(abridged version- the entire report can be read on our web site)

Submitted by: Chassia Chomsky Porat, Jewish Civic Action Groups project director (chassia@sikkuy.org.il) - July 2006

Three groups are now active: Sikkuy in Misgav, Sikkuy Carmel Coast and Sikkuy Hasharon (coordinated by two volunteers). The three groups are all working in two related areas: public education in order to heighten awareness of the inequality and need for civic equality between Jews and Arabs and action to promote equality, based mostly on information acquired during meetings of the civic action groups and on the Sikkuy yearly reports.

It is important to note that every activity listed below requires a great deal of planning and work: organizational meetings, meetings with Arab heads of municipalities and professionals in the civil service, consultations with group members, external consultants, and Sikkuy's staff, document preparation, writing articles for the regional media, initiating and producing conferences, and of course office work.

During the last six months, Sikkuy in the Carmel Coast has renewed its activities with the addition of new members and renewed interest on the part of veteran activists. We recruited new members from those who contacted Sikkuy via our website, as well as by reaching out to individuals who wrote letters in the local press that are in the spirit of Sikkuy's public agenda. The group has decided to focus its energies on promoting action for civic equality and increasing public awareness.

A new civic action group has been organized in the Ra'anana-Kfar Sava area. The group emerged from a number of local activists who asked Sikkuy to help them organize a civic action group. At present, the group is being coordinated by two volunteers from the area. This will continue until additional funds are located to pay a coordinator.

Activities: The group began in May with a presentation by Sikkuy that provided an overview of Sikkuy's projects, with a focus on the civic action groups in particular. In June, the group toured the town of Taibe together with the city engineer in order to learn about the problems that the residents are facing and to generate ideas about how the group can work for civic equality on behalf of its neighbors.
The group decided to focus of the welfare in Taibe, one of the neighboring Arab towns. They will assist them in initiating drug treatment programs and support groups, and will advise them how to receive and implement government welfare budgets since the municipal officials are not always up-to-date on current government resources.

I am very excited to send you this, our first "Sikkuy in San Antonio" electronic newsletter. It will be the first of 4 newsletters we will send you in the coming year with brief updates about Sikkuy's work in Israel advancing civic equality between the Jewish and Arab citizens.

Thanks to your generosity in 2006, our small but growing group of supporters raised $10,000 for Sikkuy. This sum was matched by a local "anonymous donor" who we thank from the bottom of our hearts.

Here in San Antonio, Sikkuy has a growing group of friends, both Jews and Christians, who feel strongly about supporting civil rights in Israel. We have also met with members of the Muslim community of San Antonio and hope that they too will join in this important effort.

The Jewish Federation of San Antonio and the CRC have both been very supportive of our efforts and for this we thank them. I want to give a special mention and thanks to Rabbi Barry Block of Temple Beth-El for his encouragement and the congregation's cordial hosting of community meetings with Sikkuy, as well as to Temple Chai and congregation Beth Am for inviting Sikkuy to speak at their Shabbat service.

We believe that work to advance equality and reconciliation within Israel between Arab and Jewish citizens will also have a positive impact on the overall "peace process", despite all of the current difficulties and disappointments.

In 2006, we were very successful at raising more than $20,000 for Sikkuy's Civic Action Groups project in the Galilee (northern Israel) and hope to better that amount in 2007.
We are beginning to plan a springtime time visit to San Antonio by the two co-executive directors of Sikkuy, Ali Haider and Shuli Dichter (an Arab and a Jew), and hope you will all join in one of the meetings and events. Some of you may want to offer your homes as venues and we would be happy for another anonymous donor to offer a matching challenge.

The project we support in Israel facilitates local Jewish and Arab citizen's groups that learn about the issue of equality and then do something to achieve it in their own communities. This is truly democracy in action.

On the right, please take a look at the abridged progress report about the Civic Action Group that we support in the Misgav Region of the Galilee and the others that Sikkuy has initiated in other parts of Israel. The full report can be accessed on Sikkuy's web site. In our next newsletter, we will update you about the new Civic Action Groups in the Arab communities of northern Israel.

I look forward to your comments and questions as well as your assistance in planning the upcoming Sikkuy visit to our community.

Sincerely,

Rachel Walsh

Coordinator

Sikkuy in San Antonio

E-mail: rhwalsh@sbcglobal.net

Phone: 210.499.0613