While the war in Gaza raised fears of a breach in Jewish-Arab relations in Israel, some forward looking individuals used Operation Cast Lead as an impetus for fostering 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 Lakia met and publicly called for dialogue instead of war. As part of its effort to enable voices outside of the consensus to be heard during the conflict, SHATIL assisted the grassroots group in constructing its messages, and improving media outreach in order to reach the widest audience. Daniela Yudelevich, a social work student at Sapir Academic College in Sderot, was inspired to act when she heard that two Arab and Jewish friends in the North had initiated non-violent presences at anti-war demonstrations in order to ensure they stayed peaceful. She forwarded the e-mail message from her friends and a lecturer from Sapir immediately responded that they should organize something similar in the south. "We decided we wanted to come up 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 quelling 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. There is a different language, not one of force; 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. Ran Tsurif, a political science and government student at Be'er Sheva University is now unable to attend classes, and is still under "village" arrest, meaning he is confined to his kibbutz in the north. Tsurif is being represented by NIF flagship grantee Association for Civil Rights in Israel (ACRI). 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. |