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Palestinian Israeli Sami Matar, an Internet programmer, NIF, through its “Don’t Remain Silent” campaign has produced a fashionable response to the rising wave of racism and threats to democratic values that are engulfing Israel. NIF commissioned Israel’s top young designers and graphic artists to produce a series of unique t-shirts depicting freedom of speech, opposition to racism and support of human rights. The designers provided their talents pro-bono. Project Coordinator Danit Guttfried said, "We wanted to create protest shirts that did not have the regular symbols and angry slogans, but something that people would be happy wearing every day and not just at demonstrations." NIF's Don't Remain Silent campaign was launched in the summer to galvanize all Israelis who feel that the country's democracy is under threat and want to take an active part in building a "democratic camp." Since then, Don't Remain Silent's website has had nearly 1 million views, the Facebook page has over 5,000 fans, and hundreds of activists have spread the message through blogs and demonstrations.
Ortal Ben-Dayan, a Mizrachi feminist activist NIF is marketing the t-shirts in Israel online for NIS 39 (about $11). The shirts have been widely featured in the media including a photo shoot which showed a cross section of Israelis, including Palestinian Israelis, foreign workers and gays, wearing the shirts. We will be making the shirts available in the U.S., through a third-party vendor, soon. See an article about the shirts on Y-Net (in Hebrew) |
