Double interview with two Sadakah Reut members: Yve and Ismail

Who are you? What is your name and where do you live? How long are you in Sadaka Reut?

I’m Yve (right in picture) and I am almost 17. I live in Ranana, not far from Jaffa Tel Aviv.

I’m Ismail (left in picture) I’m also almost 17 and live in Jaffa.

What did you think of the exchange up till now?

It is very refreshing for us. Not what we normally do. In Sadaka we usually do workshops on political education about the conflict and speak openly about it.

Sometimes there is a tension during this exchange towards making it all understandable.

I already had a great time but am still waiting for the deeper talks about the conflict and am also hoping to mingle more between the two groups.

How do people around you react on the fact that you join in an Israeli – Palestinian project or organisation?

Some people do think it is important but don’t come themselves.

My family and certainly my parents are really open towards it, but even they sometimes have to take a step back. It is really hard to get on the same level with someone who hasn’t had the experiences we had in our project for two years.

It is also difficult with the Belgians, but you come with different intentions. Sadaka Reut becomes a bigger part of you that only the other people in the program tend to understand.

My story, as a Palestinian, is totally different. Where I come from there are two sides:

People like my parents and sisters who motivate me to go on with this project,

Lots of people in my environment who feel like I’m betraying them.

This brings me in a very particular situation between two sides. I find myself between Palestinians and Israeli.

Even some of my Jewish friends who joined the army are against the fact that I’m taking part in projects of Sadaka Reut.

Do you have a lot of contact with ‘people from the other community’ when you are not in Sadaka Reut?

I don’t have a lot of friends or contact with Palestinians who aren’t in Sadaka Reut.

I do. I went to a Jewish school - because the education there is way better - and have friends on both sides.

And is it common to have a relationship with someone of ‘the other side’?

It happens, but it gets complicated when it gets serious.

Most of the girlfriends I had were Jewish, but it gets indeed complicated when parents find out about it. My last relationship ended up because her parents found out and prohibited her to have any more contact with me.

It’s a pity, but what can you do about it?

What do you think about the beer Duvel?

Both: A great beer!!! But you should never drink it when it is warm or from the bottle when you just opened it!

Rob, Jacob, Johannes, Yve an Ismaël

From Handzame to Israel from Israel to Handzame

name: Emilie Van de Walle
age: 23
lives in: Handzame (small village)
work: teacher in primary school

After this project I’ll bring a part of Israel into my classroom.
With film, photos, stories, workshops, discussions, paper news, I’ll try to let the children from 10 – 12 years feel how to live in a country in war.

At their level I’ll talk about house demolitions and gated communities.
There will be place for a talk about feelings from people who suffer. Also thoughts about the Western Wall and the silence, that I’ve felt when I was there, will take part of it.

Not only the Israelian - Palestinian conflict will be treated, but also other differences to Belgium.
A lot of things can be mentioned: 3 religions who live together, culture, food (to prepare humus, falafel or baamia), and music (write your own rapsong), theatre, games, habits, learn the hebrew alphabet…

I hope that after this, maybe a few more young people are awake to what’s happening in Israel.
Beside misery and impotence, let us especially remind words of hope

Shalom
Emilie

6 August: Management, Propaganda & Music

Today we had another day of workshops on organizational management and media.

Today, we took a closer look on the management of non profit organisations. First on the program were the workshops about the defining of mission and vision of the organisation, and afterwards SWOT-analysis was on the menu. Both the workshops were quite interactive, which made it easier for the youth to concentrate.

After lunch, the energizer was ‘good old’ women against men, which led off course to an even greater team spirit. After some digestion efforts, a music workshop was on the scheme, hosted by Omri and Ismael. After a short performance by our talented friends, the floor was ours and we expressed our feelings in our own language by the use of hip-hop.

After this musical experience, we had the visit of a French photographer, who provides pictures for NGO’s around the world.

The next workshop was again new media, and we were taught about the propaganda model. However the presentation was very interesting, it was quite short due to time management.

After dinner, we shared feelings, emotions and opinions about the trip to Jerusalem the day before. Everyone had the opportunity to say how he/she felt, which was necessary after visiting a city that overled us which all sorts of emotions.

12 August: Um4p on radio 1, national Belgium radio

This morning two youth of Um4p, Marijntje Broeckx and Glen Buts, could tell about their experiences at the exchange on the national radio "radio 1". You can follow the link below to hear their story.

http://www.radio1.be/programmas/och1/1093419/

Unfortunately for our Israeli-Palestinian partners and our Walloon participant the interview is in Dutch. Follow the Blog as more interviews are released on the subject from our own video footage.

8 August: Social TV, New Media & Web 2.0 and Goals

First off all, thanks for reading!

Readers, just a small warning: because of the heat and the long (but interesting) day and night (wink) our brains can’t function normal. So no chronological report about the day, just take a care bear & enjoy.

Israeli’s work just like all of us, though they have a different labour system as in Belgium. In fact only 4,5% of the active population are employers (big bosses), that’s really small but they have a lot of power.

Dialogue café: one of the tasks on the topic new media was to discuss web 2.0 (facebook, youtube, wikipedia,…)

How we use web 2.0 (new media) in our lives;

The positive and the negatives;

Main conclusion we didn’t know we used web 2.0, its fun, its fantastic but it takes time.

At the beach the Belgian group had an evening discussion about how we feel in this exchange but also about our country and its conflict. Really interesting to hear how everyone thinks and feels about our small country. After the emotions, followed the refreshments for some in the water and others in a ‘few’ glasses of beer.

Yala yala!!! Care bears are good motivation between the long power points…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNm5Hqow78I

8 pieces of pizza were to much but we have reports off people eating at least 6.

A lot of powerpoints today. In combination with temperatures and airco this made a lot of victims. First a few sleepers and then some fell ill. Hopely they recover before the party J

U move for peace, u move for toilet, you move for humus, I move for goldstar, …

Goal setting cause making goals is important. So we got a presentation about it and could apply the knowledge on our projects. A useful tool is SMART. Goals have to be:

Specific

Measurable

Attractive/ acceptable

Realistic

Time bound

Not easy to create goals with these rules, especially when it’s so hot but afterwards you can really work with them.

Uhm, do you know anything that starts with U and makes sense?

Social tv is a small non profit Israeli media organisation who makes reports on and participates in social actions. It’s an alternative to mainstream media but also provides them the full story. Check out on www.TV.social.org.il

Theatre workshop with Noa. After lunch we got a real active workshop. As a warm up we had energy game, gathering in the circle and passing shouts & moves to each other. Then louder, then softer. Really fun!!! Which followed by a small discussion on the division of Belgium and a play where the public played the directors.

Interview with Participants Odile, Roga, Leeba & Kathy - 'Exchanging Thoughts'

Four girls sit in a park in Jaffa. While eating an ice-cream, Odile (23), Liba (19), Roga (19) and Kathy (27) talk about their lives, their expectations, and their different identities.

Odile, from Belgium, is here because she cares about peace and wants to feel that people can live together despite their differences. She lives in the French speaking part of Belgium, and she has only recently (3 years ago) made Flemish friends. From that moment she discovered what being a Belgian is all about. Through UM4P activities and exchanges she realized that everyone can be enriched by the different cultures that surround them.

Liba, and Roga both Israelis, have been doing a year of community service at Sadaka- Reut. During this year they lived in an Arab-Jewish commune in Jaffa and volunteered in different places in the city. Their involvement in this exchange is one of the last projects of this year.

Liba, has known that she doesn't want to go to the army for the last few years. In her opinion the army does not only defend the people of its country, but is also used to occupy. Its actions are many times brutal, immoral and very destructive. Liba also feels that the militarization of Israeli society is dangerous and harmful. She managed to be exempted from the army and decided to contribute to her society in a different way which she does believe in.

Roga decided not to go to the army after a long process of introspection. This decision is not acceptable in her country, where going to the army is a normal part of life. For her it's essential to find a way to act according to her own values and believes, even though it's not what society expects from her.

For Kathy, a Dutch girl living in Belgium, this kind of exchange helps her to form ideas on how promoting social change can be a part of daily life. Sharing stories and experiences and being with like-minded people inspires her. Learning more about the realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been important for her. In her eyes we should be aware of the things that go on in this world and be responsible 'world citizens'.

After finishing their ice cream, they go back to the day's activity, keeping the conversation in their minds.


Kathy, Odile, Roga and Liba
Angelique (pictures)

7 August: Nazereth, a day of activism

Today (06/08) we were going to Nazereth to meet up whit a few activists who were going to give us an explenation of the history of Nazareth.

After a late breakfast we left early (If you don’t understand this paradox: ask Oli), heading towards Nazareth. Elias actually made it to the bus! We also had a special guest: Diana from Argentina was on a journey sponsored by the Jewish Zionist movement and wanted to learn about the Palestinian side of the story.

Our first stop was on .?. (Great view!) where Nadeem, the guide, explained us about the geographical and demographical situation of Nazareth and its surroundings.

He also told us about Nazareth Elite and the difficult relationship between the two cities.

In the old city we went to visit the church annunciation for the Christians and the Orthodox Greeks. In the first one we had to make sure to cover ourselves well. Otherwise the guard wouldn’t let us enter.

Time for free time! Time to shop for souvenirs, to not eat humus and to chill out!

Afterwards we were invited into Daker’s little chalet. He is a Palestinian activist, just like Nadeem. He told us about the history of Nazareth and Nazareth Elite and how it was for people to live there today.

Next, the bus took us to pick up Daoud Bader, coordinator of the Association for the Defence of Rights of the Internally Displaces Persons in Israel and an activist who used to live in Souffrane, which was confiscated by the Israeli army in 1948. The villagers had to flee and weren’t able to return until today although they have the right to do so. Daoud Bader and his organisation are trying to help these internally displaced persons in Israel.

Back in Jaffa we had dinner with cauliflower, chicken on a stick, humus (of course) and lots of bamia and stuff for the veggies.

To finish this heavy day, we deserved a visit to the lovely Jaffa night market and/or to the lovely beach.

5 August: Media & Conflict, Making fun of religions??

Today we were going to see more about media on the conflict, the way this works and what we can do to use the media instead of being used. The group had an afternoon and evening of free time to recharge their batteries.

After some games we started with a discussion about our visit to Jerusalem. We talked about the tour in the old city, religion and jokes on religion. It was very interesting to hear everybody's opinions.

Jacob, Bert and Dries presented a PowerPoint on "Media on the Conflict". First we watched a video of Jake Lynch (BBC-journalist) speaking about framing, media strategy en manipulation.

They also spoke about the freedom of press in Israel-Palestine and in Belgium, free media, embedded journalism and citizen's journalism. I learned a lot about embedded journalism. I think it's difficult for the journalists to choose between safety and objective reporting.

Einat told us about two organizations; Anarchists Against Walls and Taayush and the way in which they use media. They film during demonstrations so that they have eyewitness reports and to get people involved in the conflict. By using the media they want to start a public, national debate.

It is not always possible to get what you want from the media. Einat gave us a good example of how the media can change the message which you want to give. Activists were helping farmers to get to their land on the other side of the wall. In the news this action was presented as humanitarian aid in stead of a political act against the impact off the wall.

Karen, Emilie, Klaartje

Interview with: Youth leader Olivier Forges

Name: Olivier Forges
Age: 28
Occupation: working at UM4P at Pax Christi
Lives in: Antwerp

What is your Motivation for being here??

I initiated the project together with Sadaka Reut. I proposed the exchange after meeting them last year. I was impressed by their working method and energy. I wanted to strengthen both organizations and there are tons of possibilities with media especially for youth.

Why Israel and Sadaka?

We work in three different regions and Israel was one of them. And there was already some dreams to come here. It’s a popular, hot subject in Belgium. It’s very international and it’s very alive. We also have good contact with other organisation like Baladna. But we feel more linked with Sadaka because they also worked with both communities. There was more connection with our country.

What do you thing about the group and the stigmas?

I’m here for the fourth time. I felt the thing about the age that we were older than the Sadaka participants, but the youth here is indeed more experienced at the younger age. They live in the situation so they have a lot of baggage. The first day is always kind of looking but since yesterday (02/08) that the group is growing to each other. The talks with people here broaden my view. They are sexy.

What brought you to activism?

I get this question a lot but don’t know where it just happened. I was a member of a green movement. I don’t know why really. When I was twenty I became a more radical activist and became more active on different levels. As a student social work I did an internship and this way I came at Pax Christi like a bit of an accident. But now it’s my passion and don’t want to do anything else. It is very intense and pushes you to also reflect on yourself.

Why don’t you do more in Belgium?

I wanted to be more international. Something like the big things first. But the best thing is to think local, act local. I try to do this nowadays. I got my inspiration a bit from sadaka.

What do you think about Jaffa?

I love it. I grew up in the countryside but I now find it to boring that‘s why I moved to the city of Antwerp. I like the rough areas in the cities because there is more real life. In these areas you have to deal with everything. It’s the fourth time here. And you have the beach but I actually prefers the mountains.

What naughty activity do u want to do?

A gender bender party, but the changing of clothes happens at the party.

Interview with Participant Noa Rodriguez Oria

Name: Noa Rodriguez Oria - EG
Age: 18
Volunteering in commune next year
Lives in Modi’in

Why are you called EG?

Well, I’m just tough and I needed a cool nickname. (Big laugh) No seriously, two weeks ago I attended the summer camp of Sadaka Reut. On one the first nights I was taking out my contacts. At that point Omri, who was also in the seminar, started shouting that I was taking my eyes out. One of the other participants who was half asleep overheard it. He thought I was actually doing it. He felt sorry for her because they were laughing with the Eyeless Girl, with EG. The rest of the camp they kept on calling me that. EG was born.

So two weeks ago you were in a camp and now you are in exchange. What s your motivation to be here?

First of all it’s Sadaka seminar. But more important the subject of Indymedia is interesting for me. I, in fact, want to start using it at Sadaka next year. On the other hand I’m also very interested in why youth from Belgium is coming to here and meet up with them. In the meantime one of the reasons I also discovered that activism is about getting to know other activists in their community and learn from them.

What do you think of the Belgian group?

First of all I was really impressed by their political awareness, even though they don’t have a real conflict. I was amazed how they cared about the conflict in Israel. They are also very nice people and up until now it was interesting to talk to everybody. A lot of the participants do interesting work back home in social work and other areas. I hope to learn more about the work they do as volunteers as workers. Through these talks I also get new perspectives on my own conflict.

How long is are member of Sadaka?

In the beginning of the year in, the summer seminar was my first activity.

What brought u into activism?

I always cared about social subjects. In the 11^th grade our school went to Poland. Seeing what ignorance can cause, it affected me to the fact that I got more aware about what’s happening around me, also I started to think about not going to the army, doing something helpful instead. I have a newer motivation now, doing activism has a lot of satisfaction in it. Something I discovered recently.

What do you think of Jaffa?

I love it, my parents came from Bat Yam, and I grew up there. They didn’t want to raise their kids here, so I came back here to make a change in that area. Coming from a rich bubble place, shielded from the conflict, but you see the conflict in the streets here (jaffa) every day.

What naughty activity do u want to do?

Swimming naked in the sea

4 August: Jerusalem, a history of religions and violence

Today (04/08) we went with the whole Group to Jerusalem to see the conflict from nearby. In the morning we did a political tour with ICAHD, in the afternoon we visited the old city of Jerusalem. It was interesting day for everybody.

The tour, organized by ICAHD (Israelian Commission against House Demolishing), started with an introduction about the Israelian Palestine conflict and more specific on the situation of Jerusalem. The city consist of two parts, West-Jerusalem where only lives Jews and East-Jerusalem with a mixed population. The tour took place in the Eastern part. First of all we visited a Palestinian family. They told about the difficult situation of living together with Jews and the bullying in a settlement. Their story was confronting and moving for us. Then the bus took us to the Mount of Olive. There we had a good view on the settlements situated in the West bank. We visited this settlement and got information about the policy of Israel. We were wondered about the fact that things like house demolition, building the wall, discrimination, just can happen. When we stood next to the wall, the feeling of frustration, powerlessness and sadness increased.

After the political tour we had guidance through the old city of Jerusalem. We started the tour at the gate of Damascus; afterwards we followed the Via Dolorosa and visited the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the Western Wall. We also saw the Dome of the Rock and the El Asqa Mosque. The way the guide told about all the monument and different religions in Jerusalem was the cause of a discussion in the group. We talked about whether it was allowed to make jokes about religion and how we should coop with it.

In the evening we took the bus back to Tel Aviv for dinner, where we ate on the roof of an Indian restaurant called 24 rupee. After a good dinner and a very good and relaxed atmosphere, we returned to the hostel after this to have a great evening.

It was a very hard but productive day, whit heavy subjects and a lot of emotion.

The Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood committee
Israeli Commitee against house demolitions

Glen, Marijntje and Jacob

3 August: Belgian & Israel/Palestinian presentation & Learning how to make a media report

The third day (03/08) of the youth exchange project between UM4P and Sadaka Reut sparked the fire to expand more editorial expertise. The exercise constituted a fresh but essential phase in the didactic process of enhancing skills that are elementary for youth peace activism. The learning process involved how to adequately compose and present a quality story through text and photos.

To awaken the sleepy eyes of the participants of the exchange project, an energizing physical activity was required. Leaping like baboons, shouting like passionate martial arts students in order to transfer inner power symbolically from one to another. This encouraged and enhanced the group’s spirit and kicked off the amount of motivation needed for the rest of the educative day. After the humorous morning appetizer, the hors d'oeuvre s consisted of two country presentations from an another perspective; Participants from both Belgium and Israel studied the historical background and cultural constellations of each other’s homeland. The Belgian team presented their view of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, summarizing facts and data through a role-playing panel of critical persona and elements.

Sadaka Reut demonstrated a humorous and rather informal presentation. It involved both a MySpace spoof page on the Belgian king and royalty as well as a creative comparison on differing communities that live together and the compartmentalized structure of Belgian waffles. Their message was that there didn’t seem to be any hope for the Belgian king who stands to lose he’s job if the contemporary political climate in Belgium stays the same way. The waffle that is Belgium isn’t easy but the Israeli-Palestinian delegation did a good job explaining it.

The third dish of the day involved running back and forth from the Markas and the new main office of Sadaka Reut. The Belgian workshop instructors gave essential briefings and tips on the principles of writing journalistic articles and taught professional photographic skills for the blog. These quick-start tips were implemented in the actual work that followed. It cannot be understated these info sessions were constructive to add quality to the project and reaching out to online readers. The current article '(and the interviews) are a direct result of this work

The dinner consisted of a speciality at Dr. Shakshukah – a local restaurant famous for its deep-pan fried eggs in tomato sauce and appetizers. We were eager to kick up our feet and dance on Middle-Eastern rhythms, and went back to find out what the local exchange participants had prepared for us later that night. Because the Israeli and Palestinian Youth organized their cultural evening that consisted of more than just sweets, crackling sunflower pips, sweet pastries and smoking of the nargilah or water pipe Several songs and dances where introduced to the Belgians and even some choruses where taught in both Hebrew and Arabic. .The youth gave us insight in how even Palestinians and (Israeli) Jews can have a very hybrid, multinational background.

Nico, Nils and Ben

Karen (pictures)

2 August: Personal involvement and identity

Today (02/08) we talked about identity: how do we act in a group, what are the moments in our lives where we felt like taking action? Leading up to thinking about what activists can fight for or against. After this we chose one of these subjects to have some fictive presentations about in order to feel how personal involvement has an influence on us. We ended the day with a Belgian cultural night.

The day started with a traditional breakfast at eight thirty. Whilst still waking up we were already wondering what the day would bring for us. After the breakfast we immediately went to the Markaz, an old bomb shelter used by Sadaka Reut, to start the program. To warm up we had a small game

After the warm-up we started with the actual program. The subject of the day was identity. The first part of the workshop was thinking about what position we normally take when we are in a group and which is the case in this group. This was done by putting our name on a boat. When for example one is at the wheel that could be because he likes to ‘steer’ people into the right direction and motivate them.

The workshop continued with thinking about moments in our lives where we felt like taking action. We tried to summarize these into a few points which our host organisation Sadaka Reut can fight for. A couple examples were racism and sexism.

After this part of the workshop we moved back to the office of Sadaka Reut to have lunch. During the lunch some of us learned how to count in Hebrew, Arabian, Dutch and French. Another experience with the local eating habits tasted like a little angel dancing on our tongues.

When the program started again we were asked to make some fictive presentations in small groups depending on the topics we decided in the previous workshop. During the presentations the groups were secretly watched by other participants on how they coped with personal involvement in their subject. The presentations varied from the island Lesbos suing the Lesbian community to the political crisis in Belgium.

After the short break the participants were criticized by the last group who were following the presentations carefully. The point of this was to show how personal involvement can have an influence on our opinion about a certain topic.

We ended the day by having a Belgian cultural night, where the host organisation learned more about Belgium and its habits in a creative and humoristic way.

In short it was again, one fine day!

Dries (Claessens) and Angelique

Interview with Participant Omri Gershon

We want you to now more about the participants so during the exchange we are going to let you know the participants by taking a few interviews. This is the first one in a long list.

Name: Omri Gershon
Age: 19
Occupation: volunteer at Sadaka Reut
Favorite food: my mom's pasta (with cheese and cream)

What was your first encounter with Sadaka Reut?

I grew up in the closed environment of the Kibbutz, a left winged Zionist community. The conflict between Jews and Arabs was a non-topic there. When I was 16, I got involved with an organization called Peace Child through my school. This organization does a two year project with teens that have Jewish as well as Palestinian backgrounds. The first year we worked separately and discussed the topics that were important or difficult for us. The second year we made a play together. I liked it, but I felt I wanted to do more, be more active, go outside the protected environment of the school and make real changes.

Then, in 2006, I received a letter from Sadaka about their summer camp. I went and decided I wanted to become a part of this organization, so I did! First I went to the groups (a project of Sadaka Reut in which Jewish and Arab youth meet to discuss their problems in groups), then I joined the commune (intensive leaderschip progrram in which Arab and Jewish youth live together for a year and learn to take an active role in their community) and it has been a great experience up until now.

Were there also some difficult times?

In the commune, life is very intense. Every month we discuss a different topic. One of the last topics was the war of 1948. We went to Hebron and East-Jerusalem and met with Palestinians who talked to us about their experience of that war. It was hard for me, it hit me almost like a bomb and I felt so angry. I couldn't understand why our army had done those things. Me and my friends, we want to live our life, but politics and adult make it so hard while it should be so easy. It's a natural thing, right, to live life?

Yes, it is. So how do you live your life in your free time?

In the weekends I go home to the Kibbutz and spend time with my friends. They know what I do in Sadaka and they respect me for it, but they don't share my beliefs. For me it's OK, I respect them in their choices also. We do regular stuff, we go to parties, listen to music. I like hip-hop, and can break-dance a bit ass well. When I was younger, I studied Michael Jackson’s moonwalk, because I wanted to do it myself.

Last question, because I know our female readers are dying to know: are you single?

Yes. (Unfortunately for our readers this changed during the exchange)

Great! Thank you very much for this interview.


Bert, Klaartje, Omri

1 August: The right frequency for peace

Today (1/08) members of Um4p and Sadaka Reut started the ten-day exchange in Jaffa, Israel. The first day was all about getting to know each other and getting to know the surroundings.

We started the program at 11 for the fist time because the members of um4p arrived on a plane at midnight. We had a nice breakfast, after which the group leaders explained the program, the intention of the program and some more practical information, like who takes care of breakfast, what the room division is…

After this we played some funny games to get to know the names of the other participants. After an hour of name games and many laughs later, Sami arrived. Sami is an activist for Palestinian rights in Jaffa, he showed us around and gave a very good explanation of the very complex problems that the Israeli society is confronted with in Jaffa. During the tour we witnessed one of these problems ourselves as somebody wanted the group to move away from her home, sending a security guard and shouting out of a fourth story apartment. When this didn’t help and after some more shouting she started calling the police. We decided not to provoke any further reactions and moved along before the police arrived.

We took a longer break after the tour. Then we received explanations about both Sadaka Reut and Um4p, who they are, what they do… After this we went to a Bulgarian restaurant where we had another well cooked meal. We ended the dinner by surprising Ben, a participant from Sadaka Reut, with a cake and a happy birthday song as it was he’s birthday.

After the dinner we went to the Sadaka Reut office and talked about the hopes, fears, motivation and expectations of the participants. The exercise was very important, but the tour took it's toll on the participants and when we finished the session, a big feeling of relief washed over the group, as their was free time for the rest of the day. After coming to the hostel to change the rooms, some people went to the beach, others went to the roof of the hostel where there is a big open sitting space and some of the participants called it a night and went to bed.