Jumpstarting Arab-Israeli Civil Society

“If the role of civil society is to combat social inequities and injustices, a strong and active Palestinian-Israeli civil society is imperative to narrowing the gamut of gaps between Jews and Arabs.”—Mohanad Berekdar, Shatil Organizational Consultant

Shatil Spotlight: Dr. Sarit Bensimhon-Peleg

Dr. Sarit Bensimhon-Peleg recently joined Shatil in the newly-created position of Director of Strategy and Capacity Building. It is the inevitability of change, the fact that change is ultimately the only thing that will always stay constant, that inspires Sarit, and brings her to Shatil.

Shatil Spotlight: Writing an Unknown Story

As NIF’s Director of Writing, I often tell the story of our organization. NIF’s communications team and I spent the last few weeks telling the story of our 2023. It was a volatile, trying, and inspirational year that came on the heels of other draining years. When it comes to 2024, if there’s one certainty, it is that nothing is certain.

Shatil Spotlight: Mentoring Environmental Activists

Even in the midst of Israel’s war, Shatil’s Director of Arab-Israeli Environmental Activism, Zubaida Ezery, is busy helping Palestinian citizens of Israel confront environmental challenges in their communities.

Meet Hovav Yannai, the new director of Shatil’s Center for Policy Change

Shatil’s Center for Policy Change (CPC), which teaches organizations how to effect policy change and influence public opinion, has a new director: Hovav Yannai. (Click here to read more)

Helping Bedouin in the Negev after October 7

Unlike the majority of Israelis, most Bedouin do not have access to shelters or safe rooms to protect them from rocket fire which comes from Gaza. In the wake of October 7, Shatil has been working tirelessly to provide assistance to the Bedouin (Click here for more information).

Helping Bedouin in the Negev

Unlike the majority of Israelis, most Bedouin do not have access to shelters or safe rooms to protect them from rocket fire which comes from Gaza

Shatil Spotlight: From the Desk of Esther Sivan

The new year is always a good time to reflect on the past and look ahead to see where we’re headed. For Shatil and NIF, for civil society, for the hundreds of thousands of newly engaged citizens, and for the future of Israel, it’s been quite a year. There are many reasons to be concerned for the future, but we can also be proud of what we have achieved, and even a bit optimistic (Click to read more)

Shatil Spotlight: Keeping Activists Focused on the Bigger Picture

To assist civil society in understanding and responding to the rapid onslaught of anti-democratic legislation, Shatil set up the “Salami Method” WhatsApp group in May, attracting nearly 900 members. This channel expands understanding of the broader implications of different legislation, and exposes the government’s intentions, helping participants to see the bigger picture. (Click to read more…)

Organizing for Climate Equality and Democracy with Shatil

Last month, Shatil and partners ran a seminar for social change and environmental NGOs and activists entitled Climate, Society, and Democracy. The goal was to develop initatives to protect the country’s most vulnerable populations from the effects of climate change. (Click to read more…)

Shatil Spotlight: Gathering and Visioning the Future of Israeli Civil Society

For two days in June, Shatil offered a forum where members could collectively envision the question: where does the Israeli social change community want to be in 2030? The program was called “Maof” or “take flight.” Shatil brought together 70 civil society members for a summit to develop a strategic plan on how to build a broad civic coalition for equality by 2023. (Click to read more…)

Shatil Spotlight: Gathering and Visioning the Future of Israeli Civil Society

For two days in June, amidst the chaos that erupted following the November election, Shatil offered a forum where members could collectively envision the question: where does the Israeli social change community want to be in 2030? Click to read more.

Building Resilience In Civil Society Through Shatil

For the twenty-fourth week in a row, Israelis have been spending their Saturday nights protesting. For eight months, social change organizations have been working on overdrive to protect the rights of persecuted groups and combat the strategic dismantling of democratic institutions by the current government. Here at Shatil we’ve been asking ourselves: how are they doing—and how are they doing it? (Click to read more…)

Shatil Spotlight: Sahar Vardi

Sahar Vardi has been reinventing the toolbox of anti-occupation activism for the past 20 years. Now, after returning from two years in the UK as a Rotary Peace Fellow, she is joining the Shatil team to rethink what it means to support the grassroots actors defending Palestinians from encroaching settlers and the army in the occupied territories. (Click to read more…)

Shatil Spotlight: Madrasa

Roughly 95% of Jewish citizens of Israel do not know how to communicate in Arabic, even though Arabic is the native language of 22% of the population in Israel. The lack of a shared language is a clear barrier for building a shared society. In response, Madrasa is a mission to make learning Arabic easy, and the new moral standard for all Israelis. As Madrasa’s co-founder and R&D director Gilad Sevitt sees it, increasing the presence of the Arabic language is crucial for connecting people across social barriers. (Click to read more…)

Empowering Women in Civil Society

“We know that extensive professional and personal networks are necessary to advance and succeed in management and leadership positions in civil society,” said Brit Yakobi, Shatil’s Director of Religious Freedom and Gender and co-director of Tzameret. “We are also aware of the gender aspects of networking…women face greater obstacles in creating networks, hence the importance of building ‘women’s clubs’ as a space for strengthening professional networks for diverse Jewish and Palestinian women.” (Click to read more…)

Learning from European Pro-Democracy Movements

However, just as Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu can learn from Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Israeli protest movements can study how activists in Hungary, and other similar states, have fought democratic decay in recent years. This wisdom was precisely what NIF, Shatil, and NIF grantee Zazim were hoping to glean from the conference they organized, called, “Lessons from Civil Resistance in East & Central Europe.” (Click to read more…)

Combating Racism in Hospitals

In such a short time, networks of support are already being built up and a sense of solidarity is emerging among staff. Hospital managers know that racism is an important issue for their staff, and are welcoming the opportunity to address it systematically. (Click to read more…)

Shared Society NGOs Responding to Potential Crises

Following November 2022 elections, the directors’ requests of Shatil had been clear: to arrange time and space to discuss the ramifications of new draconian government policies, and prepare to respond as a community. (Click to read more…)

First Ever Conference of Israel’s Religious Left

The power of organizing was demonstrated in full force on January 24th when the first-ever Israeli religious left conference brought together over 600 people to push back against the government’s anti-democratic policies and actions. Among those gathered were ultra-Orthodox, national-religious, and traditional Israelis – all unified by their desire to stand up for democracy and make their voice as a community heard. (Click to read more…)

Shatil Spotlight: The Personal is Political

Working at Shatil and the New Israel Fund is another source of hope. It gives me the opportunity to express my personal, professional and political aspirations in the same space. I am strengthened by my hard-working, like-minded colleagues who are doing everything they can to ensure efforts to restrain and oppose this government’s path are coordinated and effective. This has been particularly evident during the last two months as Shatil’s Leadership team analyzed the situation following the election results to plan activity for 2023. (Click to read more…)

Taking to the Streets

As nearly 130,000 people made their way to protest in Tel Aviv last Saturday, with another 6,000 in Haifa and 4,000 in Jerusalem, the question we should all be asking (in the Jewish tradition) is: what makes this moment, this protest, different from the rest? The answer lies in the diversity of attendees, which demonstrates the urgency of the moment. Netanyahu’s government has begun to execute its extreme right-wing agenda, threatening the rights of women, Palestinians, and the LGBTQ+ community, to name a few. (Click to read more…)

Strengthening Young Arab Leadership in Israel

“First, I believe in Shatil and the work they do for Arab society and Israeli society,” he said. But even more importantly, the program had received a rave review from a friend in the first cohort. “Basically he said you get to study and develop yourself…so if you have the opportunity you must join.” Tammer says he already sees growth in his approach to leadership. (Click to read more…)

Recalibrating After the Election

For Shani, the Shatil CPC meetings are also a space for solidarity and connection. Because her role entails working with the Refugee Forum’s six organizations, the Shatil trainings allow her to network with people in similar positions across the social change sector. Together, they share experiences and brainstorm how to approach the challenges they face. (Click to read more…)