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Mission Vision English
Mission Vision English
This paper has been composed in joint effort by Palestinian and Jewish activist members of Sadaka-
Reut, a movement for Arab-Jewish youth partnership. The aim of the paper is to define the character
of the movement, the theoretical basis for its activity and to supply the facilitators of its youth groups
with practical tools and a cohesive work plan. It is the perfect opportunity to consolidate the
accumulated experience garnered from our activities over the years.
#Palestinian refugees in Arab countries and other zones around the world, who have been prevented
from returning to their homeland after having been expelled or made to leave in '48 (we will not
discuss here the different terms- escaped, expelled, exiled, etc.) and a vast majority of whom live in
anticipation and demand to return. Most of them live under harsh human conditions in refugee camps
to this day.
Jews:
The Jewish- Israeli collective as we know it today, began to form and consolidate as such, and pose
demands for national sovereignty during the19th century, at the same time as the awakening of other
national movements, and during the era of European colonialism. With the founding of the state of
Israel in 1948 the desires of this collective were accomplished, de facto. The formation of the Jewish
Israeli collective is both long and complex. We will reflect on several points, which we deem essential
in any analysis of contemporary Jewish Israeli society.
1. In order to establish affinity and form identification with the Jewish collective and the
modern Jewish nationality, common grounds were sought as basis for the collective to define
itself. In this context we may cite the revival of the Hebrew language as the popular tongue, the
attempt to establish a local culture etc. Also, as is common in other national ideologies, myths
and legend were manipulated in the construction of a national narrative in order to establish a
continuous bond between the historical Jewish entity and the Israeli collective. At the founding
of the state of Israel this story was anchored and weaved within government mechanisms and
across government bodies - first and foremost in the education system.
2. The traumatic events which took place during the 19th -20th century, primarily the
holocaust of the European Jews, had great influence over the formation of the Jewish Israeli
collective and continue to be a source of influence to this day. Supposedly the founding of the
“National Jewish Home”, the state of Israel, should have provided the cure to these distresses.
However the image of the persecuted and victimized Jew continues to be exploited by the state
and recruited for political purposes.
3. Waves of Jewish immigration began to arrive in Israel, Palestine, as early as the late
19th century but number increased as anti-Semitism swept through Europe during the 20 th
century. With the Holocaust additional influxes of immigrants arrived to Israel. The prevailing
perception among the new arrivals chose to ignore, intentionally or not, the presence of
Palestinians on the land. During the 1948 war direct actions were taken to expel the
Palestinian population from the land which had been theirs for centuries. The establishment of
the Jewish Israeli collective in Israel was done at the expense of the Palestinian natives who
paid the heavy price for its formation. The intentional disregarding and the exclusion of
Palestinians were an essential component in the establishment of the Jewish Israeli collective
and continue to be so to this day. From the founding of the state of Israel to this day a
continuous and intentional process has taken place for the effacement of the national
Palestinian disaster as it undermines the image of Israeli national identity and contests the
Zionist ideology.
4. The Jewish collective must be viewed as comprising of a large number of groups,
which pertain by definition, or self definition, to the Jewish religion, yet originate from
different homelands and have different cultures. These immigration processes have been used
as a political tool by the Israeli establishment, as part of the attempt to establish a Jewish
majority in Israel. One may refer to the Jewish Israeli identity as forged on attempts to enforce
a unified hegemonic identity, that of the Jewish- Zionist- Israeli. The forging of the collective
Jewish Israeli identity has been largely centered around two main themes: Security and
Zionism. As a result of these processes many identities, Palestinian, Arab Jews, Women, etc.
have been over shadowed and excluded from public discourse and power centers. Moreover
there is a prevailing tendency to ignore their value and uniqueness and view them as a threat to
the hegemonic collective identity. These tendencies are latent in the formal and non formal
education systems in Israel and most young people are exposed to them. In this manner, and in
other ways, the hegemonic collective continues to duplicate patterns of power balances in
society and blocks the development of all alternative identities or acknowledgment of them.
Among these different ethnic groups one must underline the Jewish immigrants who originate
from Arab countries and experience oppression in Israel on a class and cultural basis. Since the
culture of these groups stands in direct relation to the Arab culture, these immigrants have been
forced not only to shed all cultural ethnic characteristics marking their land of origin, but to
disown their own culture.
5. Another aspect of this structured of the Israeli- Jewish collective identity is the
perpetuation of supremacy, which manifests itself through the system as well as in people’s
views. Regarding the system, the privileges which are granted on the basis of ethnicity and
religion are anchored in institutions and laws, such as the law of the right of return, the
definition of the state as Jewish, unequal resource distribution, etc. It must also be mentioned
that state mechanisms which supervise many forms of education, are used in many cases as an
establishment tool for the perpetuation of existent perceptions. The combination between a
situation of ongoing conflict and a sense of victimization, provide fertile grounds for the
formation and institutionalization of racist tendencies in society. See researches of TLV
University and Haifa University.
6. Militarization of Israeli society- as mentioned above security constitutes a central and
founding ethos for the Jewish Israeli identity which has been forged in accordance with it. Of
the more concrete manifestations of this ethos is the requirement to serve in the military which
applies to Jews. It is important to note that the state education system and all its branches are
charged with the preparation of youth for the performance of this role. The combination
between racist tendencies, a perpetual sense of victimization and the lack of an alternative to
challenge the establishment's Zionist narrative leaves the younger generation devoid of
alternatives and inhibit the growth of different generation; a generation which would be able to
perceive the full picture and exercise critical thinking to promote free choice. The
militarization of the Israeli society also brings about the exclusion of different groups within it:
women, Palestinians etc. from power centers or public discourse and constitutes the prevailing
political discourse in Israel.
Our view on the establishment of a social movement for change- different forms of activity
Sadaka Reut is a bi- national movement that offers a social political alternative to the existing reality
through educational activities and activism. The movement advocates socio political change through
work with youth and juveniles. At the same time, as a socio political movement we view ourselves as
part of a larger community of organizations, parties, groups and people who share with us the same
values and visions. We consider important any activity for change and make use of diverse tools,
strategies and focal points. We work towards establishing a connection and partnership with other
groups who share a common vision, with the aim of contributing to the founding of a social movement
which will constitute a critical and effective mass.
Chapter 2: the social mechanisms that influence the shaping of consciousness in Israel
1. The structure of the education system and schools: (focuses on the system's approach to the
conflict)
Along with the founding of the state of Israel and its description as a Jewish state in 1948, the
state set up two separate education systems subject to the Israeli ministry of education- a Zionist
Hebrew education system and an Arab education system. Most of the Palestinian and Jewish residents
of Israel live in separate communities, except in a few mixed cities. The schools are also segregated;
there are Jewish schools that teach in the Hebrew language, and Arab schools that teach in Arabic, the
same applies for mixed cities. The Israeli ministry of education is responsible for the developing of all
education programs and learning contents, and supervises both Arabic and Hebrew schools. In Israel
there are only Hebrew universities, which Palestinians citizens of Israel also attend. From the above
description it is evident that until high school graduation opportunities for interaction and encounter
between Jews and Palestinians are scarce, everyday encounters rarely occur, and long term friendships
or acquaintances are uncommon.
2. The contents imparted by the education system:
As mentioned above, the state of Israel has been declared a Jewish state, described on ethno/ religious
basis. Thus native Palestinians who remained inside Israel's borders and became citizens later on are
defined by the state as “minorities”. The significance of this is that the establishment identifies and
acknowledges the Jewish majority as the only national collective, and fails to recognize the
Palestinians citizens as such. Rather they are viewed as an assortment of minority groups (Muslims,
Christians. Bedouins, Circassian …) who live in the shadow of the Jewish state. The education system
has constituted a main tool in the structuring or reeducation for the forging of these identities.
The Hebrew education system facilitates the institution of the Jewish Israeli Zionist identity as the
collective identity in order to amalgamate different groups of Jewish immigrants who arrived to
Palestine/ Israel before and after the founding of the state. The Jewish society consists of diverse
cultural groups such as Ashkenazi (Jewish immigrants from Europe), Mizrahi (Jewish immigrants
from Arab countries), Ethiopian, and Russian. The education system constitutes an important tool in
the establishment of a single collective identity. The contents brought forth by the Hebrew education
system tend to underline Jewish history from a period of 2000 years ago when the Romans destroyed
the second temple and many Jews were banished or escaped to other zones in Europe, Africa and the
western world. The recounted narrative of Jewish history emphasizes different events of Jewish
persecution and inflicted racism on account of their Judaism, especially in Christian Europe. The
zenith of this persecution occurred during the Holocaust in the Second World War. The Zionist
movement based its demand for a “national home” on the need of Jews for a safe place. The recounted
Jewish history establishes an affinity between the Jewish people and Israel- Palestine and portrays the
organized Jewish immigration as a homecoming after 2000 years of exile. The attitude of the leaders
of the Zionist movement (habitually, European Jews from middle and upper classes) towards Palestine
was that it resembled an uninhabited place. A recurring phrase throughout the curriculum taught in
schools declares Israel as “a land without a people for a people without a land”. The narrative
conveyed by the education system also includes heroic descriptions of Jewish settlers who arrived to a
deserted place where they built a new paradise. The role of the education system in shaping youth
consciousness is central to the creation of a simplified image which suppresses the injustice and the
expulsion brought on the Palestinians by the founding of the state of Israel. The younger generation is
being educated on a narrative which portrays the ongoing conflict as unending racist persecution of
Jews by Arabs, and not as a conflict over subsistence, resources and a struggle against colonialism.
This narrative presents the Arab as the enemy who persecutes the Jews even as they had been
persecuted in past Jewish history. This narrative completely ignores the hundreds of Palestinian
villages razed to the ground in 1948 and the massive displacement of Palestinians as a result of the
founding of the state of Israel.
The Arab education system and the contents it conveys are under constant supervision of the Israeli
ministry of education. The contents conveyed in Arab schools completely disregard the history of the
Palestinian people during the period of the conflict, and present the founding of the state of Israel as an
introduction to progress and development in the region. The establishment employs the Arab
education system in the process of shaping anew pupils' identity and converting them from
Palestinians into “Arab Israelis”. The attitude of the establishment towards the Palestinian identity is
one which perpetuates and consolidates the image of them as national threat to be kept at bay. The
supervision over the Arab education system seeks to instill in Palestinians a self image as citizens of
another culture and language living in alienated minority groups inside the Jewish state. This purpose
is achieved through a control of the contents, supervision over the appointment of managers and
teachers, and through the involvement of the secret service in the Arab education system.*
In conclusion, the education system provides a powerful tool in the hands of the Israeli establishment
and does not play a positive role in confronting the past and promoting a just solution to the conflict. It
plays a decisive role in the depiction of a certain narrative and the silencing of other voices. One must
note the lack of symmetry between the roles played by the Hebrew education system vs. the Arab
education system. While the Hebrew education structures collective national memory and identity- a
Jewish Zionist identity which transcends culture and class, the Arab education is employed to
disintegrate and blur the Palestinian identity, effacing collective memory. Therefore, alternative bi-
national education cannot presuppose the existence of symmetry and a unified approach in working
with Jewish and Palestinian youth.
3. Symbols, ceremonies and memorial days as identity shaping elements:
Countries and government mechanisms often set up and adapt their own system of symbols, memorial
days and national ceremonies. The same usually goes for national liberation or ideological movements.
The state of Israel marks two major memorial days- the Memorial Day for Israel defense soldiers, and
Holocaust memorial day, in addition to Independence Day. On these days official ceremonies are held
and the media takes them up for several days before and after the date. Concurrently, the headship of
the Palestinian public marks several memorial days that go unacknowledged by the state- Nakba day
(the catastrophe) which takes place at the same time as the Israeli independence day and marks the
disaster of the Palestinian people, a memorial day marking the Qassem village massacre of 49 Arabs
who in 1956 returned to their village after a day's work unaware that the army had declared curfew;
they were murdered by the police and the Israeli army. Land day 5 which stand for the murder of 6
Arab citizens by the police at protest rallies following an extensive land expropriation from Arab
settlements in the Galilee in 1976, a memorial day for the October events commemorating the murder
of 13 Arab civilians by the police in demonstrations in the year 2000. These events and their
commemoration influence to a great extent the shaping of the collective identity and memory of Arab
and Jewish youth.
4. Military
In Israel there is a conscription law- for the period of three years for men and two years for
women. This law only applies to Jewish youth and does not apply to Arab youth. Every Jew must
join the military after finishing high school, but Arabs are not conscribed. The vast majority of
Jews in Israel have undergone the military system, some of them have participated in past wars
with Arab countries, and some have served in the Occupied Territories and partook as soldiers in
the military regime which controls the lives of Palestinian civilian population. This experience
later drastically influences the shaping of the consciousness, perceptions and attitudes of the
Jewish youth.
5. Media
The Palestinian citizens of Israel have a high command of the Hebrew language and are exposed to
the Israeli Hebrew media. Israeli Jews have no command of Arabic and are unexposed to the Arab
media. Various researches show that the media tends to focus on violent occurrences and do not
typically reveal the deeply embedded reasons behind the evolvement of violent struggles. As
observed in other conflict zones, the media tends to join propaganda efforts and emphasizes
injuries and aggressions inflicted on the party to which it pertains. Modern day media is a central
tool in shaping consciousness and filtering information flow. Young people are exposed to the
media and regard it as a reliable and stable source of information.
All of the aforementioned components refer to the structural rather than the individual sphere of
education and values imparted at home, or by the smaller social circles, etc. Taking these
components into account and analyzing their influence over society and youth is central to the
formation of alternative approaches. These should provide a deep understanding of reality,
challenge it, and shape positive alternatives which can break through the polarization between
youth of both nationalities; approaches capable of developing critical thinking, liberated from
prevailing mechanisms.
What type of Liberating identity do we promote among youth and young people:
Thoughts of a Liberating Palestinian identity
Liberating Palestinian identity can be centered on the need to unite the wronged or oppressed on a
national basis. This should involve joining forces, regardless of nationality, in a struggle against
the mechanisms and perceptions which perpetuate injustice. The establishment of a collective
struggle based Palestinian identity is necessary for the sake of the struggle for individual liberation.
In the critical education of Palestinian youth in Israel, liberating identity must focus on raising
awareness to the social and political mechanisms which perpetuate injustice, realizing that
individual members are not at fault for being born into a situation of oppression, and increasing
motivation and faith in the struggle for liberation. For the Palestinian party the struggle ought to be
based on an internal crystallizing process which defines objectives and needs, as well as the form
and character any joint Palestinian- Jewish struggle ought to take.
It must be emphasized that the context for the Palestinian struggle inside Israel is the wider Israeli-
Palestinian conflict, whereby Palestinians are divided into several groups of different geographic
zones, different economic status, culture, standard of living and legal status. Regardless of the
form any future political agreement may take, establishing a Liberating identity requires solidarity
and affinity between the different Palestinian communities. Activists must object to "divide and
conquer" policies contriving to detach the Palestinian citizens of Israel from their people.
Palestinian solidarity does not necessarily contradict or disagree with the right of the Jewish-
Israeli collective to continue to live as a free people on this land alongside a free Palestinian
collective. Co-existence as based on mutuality and true equality is the only guarantee for the
safety, stability and liberation of both peoples. Another major aspect is confronting inner
oppressions and inequalities within the Palestinian society. Our ability to develop awareness to
liberate ourselves from the role of oppressors and our ability to struggle for liberation against
oppression inflicted upon us are correlated. The two processes should concur.
Our role is to bring Palestinian and Jewish youth through a process of coming to understand the
reality of their worlds, their designated social roles, and the significance of personal choices in
instigating change. Exposure, understanding and liberation of consciousness, must lead to the
establishment of a struggle identity- a struggle against national oppression and oppression in
general that offers a viable alternative.
Freire's critical pedagogy adds an important stage to the mirroring tool. The procedure incorporates
dialogue between the facilitator/ educator and the group: the educator is expected to provide
knowledge, perceptions, stimulus, etc. to group work, in order to enhance its understanding of reality.
The facilitator promotes his own agenda and world views. He presents them to the group through
dialogue processes; he does not force his interpretation or use traditional learning methods. Facilitators
tend to hide their inherent power as teachers, yet make use of it when convenient. The facilitator has a
certain level of authority and command over the contents, and it would be unfair towards the group to
overlook this. The facilitator should be critical towards the laissez faire approach, although at first
glance it may appear more liberal. The attempt to break free from traditional authoritative approaches
must be combined with an effort not to give in to the laissez faire approach.
The radical educator (in terms of his/ her pedagogy) must actively participate in the education process,
in a manner which encourages the participants to develop their knowledge and critical thinking. The
education process needn't focus on "who the true oppressed party is", but on the social and economic
conditions which structure the causes for injustice. The pretension to be an objective neutral educator
with a neutral perception which ignores historical facts and motives behind the oppression implies
collaboration with the oppressor's ideology. It prevents the participants from developing a critical
consciousness, examining their potential and developing their choices.
In our case, when focusing on dissolving national oppression, the role of the educator is to provide
topics , knowledge, materials, to assist the group in comprehending social structures, which recreate
oppression on the basis of ethnicity, through discriminating laws, unequal allocation of budgets,
occupation control systems, etc.
The combination of these approaches (dynamic facilitation, critical education and empowerment) is
complex and obliges the facilitator to balance and join different strategies. A restrictive facilitation
model will not be of use here. The facilitator will have to analyze at each given moment what
'interference\ Liberating action' consists of, with the aim of encouraging leadership and dialogue.
It must be noted that regarding deprived populations there is widespread opposition on theoretical
and practical levels to the dialogic approach, especially regarding the matter of choice. In many cases,
with deprived and excluded populations, the process of choice recreates oppression. In order to be able
to choose, a person must be liberated, critical towards reality. In this sense the dialogic critical
approach is only applicable to strong populations- both Palestinian and Jewish. If one of these
populations is deprived, the ability to choose becomes nonexistent. Free choice in work with deprived
populations may lead back to a place of oppression, as it is viewed as the only familiar and relevant
reality. It follows that there is critical importance in this case to the educator's stances. The educator
cannot be neutral over key ethical decisions and principals. He must be aware that in educating he is
structuring another's consciousness. Only through this process, does the deprived population construct
for itself its criticism tool box. The same applies for both adults and children.
Chapter 4
Our stances on select issues concerning bi- national activity
Chapter 5
In light of the above, and based on the conclusions of many years' work with youth we suggest
the following work model:
Our work model combines long term uni- national with bi- national work, with each of these
frameworks standing on its own, yet feeding each other. The uni- national work frame is the main axis
around which the local groups’ activity is centered, and the bi- national frameworks take place both on
a local level and in all- state encounters. Our aim is that the farther a group advances, the more space
be allowed for bi- national activity (without replacing uni- national work).
Each two facilitators of the same area will stay in contact and update each other on the progression of
their groups. The facilitators will also participate in an all- state team which deliberates and plans
together.
Another of our goals will be to establish connections between Palestinian and Jewish groups on a
regional level. This will contribute to a sense of forming part of a large movement, and for the
Palestinian groups, it is particularly important in the establishment of a collective identity which
transcends their local communities.
In observing existing frameworks for activity, which proclaim their goal to confront the Israeli
Palestinian conflict, two distinct approaches emerge. An approach which focuses on acting here and
now because there is no time or leisure for discussion vs. an approach which attempts to instigate
change through education and a change in the perceptions and stances of the participants in the
activity. Many times, these two approaches are thought to contrast. The dialogic educational approach
is perceived as mere talk that amounts to nothing and holds no potential for far reaching change, which
goes beyond the participants in the activity. And the political activism approach is viewed as one that
has no ability to influence the public, since it is usually organized by small groups which are not
always successful in establishing positive communication with the public exposed to its activity.
We believe that these two approaches: the dialogic and the activist should be combined. A proper
combination of these two approaches- education and activism- can enhance activists' ability to
instigate change. There is no contradiction between conscious change through critical education which
encourages asking questions and taking a stand through actual activism. Not only do the two not
contrast, but quite the contrary- true critical education is implemented through activism, by connecting
the 'agent' with critical consciousness (Schugurensky, 2002; Foley, 1999). Youth activism ought to
become an integral part of the annual process. The facilitator's role is to help the group determine and
plan how to proceed into activism.
In conflict situations government mechanisms often constitute a recruiting and uniting agent. This can
be negative and destructive when employed to oppress or abuse others, but can be equally positive
when it serves to unite a group who wishes to be liberated from oppression, or liberate the dominant or
oppressive group of the same perceptions which perpetuate the oppression. In other words-
organization is destructive when it is used to win over and abuse the weaker party and positive when it
is built upon values of justice and liberation and employed to assemble a critical mass in order to
implement them. The two forms of collective organization can make use of the very same tools in
order to establish the collective (nationality, religion, social status, gender…), the question is whether
what is being formed will perpetuate abuse and oppression, or promote a consciousness of liberation-
whether we are advocating practices and activism for liberation or oppression.
We assume that in establishing a community or a movement of activists, affinity between the activists
and their respective communities is of great importance. The significance of this is that one must take
into consideration the level of preparation of the group for activism, the role of the activists as Jews or
Palestinians forming part of a bi- national group, their difficulties in confronting their own
communities and their role in relation to the other community. We are interested in developing a sense
of responsibility for social change, through constant analysis of the role of activists in a bi- national
structure. Activism by a group can be performed both on uni- national or bi- national level, and can
assume different forms (for example, handing out info sheets, questionnaires, street exhibitions, etc.).
Activism should be adapted to the stage in a group's development, its unique features and the place
selected for activity. A sense of group accomplishment is an important component in the participants'
willingness to continue to experience activism.