ירושלים

How can we enhance a shared society in a divided and conflict-ridden country like Israel? How can we reduce tension and create a climate of tolerance, mutual respect and cooperation, especially after the recent internal riots? These were the guiding questions of a symposium we just recently conducted together with our partners The Forum for Liberal Thinking (https://www.liberal-thinking.org.il/) and The Liberal Druze Association. With a diverse Arab, Druze and Jewish audience and an equally diverse panel we discussed and analyzed the recent outbreak of violence within Israel and what lessons we should learn from it. Participants shared their ideas and opinions about what the civil society organizations, political and local decision makers and the ordinary citizen can do better in order to advance the values of a shared society. One panelist gave a very cardinal advice for everyone: “Do not try to look for the enemy in the person opposite you, but rather try to look for the human being in your enemy”. Based on the discussions, the organizers formulated concrete recommendations in a position paper, which will be published and distributed to leading decision makers in the upcoming days. Among the recommendations: ✅Enhancing economic cooperation to create better economic integration of the minority groups and improve infrastructures and accessibility to industrial centers. ✅Reforms in the education system, which should aim to overcome the division between the different groups within the education system and by that within Israel and provide a joint curricular, in which regular encounters between the groups will be an educative and integral part. ✅Alteration of the nationality law, which was seen by most participants as a turning point for the worsening in the relations between the Jewish majority and non-Jewish minorities in Israel. While the current version of the nationality law is lacking a specific clause on equality of all citizens, the demand is that the new version of the law should be orientated in the spirit of Israel’s Declaration of Independence, which specifically mentions that all citizens enjoy the same rights without regard of his religion, ethnicity and gender. The new version of the nationality law should make feel all citizens proud and equal. ✅Equal rights and equal duties: all citizens should be encouraged to fulfill also their duty to the state whether in the form of army service or alternatively civil service.

We wanted to share with some impressions from last week's Ilsrael's Liberal Voice (ILV) event. Our alumni met with Haredi journalist Israel Frey, and discussed the current changes in the Haredi community. 🤔🤔🤔🤔 Israel was very informative, as he not only explained how Haredi society functions, but also gave our hopeful participants advice on how to create a better shared society. Frey's main claim was that Haredi leadership is very conservative and will do everything it can to maintain the status quo that keeps it in power. He suggested working together with individuals in the Haredi community in order to support positive change, that he believes can only grow from the ground up. Encouraged by Frey's advice. we continued to prepare our next event. curios? Stay tuned for updates! Hint: It is related to Pride Month 🏳️‍🌈🤩🏳️‍🌈

In cooperation with the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, the Psychosocial Counseling Center for Women “PSCCW” launched the "Catalyzing Women's Entrepreneurship" project in Bethlehem and Hebron. The project aims to empower women economically, enhance their economic participation and reduce youth unemployment by improving the supporting structure for women’s leadership, and by reducing the environmental and social obstacles they face. The project includes training in the field of technology and digital marketing for 20 young women from Bethlehem and Hebron and creating an electronic platform through which the participants’ projects are promoted, creating a promotional campaign on Facebook, in addition to producing two radio spots as awareness raising for the community about the importance of enhancing the role of women and their economic status.