Fathi Marshood

26 September

On Monday evening, we had the rare privilege of hosting a talk by Fathi Marshood. Fathi is Director of Shatil Haifa office, New Israel Fund’s capacity building arm and specialises in organisational consultation in general and Israeli Palestinian affairs in particular. Gently charismatic, Fathi addressed a large mixed audience at Hampstead’s Brittania Hotel on the impact of the Intifada on Israel’s Arab citizens. The evening was chaired by a well-known member of our Board, June Jacobs

Arab citizens of Israel, it was explained, face complex identity issues: They are citizens of Israel and as such want to be treated inclusively and equally, and at the same time, want to keep their own identity as Palestinians. The repercussions of the Intifada have meant tremendous conflict between Israeli Jews and Arabs. The killing of 13 Arab Israelis by police in the course of 2 days during the demonstrations in 2000 left many people shocked. Arab Israelis had always felt protected and to some extent separate to those who lived under occupation –suddenly there was a feeling of fear and isolation amongst Arab Israelis, which led to a stronger identification with Palestinians in the occupied territories.

However, in extracting a positive strand from an otherwise depressing situation, Fathi claimed that as a result of the Intifada, more and more people have become involved in community issues and social justice, thus boosting civil society. New organisations made up of Arabs and Jews are rapidly being created that call themselves “partnerships” – not merely “co-existence” and are working hard to create joint ventures and equality for all.

In particular, he described how Shatil, in order to do the best possible job, decided to examine themselves as an organisation. For six months they spent a-day-a-week discussing common values and differences amongst themselves, and then tried to apply these findings to the work that they are doing in the field. As a result many cases of direct and indirect discrimination and racism in society are being exposed and addressed, and pro-active projects are being promoted to allow Jews and Arabs to live side by side, to develop land together, and to partake in programmes together. An NGO called “Hand-in-Hand” has set up 3 elementary schools for Jews and Arabs
to attend schools together with new curricula that address the narratives of both people. Although Fathi, was cautious about the future, his description of his personal involvement in so many positive projects, couldn’t help but leave the audience feeling uplifted and positive about the future of Israel. Fathi’s prevailing message is that the enhancement of civil society and promotion of social change organisations, like those supported by New Israel Fund, is the only hope for a peaceful future for the Middle-East.

Left to right, the people in picture above are:
Joan Shapiro, Fathi Marshood, Alan Bolchover, Ellen Dahrendorf, June Jacobs, Jim Shapiro