Jernass Ashkar – Improving Development Plans for Unrecognized Neighborhoods

When the residents of Barbur, an unrecognized neighborhood in Acco, were reviewing the alternative development plans drawn up in a community-organized consultation process, Jernass Ashkar pointed out a mistake she had seen, which was immediately corrected.  This moment reflects Shatil’s campaign to advance the rights of the Arab community in Israel – both within the community (e.g. the empowerment of women) and in the relationship between the community and the State (e.g. the equal allocation of resources).  Lack of recognition means a lack of infrastructure and a lack of resources. The case of Barbur ended happily.  Thanks to the residents’ participation in Shatil’s Mixed Cities project, the Ministry of Housing and the Acco Municipality agreed to adopt Barbur’s alternate development plans.  Barbur – or rather, Basateen El Raml (Garden on the Sands), as the residents have chosen to call their neighborhood — is now recognized and is being developed.

Shatil places critical issues – such as equal access to resources and services; viable land, planning and housing options; and equal employment opportunities – on the public agenda. Shatil is strengthening Arab civil society in Israel; helping organizations and groups to network and to form effective coalitions, such as the Palestinian Israeli Women’s Forum; and partnering with institutions, organizations and local authorities to create new Arab initiatives, such as the Mubadra emergency services.

The main strategies Shatil employs to advance the rights of the Arab community are:

• Empowerment programs, which provide knowledge, skills and tools
• Consultation in advocacy, media relations and organizational and resource development, to advance a broad spectrum of civil-rights issues
• Coalition-building to advance community-wide goals such as equitable services and educational opportunities

The Bedouin Community in the Negev

The Negev region in the South of Israel is home to the poorest community in the country, the Bedouin. The Bedouin frequently live in isolated places with no electricity or running water. The vast majority of the Bedouin have had to abandon their traditional nomadic lifestyle and many now make their homes in unrecognized villages. More than 66% of Negev Bedouin live below the poverty line; close to half are unemployed and have limited access to employment opportunities.

From our hub in Beersheva, Shatil runs empowerment and leadership programs for Bedouin women, where participants are informed about their rights and their ability to influence personal, family, community and societal affairs. For example, in the Shatil-led Umbrella Forum for Bedouin Education in the Negev, Bedouin parents – some of whom do not even have a high school education – learn to become key players in improving their children’s education.

Shatil’s Forum for Arab Education in the Negev guided the parents of 2,000 pupils in the two schools and 14 preschools in the unrecognized Bedouin village of Wadi el Na’am in Israel’s Negev in their successful struggle, helping them to write letters to the authorities and to plan a strike when the letters were ignored. The resulting strike yielded immediate results; on the first day of the strike, education officials toured the school and the next day a contractor began to implement repairs to address the grave safety and health hazards that were the basis for the strike.