Walking in Jaffa's Shoes

Since the start of 2022, we have completed our Tours Facilitation Training Course, in which seven local Palestininan and Jewish Israelis were trained to facilitate Sadaka-Reut's alternative tour of Jaffa.

Over the years, through Sadaka-Reut’s nearly four decades of educational shared society work with dialogue groups, we developed a socio-historical tour of Jaffa that tells the once vibrant Palestinian port city’s unheard story, one that goes beyond Jaffa as merely a suburb of Tel-Aviv or an appealing tourist attraction. Through the tour we reveal the complexities - and thus the opportunities - that color the lives of the Palestinian and Jewish communities in Jaffa, and in mixed cities in general. Ignoring these complexities continues and strengthens their existence, whereas directly engaging with them is a necessary step in order to create opportunities for shared living. After the events of May, we have been blown away by the number of requests we have received to give tours to Palestinian and Jewish schools, local community centers, international gap-year programs, and other interested parties. At the moment, we do not have the capacity to give tours to all who want, nor are we able to offer tours free of charge, thereby limiting the communities and individuals who can participate. 

Through our facilitation training, we created space for our bi-national group participants to develop skills for joint bi-national work, practical facilitation tools, and knowledge they can share with their local Jaffan communities as well as communities outside of Jaffa. The course took place over three months and had 12 sessions, including dialogue groups and historical analysis, practical facilitation experience, and lectures from local experts (residents, activists, and academics) so that the participants will be equipped, in turn, to run tours in Jaffa to different groups from a place of deep familiarity with the city’s historical context. Because of this project, we have already been able to serve a larger population by running several times the number of tours we are currently been able to. 

During the month of April, we took part in a local initiative aimed at ending the housing crisis in Jaffa, which currently has over 500 families that are set to be evicted from their homes. As part of this initiative, both old and new facilitators lead local tours for Jewish Israelis, in order to raise awareness and knowledge surrounding the historical and current circumstances that have lead to the housing crisis. Thus far, over 100 locals have undergone our tour of Jaffa as part of this initiative.

It is because of your support that locals have been empowered to tell their personal and family stories, and to bring their experiences to others. We thank you dearly and hope you will continue to support this important project!