שתיל - שירותי תמיכה וייעוץ לקידום שינוי חברתי

”We live as neighbors in the south, Jews and Arabs, and will continue to do so after the current violent conflict. As rockets don't differentiate between Arab and Jew, citizen and terrorist, we ask leaders on both sides to open their eyes and behave differently."  - Statement from Darom for Peace during the recent conflict

While the war in Gaza raised fears of a breach in Jewish-Arab relations in Israel, at least some forward looking individuals used Operation Cast Lead as an impetus for reaching out for greater understanding between the two groups. One such initiative was born in the South. Under the rain of Qassam rockets, Jews and Arabs from Be'er Sheva to Laqia, met, talked and publicly called for dialogue instead of war. As part of its effort to enable voices outside the consensus to be heard during the conflict, SHATIL assisted the grass roots group to construct its messages, gain access to the media, know how to answer their questions, to reach the widest audience -- and in the end, how to deal with arrests.

Daniela Yudelevich, a mid 30's social work student at Sapir Academic College in Sderot, was inspired to act when she heard that two Arab and Jewish women friends in the North had initiated non violent presences at anti war demonstrations in order to ensure they stayed peaceful. She forwarded the email message from her friends and a lecturer of hers from Sapir immediately responded that they should organize something similar in the south.

"We decided we wanted to come with a statement of dialogue between Jews and Arabs in the south in light of the war," Yudelevich told NIF News." On the fourth day, 24 people, half Jewish, half Arab, gathered in a shelter. Most were academics and students who brought friends."

"It's interesting to see that it was the young Arab and Jewish students and academics who had been under fire for eight years, coming out against the violence on both sides," said Zvika Gottleib, a SHATIL lobby and media consultant who attended that first meeting. Within days, the group formulated a position paper "which made us define who we are and what we want," said Yudelevich.

 As a child, Yudelevich lived under the dictatorship in Chile, where the annulment of dissident voices had a profound effect on her. "I wanted to bring another voice that called for peace and dialogue," she says. "I felt I had to create this possibility within myself and for myself on the level of humanity and community. To say, there is a different language, not one of force; that this is not the way to solve things for either side. It won't lead us Israelis or those in Gaza anywhere other than to another generation of hate, to an abyss we won't be able to climb out of." Yudelevich says the support from SHATIL was critical to the group. "We got a room from SHATIL and all the facilities of an office which was very meaningful and important," she said. "Sultan's (Abu Abed, co-director of SHATIL Be'er Sheva who participated as a private citizen) ability to see all sides was very, very important. Zvika's ability to translate our ideas into a language the media and citizenry could understand and relate to was decisive. I didn't know this world. Shmulik (SHATIL lobby consultant Shmulik David) helped very much – with slogans, with relations with the police, in helping us understand the law. He was amazing. "The support from SHATIL showed me that when you need help, it's there." 

During the war, the group organized demonstrations that, despite their peaceful nature, resulted in the arrests of several members, including long time religious activist, Leah Shakdiel. Some, including Ran Tsurif, a political science and government student at Be'er Sheva University (the judge asked him if he was conducting a lab) who is now unable to attend classes, are still under "village" arrest, meaning he is confined to his kibbutz in the north. Tsurif is being represented by the Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI.) (Although the law stipulates that 50 people may peaceably assemble, according to press reports, the police during the war claimed the number was three rather than 50.)

While Tsurif can't attend in person, the group of Arabs and Jews has continued to meet with the intent of deepening the connection between them and working against violence on both sides, Yudelevich said.