Dear friends and partners,

Once again we find ourselves in the midst of yet another violent escalation of the conflict. We
are appalled and deeply saddened by the turning of these events. We mourn the death of over
700 women, men and children and thousands of wounded in Gaza to date. As all other citizens
of Israel, we face the fear and insecurity caused by rocket fire.

We understand this violent outbreak as part of a chain of events. In the past months we have
witnessed the Israeli government implementing a policy which aims at demoralizing and
hindering the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice, through striking prominent
Palestinian symbols of struggle. This was witnessed in the complete demolition of Al-Arakib,
the unrecognized Bedouin village in the Naqab and the attempts to oppress the hunger
strike of the Palestinian prisoners. These events were followed by the kidnapping and murder
of the three Israeli youths and later the Palestinian youth, leading to more pressure and
violence imposed by the Israeli government, predominantly in the West Bank.

In turn these events have triggered demonstrations by Palestinians in Israel, which were
answered with forceful police aggression and numerous arrests of activists. At the same time,
organized groups of Jewish citizens attacked Palestinians in central Jerusalem, attacks that
went unanswered by the authorities thus escalating to other cities. Government ministers,
Knesset Members and other public figures have since been inciting hate and violence, with the
media following suit using nationalistic and aggressive rhetoric, refusing to allow other voices
to be heard. Anti-war demonstrations are violently targeted by such groups; in Haifa thousands
answered the mayors call to stand against an anti-war protest and violently attacked it. Even
in the personal sphere there is a strong de-legitimisation on expressing different views in
private conversations and on social media these voices are shut down.

Bi-national partnership is challenged as the mistrust between Palestinian and Jewish people
deepens every day. Nonetheless, the community of activists that have gathered around
Sadaka-Reut: our staff, facilitators, graduates and friends, have joined the civil struggle
against the war. Many of us attend protests and demonstrations, write and talk about what is
happening in Gaza and against the violence on every possible outlet. We also continue to
support our participants and graduates, facilitating alternative information, exposing to
different perspective and encouraging them to stand against violence.


Previous experience teaches us to expect major repercussions on the communities we work
with once the fighting is over. It will be much more difficult to motivate youth to take part in
political and bi-national activity as hate, mistrust and alienation prevail, and so we are working
on making the needed adaptions to our educational work.

We are greatly encouraged by the recent anti-war protests overseas as we know that there is
only so much that civil society in Israel can do, and that in order to end the conflict external
pressure is much needed.
We continue to rely on your support and thank you, our donors and partners, for showing your
belief in our participants, our work and our way of bi-national partnership. Please continue
your calls to end the war and conflict, both through your communities and policy-makers; let
people know that there are Palestinians and Jews in Israel that are working together to
peacefully end the conflict.

With hope for better days,
Hana and Adi
Sadaka-Reut Co-Directors





35 Shivtey Israel St., P.O.B 3258
Tel-AvivJaffa, 6108401 Israel.
Tel/Fax: +972-3-5182336




info@reutsadaka.org