Sadaka Reut celebrated thirty years of social and political change
On the 24th of September 2013 Sadaka-Reut celebrated 30 years of its establishment in a festive event, highlighting the diverse social-political initiatives promoting a just and equal society initiated by its graduates over the years. 400 graduates, youth and partners attended the celebrations, which consisted of an educational conference and a ceremony.
The conference was devoted to creating a public debate on educating and engaging youth in activism amongst activists and partners, following Sadaka-Reut’s long-term involvement in this field. The program was comprised of two sessions: lectures and a panel. In the first session Dr. Khaled Abo Asbe presented the social, educational and economic conditions required to motivate youth to become agents of change, while Marcelo Wexsler, a prominent educational activist, discussed the process of changing consciousness among Jewish and Palestinian youth in order to promote their social and political engagement.
In the second session a panel of activists was held. Representatives from AJEEC-NISPED – the Negev institution, the Jaffa Youth Movement, the Rothschild Ambassadors program and Sadaka-Reut presented their educational models and practices geared to engaging youth in activism.
Following the conference a ceremony was held, marking the contribution of Sadaka-Reut’s graduates to the promotion of social and political change. The organization chose to acknowledge the unique contribution of three former members to its success during the past 30 years. Sadaka-Reut’s co-directors, Hana Amoury and Adi Maoz, spoke about the centrality of the bi-national partnership in the organization’s vision and the importance of educating youth to become social change activists who oppose injustice, inequality and oppression. In addition, a short movie was made and screened especially for the celebrations: “Sadaka Reut through the Eyes of its graduates”. The ceremony closed with four music ensembles paying their respect to the organization.
A bystander could see that the crowd that gathered for the event was characterized by its diversity, and among Sadaka-Reut’s graduates were Jews and Palestinians, young and old, men and women, people of different colours, Mizrachis and Ashkenazis and more. One of the graduates said that “meeting friends, after 20 years, was like closing a circle. We reminisced and it was very emotional“, whilst a participant from Sadaka-Reut’s youth groups said that “it’s amazing to find out that I am part of an organization that has such a history. I am 17 years old and there are people here much older than I am, and I would like to walk in their footsteps”.
Sadaka-Reut is grateful to all the people that attended the celebrations and to all those who made this event possible, namely the foundations supporting us, our volunteers who dedicated their time and energy to the success of the event, the board members who encouraged us to proceed and first and foremost the dedicated staff members of Sadaka-Reut which without them the celebrations would not have taken place.
Thank you and we hope to see you in our 60th anniversary.
