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Dear Sikkuy Friends,
We are pleased to let you know that Ali Haider and Ron Gerlitz, Sikkuy's co-executive directors will be in Atlanta, San Antonio and New York at the end of October.
We will be happy to hear from you if you would like to meet with them or arrange any public or private events or encounters during that time.
More details will follow in a future newsletter.
Sincerely,
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Dear Sikkuy friends and supporters,
First, we would like to extend a warm invitation to our overseas friends who will be in Israel on August 4, 2010 to attend the 2010 Sikkuy Conference in Haifa. The conference theme is: "FROM BARRIERS TO OPPORTUNITIES" - mapping the barriers to equality and policy recommendations for achieving equality between the Arab and Jewish citizens of Israel.
The conference will examine government policy toward the Arab citizens of Israel through the perspective of an innovative model developed by Sikkuy for mapping the barriers to equality. Participants will include: representatives of government ministries, Arab local authorities and civil society organizations.
SIMULTANEOUS TRANSLATION TO ENGLISH WILL BE PROVIDED
TO R.S.V.P. OR FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
In addition, we are pleased to report on several important developments that have taken place in the last two months.
1. The Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab, Druze and Circassian Sectors based in the prime minister's office, has invited Sikkuy to serve as a consulting partner to the government's recently approved five-year, $200 million, pilot economic development plan in 13 Arab cities and towns.
The Authority recognized that Sikkuy has expertise in a significant portion of the areas covered by the plan, as well as of the barriers in the government and in Arab society which impede economic development in the Arab community.
Sikkuy will prepare policy papers on relevant issues, participate in nine local economic forums (which are the engine for advancing the local economic development plans) and meet regularly with the senior staff of the Authority to help facilitate the plan's success. This is a breakthrough opportunity for Sikkuy to bring its knowledge and expertise to bear in strengthening economic and social equality for Arab citizens.
2. On June 14, Sikkuy, in cooperation with Injaz, the Center for Arab Local Governance, hosted a conference for Arab local municipal leaders that addressed the challenging issues of housing and land. Senior officials from the Ministry of Housing and Construction attended the conference, and presented the government's policies in regard to housing and land allocations. In addition, municipal engineers from the local Arab authorities presented their efforts to develop new housing initiatives in the Arab municipalities and the problems that they encountered in advancing the plans. Sixteen mayors and local municipal professionals attended the conference. The participants expressed their opinion that the conference was very successful in generating increased awareness of the government's criteria for marketing land in the Arab communities.
3. Following the conference, Sikkuy hosted the fourth meeting of the housing and construction joint working group of Arab local authorities and government officials focusing on housing and land. The joint working group roundtable discussed the barriers facing local authorities and government ministries in marketing new housing initiatives in the Arab community and strategies for addressing the difficulties. The joint working group has been convening as part of Sikkuy's project, "A Seat at the Table", which aims to reorient public policy in support of equal policies, resources and allocations for Arab citizens. The joint working group succeeded in achieving a deep and very open level of discussion that we have not seen in prior meetings, and indeed significantly advanced the level of cooperation between the local authorities and the government.
4. On June 15, Sikkuy presented its Jewish Arab municipal cooperation project at a public event at the Knesset (Israel's parliament). Seven Jewish and Arab Knesset members from a range of political parties participated in the meeting, including Minister Binyamin Begin. There was also excellent attendance by the general public and civil society organizations. The session was moderated by Ron Gerlitz.
Speaking on behalf of Sikkuy were Hanan Erez, the Megiddo regional council head, Mustafa Ilyon, deputy mayor of Umm al Fahm, Aiman Saif, director of the Authority for the Economic Development of the Arab, Druze and Circassian Sectors, and Naief Abu Sharkeia, Sikkuy co-director of the Jewish-Arab mayor's forum project . Sikkuy succeeded in introducing the key players from the Wadi Ara Municipal forums and the successful model of cooperation between Jewish and Arab municipalities to the Knesset.
We thank all the foundations, organizations and individuals who have provided generous funding for these projects. We look forward to your comments and questions.
Sincerely,
Ron Gerlitz and Ali Haider
Co-Executive Directors
Sikkuy
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