Emergency Appeal for Bedouin Communities in Israel

Dear partners,

We are writing with a brief summary of Sadaka-Reut’s emergency project working with women in Bedouin Palestinian communities in Israel’s south, and to ask for your help.

As you know, since October 7th, Bedouin Palestinian communities have been decimated by rocket fire and forgotten by the wider Israeli public. These communities lack nearly any infrastructure or government support to provide help, and while mobile bomb shelters were immediately delivered to other cities and towns in Israel after October 7th, Bedouin villages were left out. A regional council in the Naqab reported that Palestinian Bedouins are 2,200 times more likely to be killed by rocket fire, given that villages that are not recognized by the Israeli government are not given protection from rocket fire. 

At Sadaka-Reut, we have been working with Bedouin Palestinian students for years, and when the latest escalation began, you recognized the urgent need to support these communities and expand our work, and you answered our call to help.

Through our existing connections with educators and communities in the Naqab and under the leadership of locals who are part of Sadaka-Reut, we swiftly launched this project to provide psychological support groups and resilience-building workshops. While many organizations have provided critical humanitarian aid, very few have focused on providing psychological and communal tools to build communal resilience, and even fewer have devoted resources to addressing the unique challenges faced by women and girls in these communities during these devastating times. This is why, since Sadaka Reut’s local staff began this project, we have been doing everything we can to support and expand it. In our groups, women have explored their roots, documented personal stories, and gained tools to address societal oppression and trauma. The impact has rippled beyond the individual participants, extending to their families and communities.

This past year, we facilitated over a dozen pilot groups, reaching over 150 new participants. While many of our groups were initially planned as short-term workshops, over half of them have continued into long-term groups, due to popular demand. Our program has been geared towards a wide range of groups, including community leaders, girls and young women, mothers and women who own small businesses, artists, and others.

Despite the challenges posed by the volatile political situation, our dedicated team has adapted and persevered, receiving overwhelmingly positive feedback from participants, and we continue to receive requests to open new groups. Though we have raised funds to continue this project, our capacity to continue and expand this vital work still depends on the support of our partners and community.

Your support can make a significant difference in sustaining and growing this project, ensuring that our participants continue to receive this necessary programming. Together, we can work towards a path towards a more just and equitable future.

Sincerely,

The Sadaka-Reut Team