of the convention (which Israel signed in 2006 but has not yet ratified) in Israel and promote civil society supervision and implementation mechanisms regarding this convention. The seminar strongly emphasized individuals with disabilities as advocates on their own behalf.

Said Abbas Abbas, director of Almanarah - Association for the Advancement of the Blind in Arab Society in Israel: "The seminar was an exceptional experience for me, sharpening my knowledge in many areas. Especially important were the practical ideas of the participants about how to implement the CRPD. The unique mosaic of academics, people from the establishment and from the field at the seminar points to wall-to-wall interest in the CRPD, in advancing the rights of people with disabilities and in government, academic and civil society responsibility for its implementation."

Guest lecturers included international law experts from the United States, including Prof. Michael Stein of Harvard University, who spoke about the implementation of CRPD and Prof. Michael Waterstone of Loyola University who described the ‘American experience.' Participants represented civil society organizations and government ministries. Also in attendance was the Commissioner of Equal Opportunities for People of Disabilities.

Based on the outcomes of the seminar, SHATIL will provide assistance to civil society organizations in promoting the ratification and implementation of the convention.

The seminar was held in cooperation with the Minerva Center for Human Rights of the Faculty of Law at the Hebrew University, the Equal Rights Commission for Persons with Disabilities of the Ministry of Justice, the
Harvard Project on Disability of Harvard Law School and Survivor Corps. NIF Grantee B'zchut, which had input into the formulation of the CRPD, also presented at the seminar.

On August 18, 70 concerned citizens gathered in Be'er Sheva's Youth Center for a conference sponsored by Shatil's Umbrella Forum for Bedouin Education in the Negev. The conference was called following the tragic deaths of four Bedouin children who were killed on the way to school in substandard transport on unpaved, hazardous roads in unrecognized Bedouin villages.

Said Dr. Awad Abu Freih, coordinator of the Forum: "Children get off their school busses surrounded by dust on narrow, unpaved roads and are trampled by oncoming drivers who can't see them." According to Abu Freih, the lives of at least 10,000 children are in danger.

"We demand that the government pave roads between the unrecognized villages and the schools," Abu Freih told several media outlets.

The Forum has been fighting for safer roads for 10 years and the Supreme Court twice backed its demands. The conference, which featured Knesset Members, academics, lawyers, government officials, representatives of parents' organizations from Negev Bedouin villages and other activists, aimed at creating a multi-sector discourse about the situation and at garnering additional support for the struggle.

Among the topics covered: "It's hard to get to school and it's hard once you get to school - an update on the situation;" "From dangerous roads to safe roads: How?"; "The right to accessible and safe education" and more.

During the conference, which was dedicated to the four children who were killed on the roads, participants stood for a moment of silence in memory of Salman AlAtras, 11, Iman Abu Asa, 8, Ahmad AlKasasi, 12 and Abed Naim AlSayad, 5. May their memories be for a blessing.

The conference received wide coverage in Israeli newspapers, radio, television and internet news sites and was co sponsored by the High Follow Up Committee for Arab Education, the Israel Religious Action Center and the Regional Council of Unrecognized Arab Villages in the Negev.

On August 19, 11 students, all immigrants from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), graduated from the second cycle of a Shatil training course for social entrepreneurs co-sponsored by Ben Gurion University of the Negev. In attendance was Bella Savran, a new Israel-based donor to Shatil's Assistance to Immigrants from the FSU Project. We felt her insights as a social worker and her excitement about the project would inspire our readers.

The course - now preparing for its third cycle -- trains participants in both the theoretical and practical aspects of social change work. Each chooses a project to work on from strengthening immigrant youth at risk to difficulty in repaying loans, to working with the elderly. The students also had a chance to meet with Knesset members and to speak on the radio.

The cadre of 15 students which participated in the first such course in 2007 went on to form a Graduates' Forum which mentored this year's participants, including presenting an overview of the pertinent social issues affecting the FSU community in southern Israel.

"I identify with this population because my parents were immigrants (to the US from Europe,)" said Savran. "They were lucky because they were in business which is a portable profession, but when I heard these students' family stories - about highly educated professionals who weren't able to integrate into the Israeli world of work -- I realized this could have been my story.

"I asked them what it was like for them - educated young people with good Hebrew - to work with at risk kids. They told me, ‘The gap between us and them is not big at all. When we meet with them, we remember we felt the same way: it was hard for us to get the language, to feel part of Israeli society. For us, it's a like a healing of the wounds we felt when we immigrated to Israel with our families.'

"When they spoke about their projects, I was very moved to see what it meant to them to learn about social change and to become social change agents," Savran continued. "The fact that the course combines learning and work gives it a kind of intensity that really grabs them. Several of them said, ‘I didn't really know what I was getting into, but the more I got into it, the more moved I became by the issues we worked on.'

"One participant who worked on a project helping older people living in protected housing fight for their right to not have cellular antenna placed on their buildings, said it was like helping her grandparents. She and the others said it was interesting for them to have something very different from their studies - none were social or community work students, they were studying accounting, the arts, engineering. They said going through this experience had a profound impact on them and made them realize they would always want to be involved in social change work.

"That's what makes a good civil society - when people from all walks of life get involved in working to change the society."

"I saw that a one-year course, if it's good and meaningful, can have an effect on the kind of person you become, on the way you live your life.

"Part of what was fun for the kids was a chance to be with other Russian immigrants, to bond with their own group. I could see that part of the energy of the group came from the fact that they did group work for themsevles as well as in their projects. This created a great atmosphere and is critical in terms of consciousness raising. They weren't just going out and working with teens, they were coming back to the group, processing what they were doing and learning and getting a broader perspective from Shatil on the issues.

"I was impressed that the graduates of last year's course founded their own NGO, giving them a context in which they could continue their social change work. This is their own initiative, part of the ripple effect I see in Shatil's work. I thought that was beautiful."

Said Felix, one of the course participants: "I learned that anyone can effect change. If all immigrants were united like this, we would all succeed."

At the age of 11, Miriam Yosef left home and began the treacherous trek to Sudan in order to get to the land of her dreams. In the refugee camps, she watched her close friend, Tezeta, perish from malnutrition. Although she made it to Israel, young Miriam was separated from her parents for nine long and lonely years.

"As children, we had to see things we shouldn't have seen," says Miriam. She went on to feel things no woman should have to feel: she married a man who abused her.

"When I look back, I think, How did I cope?" Miriam asks. "It's a miracle. I tell my kids, It's possible to overcome every obstacle that we meet on our path. I've always had to fight and I survived. And now I fight for others."

Like many abused women, Miriam stayed in a bad marriage for years. "But now that's behind me," she says with finality. Miriam was helped by women's organizations and she found herself wanting to give back.

Along with other Ethiopian women activists and potential activists, Miriam attended Ethiopian women's empowerment workshops led by Shatil. "With Shatil's help, we tried to advance women's issues like rights, occupation, parenting," says Miriam. "Until the day one of our friends was killed by her husband. That's when we decided the issue we have to work on is family violence and we founded Yachdav - for the Prevention of Violence in the Ethiopian Family, a coalition of women activists from the Ethiopian community. With Shatil's support, we have advanced many processes. Shatil gives us guidance, consulting and a coordinator. It gives us knowledge and tools: how do we influence the decision makers? How do we express problems to Knesset members?"

Today, Miriam is one of the Shatil-led Coalition's most active members and participates in its advocacy sub group which has succeeded in getting the issue on the government's agenda. The Coalition has also succeeded in raising awareness of the problem in the Ethiopian and general communities and has gotten the government and other bodies to allocate resources to solving the problem at its roots. Miriam has three daughters, ages 11, 12 and 16. She is social worker at the Center for the Prevention of Family Violence in Haifa and leads parenting groups.

"Shatil," she says, "gives us the belief in our own ability to make change."

The wheels started turning on August 3rd, as five wheelchair-bound activists left Kiryat Shmona for Jerusalem on a mission to raise public awareness about the plight of the disabled in Israel. Each day, another dozen or so disabled people joined them for the day. The 10-day journey was organized to raise public awareness about the distress of Israel's disabled population - especially those living in the periphery who see themselves as doubly disabled - and to strengthen the disabled protesters who have been camped out in front of the Welfare Ministry for the past two months. These protesters aim to spur the government to acknowledge their situation, hear their demands and give them urgent assistance.

SHATIL guided the campaign with other assistance provided by the Kibbutz Movement, the Hashomer Hatza'ir youth movement and the Association of Polio Victims in Israel. The SHATIL Galil office arranged a rotation by which one of them constantly accompanied the journey.

The Shatil-advised protesters in Jerusalem, which the wheelchair contingent joined when they arrived in Jerusalem August 13, are demanding:

• The provision of caregivers: While a person with 100% disability receives NIS 2,200 ($617) per month from the government for special services, he or she must pay NIS 3850 ($1,080) minimum wage plus benefits to a caregiver. The disabled are demanding that the government halt this allowance and take responsibility for providing the caregivers.

• Updating of mobility allowance: The government allowance to the disabled who need a car in order to leave the house is NIS 2,150 ($535) while the actual cost of maintaining such a car is approximately NIS 3,500 ($982.) As a result, many disabled people are confined to their homes.

• Raising the general disability allowance which is NIS 2,200 ($614.)

• Government help to the disabled in the periphery to obtain medical services in the center of the country which cannot be obtained in their areas.

"We succeeded in traveling in our wheelchairs, 350 kilometers during the hottest days of summer, and attained our goal of reaching Jerusalem," said Albert Maimoni, a 52-year-old father of four from Kiryat Shmona who worked as a chef until eight years ago, when he contracted osteomalacia. "This campaign gave us back our self respect."

Yesterday (August 17) representatives of the disabled who have been striking in the tent encampment for 68 days met with the Minister of Welfare and the director of the Social Security administration, a meeting that resulted in progress in their ongoing negotiations.

When the largest Russian library outside of the Former Soviet Union, which is also the most used of Jerusalem's 25 public libraries faced the danger of closing, SHATIL's Assistance to Immigrant from the FSU staff went into high gear. Recruiting assistance from SHATIL lobby and media experts, the staff partnered with FSU immigrant organizations to convince the municipality to keep the library open. The building behind the Central Bus Station that had housed the four-story library was sold and a suitable alternative had not been found. After an intensive campaign that made headlines and unrelenting pressure by organizations, activists, and Knesset and Jerusalem city council members including mayoral hopeful Nir Barkat, the municipality found the library an alternative home in the center of town.

The group of organizations and activists that worked tirelessly to keep this cultural treasure alive demonstrated to themselves and to the establishment that the Russian-speaking community in Israel is able to successfully apply pressure. SHATIL sees this successful campaign as the opening salvo of a wider struggle for the cultural rights of the Russian speaking population in the country as a whole.

"Russian Jewry didn't bring out gold when it left Russia," Dina Kazhdan, of SHATIL's' Assistance of Immigrants from the FSU project said in an article in the Jerusalem Post. "It brought its libraries."

Inda Kriksunov, the project's coordinator, explained SHATIL's involvement in the campaign: "People who became involved wanted to say that the library and the books in it are a central value in immigrant life. Books are our entire childhood. Throughout childhood, we read. Books shaped our personalities. They are at the heart of our lives as immigrants. To take away our books is to take away our meaning. Our books are a source of pride. Literature unites us... Even people who don't use the library got involved. They rose up because they understand that life is impossible without valuing books and libraries. The library is our symbol. The library is our face."

Just before a major NIF-sponsored demonstration replete with public figures was about to take place, the municipality announced it had found an alternative space for the library in Jerusalem's Clal Center downtown. SHATIL FSU staff viewed the signing of the contract and called off the demonstration.

"The success of this campaign and the widespread participation in it demonstrated that the "right to culture" is important not only to the Russian-speaking population in Jerusalem but to Israeli society as a whole," said Ilana Litvak, a SHATIL FSU project staffer.

To launch the book, The Sea is Free -- on Environmental Justice and Public Participation in Planning, SHATIL organized an environmental happening in Tel Aviv July 31. The collection of essays is published by SHATIL, the NIF, the Green Environment Fund and the Heschel Center for Environmental Learning and Leadership, in memory of Alona Vardi, founder of SHATIL's' environmental justice project. The idea for the book was born when a group of Alona's colleagues from Israel's environmental movement met soon after her premature death last year to think about how to preserve and cherish her memory and to widen the reach of her special message.

From the book's preface: "Alona was given a special gift with her birth - a sense of natural justice. With the years, this sense turned into a compass that guided her life as an environmental activist who worked to promote environmental justice through participatory democratic processes that are alive, active, involving and formative."

Each of the book's contributors - including MK Dov Hanin, Prof. Avner de Shalit, Dr. Eilon Schwartz and leaders of Israelis' environmental movement --held many conversations with Alona and her world view is echoed in their writings.

The happening, held at the Kibbutzim Seminary in Tel Aviv, included eight workshops on a variety of environmental issues, a Hyde Park with 10 speakers and a plenary with a panel on the growth and development of the environmental movement in Israel and remarks on the book by MK Dov Hanin. The event was covered on TV and radio.

The Sea is Free is available in Hebrew from SHATIL for $16 including shipping by contacting hilac@shatil.nif.org.il.

The day provided participants with a chance to brush up on their environmental skills at workshops such as: an analysis of the successful collaborative campaign to eliminate the fish cages in Eilat by Green Course; how to tell if a factory is polluting the environment by the Public Health Coalition, how to prepare compost, an arts workshop for children using recycled materials and more.

More than 150 Israelis of Ethiopian origin from throughout the country gathered in Kiryat Moshe, Rehovot -- a neighborhood heavily populated by Ethiopian immigrants which often appears negatively in the media -- on July 28 for a day long seminar on preventing domestic violence in the Ethiopian community. The seminar was organized by Yachdav (Together), the SHATIL-led Ethiopian Women's Coalition to Address Domestic Violence.

The gathering was conducted in Amharic so it could be accessible to new immigrants. As they entered the Kiryat Moshe Community Center, which the Rehovot municipality donated to the event, women and men of all ages donned blue and white T-shirts specially made for the occasion with the message, "No to Violence, Yes to Peace" in Hebrew and Amharic.

In the past 10 years, 22 Ethiopian immigrant women have been killed by their frustrated husbands, many of whom then committed suicide. The Coalition works on many levels and with many partners to address the roots of the violence and to reduce it. The conference was part of the Coalition's public education efforts.

Coalition Coordinator Shulamit Sahalo launched the day by saying, "This is a difficult day. But we'll overcome the difficulties for the goal of peace in the home."

Introducing Absorption Ministry Director Erez Halfon, Shulamit said: "This is what we want you to say: Next year we'll increase the budget to address violence in the Ethiopian family. We have seen that if we invest in parents, we have to invest less in children later."

Halfon welcomed the participants and agreed to Shulamit's demand. The Prime Minister's Authority for the Advancement of the Status of Women head, Mirit Danon, praised the Coalition's collaborative effort to reduce domestic violence and Rehovot City Councilman Abeye Zewada dubbed the Coalition's efforts a "sacred project."

The entire audience rose to its feet as a group of kessim (highly respected spiritual leaders) chanted a prayer for peace in the home especially composed at the Coalitions' urging. The audience, most of whom arrived by busses chartered by the Ministry of Absorption, also heard talks from Coalition members and others about the nature of domestic violence in general and in the Ethiopian community, police handing of the issue and means of treatment and prevention.

"This is an important event and I hope it helps," said Ahuva Wanda, who arrived from Ashdod, where she works with Ethiopian immigrants. "One day isn't enough; I hope it's duplicated around the country. We need more awareness, more information campaigns. Every man and woman needs to know about his/her rights and responsibilities in the home and not to forget our tradition, but to blend it with the new reality."

The cultural sensitivity of the organizers was evident in all aspects of the day - including the fact that lunch (sponsored by the Ministry of Health) consisted of injara and wot - traditional Ethiopian foods.

The event was co-sponsored by the above mentioned government bodies as well as the Ethiopian National Project and Bahalachin, which works for Ethiopian cultural preservation.

Shatil financial management consultant Liora Asa recently served as a panelist for the Charlie Awards 2008 program, which brings outstanding Taglit-Birthright graduates from throughout the world to Israel for a week of intensive leadership development.  Liora’s presentation highlighted the important role of sound fiscal management and budgeting as a basis for effective and sustainable management of non-profit organizations throughout the world. She stressed to these young, dynamic leaders the importance of budgeting in good management as they build their local initiatives back home. The participants saw that budgeting reflects the values and beliefs of an organization and that the numbers tell a story all their own that reflects priorities, transparency, resources, partners and community involvement. The Charlies, who came from 13 countries, then engaged in an interactive exercise in which they analyzed a budget of a case organization.  Shatil’s new focus on financial management for social change organizations is in its pilot year. The program aims to expand NGO’s toolkit to integrate financial management tools without compromising creativity and ideology in NGO’s goal of promoting the public good. It includes an emphasis on the four building blocks of financial management:  record Keeping, internal control, budgeting; and financial reporting.  The Charlie Award is a joint initiative of the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation and the Center for Leadership Initiatives and recognizes the achievements and visions of exceptional Taglit-Birthright Israel alumni from around the world.   

A well-attended day-long conference in Acco brought together students who have been working for the rights of Acco's Old City Arab residents with the residents themselves, housing rights activists, NGO leaders, lawyers, other academics and representatives of the planning authorities (such as the Israel Antiquities Authority and the Old Acco Development Society.)

"We believe the time has come for students to contribute in their academic capacity to the good of vulnerable population groups," said Sami Hawari, SHATIL's Mixed Cities Field Coordinator for Acco, referring to the proactive role played by students from Haifa University's Human Rights in the Community Legal Clinic and the Haifa Technion's Faculty of Urban Planning in developing and presenting projects on preservation and gentrification of Acco's Old City and the rights of residents.

In the audience were women from the south Acco neighborhood of Basateen El Raml, which, in the framework of the Mixed Cities project, has fought a successful struggle for recognition and inclusion in Acco Municipality and the Ministry of Housing's development plans.

Participating Technion students and public planning officials clarified visions for the future of Acco's Old City and addressed the concerns and fears of residents. Legal Clinic members discussed differences between the public housing and protected tenancy laws and under what circumstances the law can support unfortunate eviction processes. Students' presentations included interviews with residents indicating that the latter's intent is not to block preservation and renovation plans but to be included as partners who are consulted and kept informed throughout the planning process. This reflects the main objective of the Mixed Cities project since its inception - the participation of Arab residents in the development of planning and building policies that affect their lives.

"We hope this conference will increase cooperation between students and authorities and open new and positive channels between residents and the planning authorities - for the good of the city and all its residents," concluded Sami Hawari.

As a finale to its 25th anniversary, Shatil last week released a unique, multi-language CD collection of social protest/social change songs featuring top Israeli artists such as David Broza, Hadag Nachash, Chava Alberstein, Amal Murkus, Dan Toren, Aviv Geffen, Peter Paul and Mary and Phil Ochs.

The collection marks a fresh approach to advancing NIF and Shatil's agenda. Each set of lyrics tackles a different aspect of Israeli's social reality and inspires listeners to action: the link between politics and big money; ambivalent attitudes toward new immigrants, migrant workers, minorities and other "strangers;" indifference toward environmental degradation; the rise of consumer culture; the effects of occupation and war and women's inequality all receive their due in this collection. The disc includes songs in Hebrew, Arabic and English as well as immigrants artists from the Former Soviet Union and Ethiopia.

The featured artists - the mainstream performers affiliated with major record companies and the lesser known musicians who funded their own recordings - contributed their songs gratis to this collection. All proceeds from sales of the CD will go directly to the New Israel Fund.

"Music, like other forms of art, has enormous power to shed light on important issues and create sparks of positive change," says Hadas Eytan, the Shatil staffer who produced the CD. "Songs of protest like these also carry the seeds of hope for a better future."

Reviews and items about the CD appeared in the mass circulation daily, Yediot Achronot, Globes, Walla and other outlets.

The CD is available in local music stores in Israel for NIS39.90 (about $12) and will soon be available in the U.S.

SHATIL staff and other social activists handed out "checks" from the government of Israel to Negev education (NIS 400,000,000,) health (NIS 400,000,000,) and development in the Negev (NIS 17,000,000,000) at the government initiated Negev Conference, held in the presence of the Prime Minister and other dignitaries, last week.

"We distributed the checks like the government distributes promises that have no backing," said Tzvika Gottlieb, the SHATIL lobby consultant. The move was part of a protest spearheaded by SHATIL in collaboration with other NGO's.

The Conference was dominated by business and government interests with little or no representation for immigrants, Bedouin, small business owners and farmers, the disabled, social organizations and others.

SHATIL in the South organized a protest tent, busses to the protest, distribution of the checks to the hundreds of conference participants and a letter signed by 40 NGO's to Minister for Negev Development, Yaakov Edri.

The letter began: "We, representatives of social and environmental organizations, protest the fact that the government initiated Negev Conference, called to discuss issues critical to the development of the region, ignores organizations that represent the local population and does not give expression to central groups that live in the south and to the issues that concern them. The Conference program does not reflect or represent whatsoever the population mosaic of the Negev nor the issues that concern us and we demand a change."

The protest as well as the letter was covered in local media and on radio.

In an effort to strengthen local environmental and social leadership in the Negev, which suffers from some of Israel's worst environmental problems, SHATIL last week launched the Negev Environmental Fellows Program. Fourteen fellows are initially participating in a pilot course aimed at increasing their effectiveness in dealing with environmental issues related to health, occupation and public awareness.

Participants include staff from the Ministries of the Environment, Interior, Agriculture and Health as well as the Jewish Agency; Negev NGO's; academics and businesspeople.

SHATIL launched an internet site for the program which will enable fellows to discuss issues, share information and advertise events.

At its best, a SHATIL workshop can be a life-changing event, affecting not only the activist-participant, but ever widening circles of people throughout the country. This spring, for example, Hanin Majdala's views of people with disabilities were transformed during the Social Change Course for Persons with Disabilities. Although not disabled herself, Hanin works with disabled people at the Alyn Hospital. Hanin allowed NIF News a peek into her diary:

"When I began the course, I knew I'd be faced with a different reality, one I wasn't accustomed to, without a desk I could hide behind, without files to create a border between me and my clients, and without a big sign explicitly stating my profession: social worker.

My place is so clear. What I do at Alyn is so clear. But when I got to this forum, all my assumptions were called into question. I was unaware of the strength these people have. That thought led me to ponder how anchored I am in pathology, in which we view people living with disabilities via those disabilities and forget to ask ourselves if they have anything to offer beyond their wheelchairs. I felt, suddenly and oppressively, that I was the disabled one - mentally, not physically. I thought about the many clients I'd received in my office who may have suffered from my attitude. I also discovered that I needed their permission to enter their world-another world that, until now, as I discovered in these meetings, was separated from my own by a fence that I didn't even know existed. The sessions led me to change a lot of things in the language I use with clients who come to me at work. I stopped calling them "patients" and stopped writing that sentence I realized was so irritating: ‘The aforementioned suffers from...'

"Alongside these changes, I felt I was experiencing something wonderful, something I'd never before experienced - not at work and not in my studies: I learned about creating initiatives and translating ideas and dreams into a written reality and an actual project. Now, I want to have a part in influencing and changing, to be an agent of change - not on behalf of persons with disabilities but together with them." Hanin is already planning to lead a similar course for Arabs in East Jerusalem next year. The course was conducted in cooperation with David Yellin College, Shekel Community Services for People with Special Needs and the Center for Independent Living.

Sometimes a course leads to action even before it ends. While Hanin was having her eyes opened in her course, Dina Kozak was taking part in a SHATIL organized course in Jerusalem, "Sprouting Change: Community Gardening as a Focus for Building Local Power."

"The course gave me the idea of connecting Holocaust survivors with our community garden," Dina write., "And the project began in June."

In addition to Hanin and Dina, hundreds of other activists throughout the country upgraded their skills in dozens of SHATIL courses. A sampling of course names will give you an idea of the critical areas in which SHATIL is making a difference: Monitoring and Tracking Government Decisions and Actions, the Arab Press's Treatment of People with Disabilities, Citizen Involvement in the Municipal Budget Process, Community Organizing, Developing Local Sustainable Economies (with the Heschel Center), Branding and Positioning Strategies, Microfinance and many more.

The first annual Other Voices Film Festival screened socially oriented films for free in Sderot, Ramle, Kfar Qara and Jerusalem's Kiryat Menachem neighborhood for eight days in June.

The Festival was the fruit of a year-long effort involving local residents in each of the four communities. It is part of the development of a model of multicultural discourse that uses culture and media to generate social change. The Festival gave expression to a variety of voices and groups not necessarily part of the mainstream. SHATIL staff introduced the events at each location and helped with outreach to the media. Musical performances and discussions with the artists followed the screenings.

"The Festival gave us the opportunity to meet not just ourselves as we are but as who we would like to be and also created a meaningful, open meeting with the ‘others' who are our neighbors...not necessarily in order to accept or agree, but to listen and to acknowledge, in the hope of creating a more tolerant reality," said Sharon Ben Arie, the festival's initiator and organizer.

The Festival was sponsored by Other Voices -- the Association for the Advancement and Empowerment of the Individual through Media, SHATIL, Eretz Acheret Magazine and other social organizations.

The plight of 22,000 Arab Israeli families, in which one spouse is a Palestinian resident of the West Bank, was addressed at a national SHATIL conference last week, Families in Waiting: Between the Reality of Israeli Law and International Human Rights Conventions. Two hundred people gathered at the Al-Qassimi College in Baqa Algharbiya to address the separation of families caused by a 2003 change in Israeli law which prohibits granting citizenship to Palestinian spouses of Israeli citizens.

"We wanted to expose the issue and to show the human faces behind it," said Aber Grayem, a community organizer in SHATIL's Baqa Algharbiya satellite office. "Our SHATIL branch is in the Triangle and most of the families who suffer from this issue live in this area. It's one of the most severe social problems here. Most of these marriages involve a woman in Israel and a man in the territories; they are young families with many small children. Some of the children don't have Israeli identity cards, which affects their rights to educational, health and social services. The women live as if they are single mothers, raising their children without the presence of a father in the house. We want to expose this problem to both the Jewish and Arab populations and to work with the social services to address the severe economic and social hardships these families face. This conference was a beginning."

The conference included sessions on the law and its influence on family reunification, the effect on children of split families, and case studies of the social an economic effects of enforced separation on families in the Arab villages of Baqa Algharbiya and Jat.

Speaking at the conference, former Knesset Chair Avraham Burg suggested that the solution to the problem of divided families is pressure on elected officials.

"The issue must be led by Jewish Knesset member and not Arab ones," he said. "This shouldn't be perceived as a cry of the Arab minority...but as a humane responsibility of the majority."

Articles about the conference received an unusually high number (more than 200) of talkbacks on Ha'aretz and Ma'ariv's internet sites.

The conference was held in collaboration with local welfare authorities, Adalah, the Legal Center for Arab Minority Rights in Israel, Bat Shalom, and other NGOs.

On the seventh anniversary of the first Qassam attack on Sderot, residents gathered for the first ever public hearing in the town in one of its only protected public buildings. The hearing culminated a year of SHATIL field work in the embattled town and presented testimonies of residents to a public committee and the media. Aimed at giving Sderot residents a voice and strengthening their influence on decision makers, the hearing highlighted the continuing social and economic problems of Sderot and called on the government to take responsibility for its citizens.

"The social Qassam is more dangerous than the military one," testified Sderot resident Mark Ifraimov, who immigrated from the Former Soviet Union in 1996 and helped initiate a community center for Kavkazi immigrants, or Mountain Jews as they like to be called. "The rockets only worsened an already dire situation. The Kavkazi community, of which I am a part, suffers from discrimination and under-representation at every level. My parents, who are educated people, work in factories and are treated poorly. This isn't the 1950's. This is happening here and now."

In an evening of moving testimony and fruitful dialogue, residents' love for Sderot and its people and their desire to stay even under difficult circumstances was a recurring theme. Elise Gigi, who has been living in Sderot for 44 years and whose house was destroyed by rocket fire: "This is a great town. How come nobody is doing anything? I lost everything and nobody took heed of us..." And Michal Lavi, who directed the movie Mediterranean Fever, said, "I'm worn down, many of my friends are no longer here, but we can't abandon this place."

The residents' testimonies will be added to others collected throughout the town and included in a report SHATIL will prepare on citizens' views of government failures on the home front to be sent to government officials and the media.

The hearing ended with a decision to form a task force of Sderot residents, public representatives such as Israel Prize winner Prof. Yona Rosenfeld, Ha'aretz's Lily Galili, NGO heads and SHATIL. The task force will work to find systemic solutions to specific social and economic problems and lobby the government to fulfill its obligations.

The public hearing was organized by SHATIL in cooperation with local activists and NGO's with the support of the Hanns Seidel Fund and the Sderot Cinematheque and was widely covered in local and national media.

For the second year, SHATIL joined other organizations for social change in sponsoring an alternative to the Jerusalem Book Fair, one that encourages a critical view of society through art, literature and music.

The two-day festival held June 5 and 6 in Jerusalem’s Nachlaot neighborhood featured more than 60 stalls of small and independent presses and social change organizations, creative and ecological activities for children, lectures, concerts, ethnic story telling, literary encounters, street theater, a fair trade café featuring food by Women Cook Up a Business, music, story telling and the sale and exchange of second hand books.

The event was co-sponsored by the Jerusalem Municipality, the Jerusalem Foundation and local social organizations such as Bikurim, which promotes crit