Needs and Priorities

March 18, 2009

The Israeli Center for Third Sector Research 12th annual conference convened at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the Dead Sea. Atar and I drove from Tel Aviv, taking 40 south and then cutting over through Arad. Almost as if a line had been drawn, the landscape shifts from planted fields and forests, to the desert. Scattered every few miles is a Bedouin village, part of another sad and challenging saga for Israel. Israel recognized 7 or 8 official Bedouin villages, basically delegitimizing another 30-40 villages. This lack of recognition as an official village means no public resources for water development or connection to the electrical grid. Lack of recognition means that building of homes and businesses are vulnerable to police sanctions. Lack of recognition means that schools are often inaccessible to children. These are not villages in disputed territory or the villages of people hostile to the state. Bedouins serve in the IDF, for example. While there may be explanations for this situation, it is difficult to imagine a justification. This type of discrimination will likely have the effect of gradually shifting the allegiances of these people from the country of which they are citizens to those who are hostile to Israel.

The Crowne Plaza could not be more different than the villages through which we had just driven. Perched on the shore of the Dead Sea, expansive glass windows allow for beautiful views of the sea and the mountains of Jordan to the east. A huge freshwater swimming pool had more than the usual swimmers because, as a large sign indicated, a sewage leak prevented bathing in the mineral rich waters of the Dead Sea. A morning exercise class, with people of all ages, was going through preliminary stretching on the grassy area near the pool. People wander in the lobby wearing terry cloth robes on their way to the spa services in the hotel. We were here for work, however.

The morning workshops were in Hebrew so I sat in the lobby, intent on doing some reading. Within a few minutes, however, Noam, the husband of a co-worker from Sheatufim walked up. He and 6 month old Hallelly, looking forward from the carrier on his chest, greeted me. For the next hour or so we talked, but with the baby in charge we moved from couches with her toys, to pacing through the lobby and the bar, back to the couches, changed a diaper, and then she finally fell asleep. Noam and Miri are part of a 30 member urban kibbutz in Beer Sheva. Early in Israel’s history, young people were encouraged to establish kibbutzim in the periphery in order to bolster the defense of the fledging state. Now, this same spirit moves some young people to establish kibbutzim in communities where the needs are great. Beer Sheva, the capital of the Negev, is one such community. The 30 current members emerged from service in the IDF, intent on making a difference as a group. At this time, most are married or in couples, but there are several single men and one single woman. One early debate which fractured the original group was whether members should pursue their individual educations or that they should learn as a group. Those that opposed individual education left the kibbutz. Noam works with at-risk youth and only two months ago established a coffee house that serves as part of their training and education. There they learn how to hold a job, earn money, and provide for themselves, with the help of a social worker and other staff. Are these young people in school? Yes and no. The educational authorities do give them credit for their work experience, but mainly because school budgets are driven by enrollment, so it is in the interest of the local school to consider them “enrolled,” even though Noam and his staff see none of those resources. Two themes of special interest emerged in our intense conversation. First, many of these young adults, all with IDF service, have now become much less committed to military approaches to Israel’s foreign threats. Indeed, they have spent time working with Bedouin communities in the Negev and picking olives in the territories of the West Bank. Some have refused reserve duty, now that they have established these relationships. Second, Noam expresses so well the need to re-define the philanthropic relationship between the U.S. Jewish community and Israel. It is time for these two communities to come together as partners, to assess mutual needs, and examine how to address them. The one-way relationship between the U.S. Jewish community as donors, and the needy, less empowered community of Israel needs to transform into a partnership, in his view. I am looking forward to a visit to Beer Sheva.