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December 16, 2007

Newsletter No. 8/07

The First Sikkuy Seminar in New York
Sikkuy Seminar - Shuli Dichter
Sikkuy Seminar - Shuli Dichter
Sikkuy Seminar
Sikkuy Seminar - Ali Haidar
Sikkuy Seminar
Sikkuy Seminar
Sikkuy Seminar - Professor Ilan Peleg
Sikkuy Seminar - Mary Schweizer - Sikkuy board member
Sikkuy Seminar
Sikkuy Seminar - Dr. Amara
Sikkuy Seminar - Sarah Kreimer
Sikkuy Seminar
Sikkuy Seminar
Sikkuy Seminar
Sikkuy in Toronto
Sikkuy in Toronto
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THE FIRST SIKKUY SEMINAR IN NEW YORK STRENGTHENS CIVIC EQUALITY IN ISRAEL
SIKKUY ON THE MAP IN TORONTO
A SUMMATION OF THE SIKKUY SEMINAR FROM SIKKUY'S CO-EXECUTIVE DIRECTORS
Dear Sikkuy Friends,
We were very pleased that so many of you came to New York City for the Sikkuy Seminar, from as far away as Toronto and San Antonio, demonstrating how deep your commitment is to learning about the very complex issue of equality between the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel and then doing something about it. We also see in the impressive attendance (more than 30 of you), a vote of confidence in Sikkuy's work.
For those of you who could not attend, allow us to give you a brief rundown of the seminar program and content. In the absence of Terry Rubenstein (seminar chair), who was ill, Sikkuy board member, Dr. Muhammad Amara, ran the entire "show" by himself. He began by reading a message from Terry:
"I am so disappointed not to be there. Our family has supported Sikkuy's operating budget since its inception and founding by Alouph Hareven nearly 20 years ago. It has been hard and steadfast work to bring the issue of the status and treatment of Israeli Arabs to the mainstream of Israeli dialogue. Through the steady, but relentless intervention of Sikkuy and the creation of the Or Commission, real tangible progress is being made. But more needs to be done. I urge you to continue your funding or to begin funding so that during our lifetime we can see a just Israeli society living the fully democratic principles that all of us hold dear..."
The opening talk by Bob Bernstein (founder of Human Rights Watch) was really stimulating and gave food for discussion for the rest of the day, raising the question of "What is an open society?" - Is free speech enough to define an open society? And - what should be the degree of intervention of world NGOs in opening "closed societies"? In other words, Bob claimed that Israel does not need an HRW office since it is viably monitored by local NGOs such as Sikkuy. Later, Shuli Dichter argued that Israel cannot be considered completely open until it ensures full participation for Arab citizens in all walks of life, and that local NGOs, even in "open societies," need the hands-on contact with international civil society organizations for ongoing learning and perspective.
Ali Haider stated in his opening comments that there is a pronounced gap between the image of Israel as an open society and the reality of the Arab minority as an excluded group.
We were pleased that Bob stayed with us for the entire seminar and continued to share his perspectives with us.
Carl Perkal presented the new Equality Index developed by Sikkuy to serve as an objective tool to measure inequality in Israel and monitor its increase or decrease from year to year. Ali detailed Sikkuy's activities at all levels, and Shuli gave details about the new Sikkuy initiative, endorsed by the Prime Minister's Office, of mapping obstacles for equality in government ministries and establishing viable links between them and the Arab local government.
Professor Ilan Peleg discussed his new book that reviews 14 different divided democratic societies in the world and focused on Northern Ireland and Quebec. He claimed that, contrary to popular belief, the minority-majority conflict in Israel is not unique and not even the most extreme of similar such conflicts. Israel, he said, can and should make the steps towards closing the gap and, in turn, can meet the criteria of being an "open society", or a full democracy. He did not state unequivocally, but indirectly he suggested that Israel can get close enough to that without having to change its definition as a Jewish State. This is certainly a question that will continue to be addressed in the ongoing dialogue between the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. The session was chaired by Sikkuy board member, Mary Schweitzer.
Then, after Q&A, (oh boy..) we had lunch. It was a very pleasant atmosphere, with lively discussions around the table.
In order to keep to the schedule, we had to spoil the party and ask the people to return to the seminar. As the chair of the session on the "Future Vision of the Palestinian Citizens of Israel," Shuli opened with a brief review of the last 15 years of developments in the relations between the Arab minority and the state, focusing of the Arab attempt to respond positively to Yitzhak Rabin's initiative toward inclusion of the Arab citizens in the early-mid 1990s and their desire to be involved citizens until the (rather symbolic) candidacy of Azmi Bishara for prime minister in 1999. This was followed by the "earthquake" of October 2000 with demonstrations and riots by Arab citizens as a demand for civic inclusion and the military response of the state and the police. Afterwards, and following the release of the Or Commission recommendations (for the state to implement full civic equality), it took the Arab leaders in Israel four to five years! to get over the shock and start to formulate their future vision as another attempt to say "we are here, do not ignore us".
Dr. Amara, a lecturer in linguistics at Bar Ilan University, gave a brief review of the Arab minority in Israel and analyzed the "Future Vision" document that he was involved in formulating. In his analysis, he made a distinction between "material conflict" and "identity conflict." In cases of "identity conflict," minorities require not only individual rights but also collective rights. He claimed that though the opening of the document contains harsh criticism of the Zionist movement and focuses on substantial equality (material as well as symbolic equality), the majority of the document deals with ways to achieve material equality and with the internal issues facing the Arab community in Israel.
The demand for material equality, he said, was acceptable to the vast majority of the Jewish responses to the Vision statement (he reviewed hundreds of responses), but the Jewish rejection of substantial equality (those aspects related to symbolic and historical issues) dominated the debate in Israel following the publication of the Future Vision. Muhammad wondered why not to concentrate on the agreed upon issues for the time being. He strongly suggested seeing it as an opening for a continuous dialogue, dealing with controversial issues.
Sarah Kreimer (a respected colleague, immediate past chair of ACRI and currently associate director of "Ir Amim") focused on the pragmatic aspects of the "future vision" which can serve as a basis for inclusion of the Arab minority in the economic development of Israel. She stressed the part of the document that details self-criticism of the Arab society with regard to the status of women and the dearth of strong social and civil society institutions. Sarah indicated that it was not easy for her to overcome the political statements in the beginning but it was worth the effort, to get to the "constructive part".
We closed the day with an invitation to next year's Sikkuy Seminar - in Umm al Fahm.
Special thanks to: Sikkuy's two board members and Sikkuy's San Antonio coordinator, Rachel Walsh for their participation, guest speakers Bob Bernstein, Ilan Peleg and Sarah Kreimer, Seth Glickenhaus who generously provided the fabulous venue for the event at The Princeton Club, Terry Rubenstein for agreeing to chair the seminar, Edna Fast for her assistance in all of the logistical arrangements, Eyal Raviv for handling the registration table, to the staff of the Princeton Club for the lovely venue and superb catering, and to Sikkuy's director of resource development, Carl Perkal, for helping to plan the seminar and dealing with the all the "nuts and bolts" to make it happen.
We are certain that the seminar was a milestone for Sikkuy at a time when the value-added of our work in Israel is increasingly recognized in government circles, among the Arab leadership in Israel, within the Jewish public and by our colleagues in civil society.
With great enthusiasm for the challenges ahead, we plan to increase Sikkuy's budget (through expanded fundraising in Israel and abroad) from $1 million to $1.5 million by the end of 2008. Your help in achieving this goal is vital.
Sincerely,
Shuli Dichter & Ali Haider
Co-Executive Directors
Sikkuy
SIKKUY IN TORONTO
After the seminar, Shuli and Ali flew to Toronto where they were hosted by Sikkuy friends including: Fred Zemans, Rivanne Sandler, Joan Garson, president of ARZA Canada, Rabbi Sharon Sobel, executive director of the Canadian Council for Reform Judaism and ARZA Canada and Jay Brodbar, executive director of the New Israel Fund Canada. Our deepest appreciation to them for all of their efforts.
It is now safe to say that Sikkuy is "on the map" in Toronto with both significant funding reaching us from individuals and foundations and through NIF Canada, and growing interest in learning about the vital issue of equality between the Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.
We are already planning a return visit in 2008.
Thanks also to Frances Kraft of the Canadian Jewish News for her comprehensive article about Ali and Shuli's presentation, sponsored by ARZA Canada at the home of Joan Garson (SEE THE ARTICLE BELOW).
The Canadian Jewish News
Israel organization works to promote Arab equity
By FRANCES KRAFT, Staff Reporter     http://www.cjnews.com/
Thursday, 6 December 2007
Shuli Dichter and Ali Haider
Shalom (Shuli) Dichter
and Ali Haider
 
TORONTO - Shalom (Shuli) Dichter sees the Jewish and Arab populations of Israel as "two tectonic plates" that will determine the stability of Israeli society for years to come.
His work with Ali Haider - an Israeli Arab lawyer and his colleague at Sikkuy, The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality – is an effort to build that stability.
Dichter offered the analogy at a meeting in a Toronto home during a recent visit here with Haider on behalf of the organization, whose name means "chance" or "opportunity" in Hebrew.
The two men are co-executive directors of the non-profit, which was founded in 1991 as a Jewish-Arab advocacy organization and promotes equal rights for Arabs. Their work together as Jewish and Arab co-leaders is a rarity, even among a handful of "shared" organizations in Israel.
The Toronto meeting was hosted by ARZA Canada, the Zionist arm of the Reform movement in this country.
Sikkuy works on three levels, explained Haider - with municipal and national government, and with grass roots groups, to achieve equality for Israel's Arab citizens.
In the Jewish population, which constitutes 80 per cent of Israeli citizens, Sikkuy works with people "who believe in liberty, freedom and all those important values," Haider said, while in the Arab world, Sikkuy works with, among others, "academicians from the middle class. We empower and motivate them to take responsibility for the future and rely on themselves as well."
Muslims, Christians and Jews living in Israel have "a lot of identities, but our shared identity is to be Israeli citizens," said Haider, adding that he believes public opinion in Israel today "excludes the Palestinian minority."
Thirty-seven per  cent of Jewish Israelis feel that Arab civilization is inferior, he said. Fifty per cent feel afraid when they hear Arabic being spoken, and 64 per cent support the idea of the Israeli government encouraging Arab citizens to emigrate, he added.
Haider feels the opinions represented in those statistics, and others like them, threaten Arab citizenship in Israel.
"In Sikkuy, we try to give hope to the Palestinians and the Jewish society," he said.
Aside from Sikkuy's work, the fact of its shared leadership - both lay and professional - plays a part in providing that hope, he said.
But, said Haider frankly, "we have a lot of disagreements," referring to himself and Dichter as well as to others in Sikkuy. Nevertheless, despite differing opinions on such fundamental issues as whether or not Israel is a democracy, there is an open and honest dialogue, Haider said.
"I think we have a shared agenda that we try to promote."
Sikkuy acts, for the most part, as a catalyst, said Dichter,  who was a shaliach in Toronto in the early 1990s. He cited as one example the establishment of a forum for Jewish and Arab mayors to work together on areas of common interest like tourism and environmental issues.
Sikkuy's major objectives are to mobilize government toward equal sharing of resources including water, and to mobilize public opinion to support such equality, said Dichter.
"The ultimate outcome is the sense of belonging, of inclusion. On both sides, profound change has to take place to reach a point that we're an inclusive democracy."
Haider said that Arabs want to be recognized as a "homeland national minority, and to get collective rights" including language rights and self-governance of educational and religious institutions.
"You are familiar with those issues in Canada," he added.
Arab Israelis also want to be represented fairly in institutions and to take part in decision making, Haider said.
Dichter said that "major government figures agree that there's a gap. We don't have to prove the fact of discrimination any more. It's common knowledge."
A partnership like Sikkuy's is tough, said Dichter. Its leaders work together not just "to show a model of equality and sharing the power, but in order to reach a truly shared agenda."
Their work did not stop during the Lebanon war, said Dichter. In fact, the war brought new issues to the fore, like access to bomb shelters for Arab communities in northern Israel, and "simple things like a constant insulin supply for diabetics.
"In Jewish communities, it works like this," Dichter added, snapping his fingers twice in quick succession to illustrate the contrast.
He added that Sikkuy was successful in lobbying for equal distribution of government funds to help Jewish and Arab communities in the Galilee once the war was over. The area has equal-sized Jewish and Arab communities, he said.
"One of my neighbours was killed in this war," Haider noted, adding that there was no public outcry as there was for Jewish victims.
Jews in Sikkuy come from "very mainstream" Jewish society, Haider said, adding that he doesn't believe they "represent" the mainstream. Their Palestinian counterparts come from mainstream Palestinian society in Israel and are "well connected to the interests of the Palestinian community.
"Sikkuy must serve both, or else it has no [basis for] existence."
Sikkuy The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality in Israel
Tel: 972-2-654-1225  Fax: 972-2-654-1108  E-Mail: jerusalem@sikkuy.org.il