Shir Nosatzki, social activist, pro-democracy protest leader, and co-founder and director of the Arab-Jewish partnership organization Have You Seen The Horizon Lately? to be awarded prestigious honor at NIF’s 2023 Annual Gala.
The New Israel Fund (NIF) announced today that it will grant its premier prize, The Gallanter Prize, to protest leader Shir Nosatzki. The Gallanter Prize is awarded annually to an outstanding Israeli activist who has made significant contributions to the field of social justice in Israel. Nosatzki will receive the prize’s $25,000 cash award in support of her work and will address NIF’s “Guardian of Democracy” national gala.
NIF is awarding Nosatzki this prize in recognition of her work bringing Arab and Jewish citizens together, specifically within the pro-democracy protest movement. At a time when Palestinian voices are otherwise absent or ignored in Israel’s democratic discourse, Nosatzki helps bring them to the fore. She has also developed campaigns explaining the implications of the Netanyahu-led judicial coup in Arabic, helping Arab citizens of Israel with little to no knowledge of Hebrew understand the government’s plans. Nosatzki was named one of the most influential people on social media by the Israeli newspaper, The Marker, and designated by another outlet, Maariv, as a promising young leader.
“The Arab community will be the first victims of this judicial overhaul,” she said. “Both Palestinians who are citizens and those who are not. But if the protest movement builds a new agenda while Arab society is not sitting at the table, we won’t be able to call whatever it is we are building ‘democracy.’ I do think that the fact that Israeli Jews are starting to talk about what democracy is, has to bring us towards the fact that we are occupying another people.”
The Gallanter Prize is named for and sponsored by two esteemed leaders of NIF and the San Francisco Bay Area Jewish community, Linda and Sanford (Sandy) Gallanter. NIF’s “Guardian of Democracy” national virtual gala will take place on October 15th. Tickets are available here.
The New Israel Fund is the leading organization advancing and defending democracy and equality for all Israelis. Widely credited with building progressive Israeli civil society, NIF supports a wide range of Israeli nonprofits and has provided over $300 million to progressive civil society organizations since its inception in 1979.