Tag: shared-society

Rozana and Day 3. The hospitals

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

IsraAID is a wonderful organization that does great work on behalf of Israel and the Jewish people all over the world. When there is an emergency, they show up. Today I had the opportunity to go to their Tel Aviv offices and both learn about their work in Gaza.

What happened on October 7 is inexcusable. It’s unforgivable. Since then the people of Gaza have suffered a war their leaders, Hamas, lost at a high cost to the people. Most have had to move from their homes and continue moving because of Hamas continuing to fight.

It was amazing to see the statistics about the work of IsraAID in providing healthcare, medication, supplies, baby food, hygiene kits and more to the people in Gaza. I have complained about how the UN doesn’t do their job, how Hamas and various gangs steal food and supplies, reselling it at a premium. What is happening with IsraAID makes food, supplies and medical care get directly to the people.

Rozana also does work in Gaza the report from IsraAID was helpful and informing for our work.

This work in the medical clinics in Gaza is not only changing lives in Gaza, it is building bridges between the people of Gaza and Israel. While there, we heard a great story that exemplifies this, something you won’t hear anywhere else.

A key clinic coordinator broke his wrist and was unable to join an educational zoom. The people in Gaza heard about this and started calling him, reaching out to him, checking in on him, worried about him. Then they set up a zoom for him with a physiotherapist in Gaza so he could get exercises to help him recover. All this happened while he was sitting on his couch in Tel Aviv. The people of Gaza were taking care of him, not knowing he was already in good hands. He mattered to them. Hard to imagine but true.

There are plenty of employees in Gaza, all working in the clinics providing direct care to those in need. Not terrorists hiding behind medicine but real doctors and nurses working with orgs to help take care of the health needs of the people in Gaza.

IsraAID described the conditions in Gaza to us. The food remains expensive even with aid flowing in. We were told that one sheep is $8,000 in Gaza. It shouldn’t be that way but it is. Hamas continues to create problems for the people of Gaza and yet IsraAID and others are there as trusted partners, providing key humanitarian aid. There is a need for more and we talked about how to expand from two clinics to four. How to provide more trainings for the doctors and nurses in Gaza. You won’t read that in the papers or see it on the news.

We left IsraAID feeling inspired and headed to Sheba Hospital (Tel HaShomer). Sheba is a massive hospital. It is in Israel. Yet Rozana has partnered with them to create fellowships for Palestinian doctors. We had the privilege of meeting with Dr Reut who heads the Pediatric ICU and her fellow, Dr Ruba Rizik. We had a chance to learn about Ruba and the fellowship.

Ruba comes from a small village in East Jerusalem and graduated from Al Quds University. She got a job as a doctor at the Al Makassed hospital in the pediatric ICU. Al Makassed partnered with Sheba (yes, a Palestinian hospital partnered with an Israeli one) and prepared to send her for a three year fellowship at the Sheba Pediatric ICU. But there were many challenges along the way for Ruba. First she had to take the Israeli exams. It took her a year to study properly and then she took them and passed – just in time for Covid to hit.

In 2022 she applied to the fellowship again and was accepted. Now the challenge was getting a Rozana funded scholarship. She worked with Rozana for a year to get the funding and she started October 11, 2023. We all know what happened 4 days prior.

She was unsure if she would be safe in Israel or how her coworkers would treat her. Her parents were panicked. She told us how she would talk with her mom on the phone as she walked the 15 minutes to and from work to help them both feel safe and how she had multiple locks on her apartment door.

Her supervisor and coworkers accepted her. They welcomed her. She learned Hebrew – both conversational and medical terminology. She had to learn to do all things that doctors do in Israel, which included many things that nurses do in her Palestinian hospital.

When the recent Iran-Israel war started, she went home to her parent’s house. Nobody was sure how long she would stay there and her supervisor gave her as much time as she needed. Shockingly, only 10 days later she returned to work at Sheba because she missed her work family and she felt that they needed her. Palestinians and Israelis not just working together but being like a family. When will you see that on the news or read that story in the NY Times?

Reut and Ruba at Sheba Hospital

Ruba shared that Al Makassed, the hospital she is to return to in 6 months, just told her they closed their pediatric ICU. Now she needs to stay at Sheba two more years to do a fellowship in general ICU. Rozana will be there for her financially to continue the fellowship. This amazing Palestinian and doctor, who was terrified of living and working in Israel, is committing for another two years to live and work in Israel, apart from her family. She is amazing. The fellowship program is amazing. And Palestinians and Israelis are working together and are becoming colleagues and friends.

We left Sheba with huge smiles on our faces. What an incredible person, doctor and program. We were filled with pride for what Rozana accomplishes and the idea of growing the fellowship. How many more fellowships could we add at Sheba each year? 10? 20? More? Changing the world with each one.

We started our drive to Haifa so we could visit the Carmel Medical Center and get an update from them on our Shared Life Program that is partnered with Rozana.

Before October 7th, Carmel realized that they wanted to address Jewish-Arab relations in the workplace. It was important to them that every employee at Carmel felt safe, secure and a part of the community. They began in September 2023. After October 7 they weren’t sure if they could run the program but they knew they had to try, so they simply did it.

They knew they had to address the Arab, Jewish, Christian and Druze relationships in the hospital to not only ensure the best medical care for patients but also ensure a safe working space for every employee. The program worked. The response to it was overwhelming. Once again, the media wants to focus on the hate and ignore any instance of shared society, where Arabs, Palestinians and Jews work together, become colleagues and even friends. As we listened to the update we got more and more excited. We began discussing the next steps in the upcoming year. What did they imagine the next year would look like? What else can we do together to enhance the program? How can we help improve these relationships even more? Can we involve patients in this process since Carmel serves such a diverse population?

It was energizing. It was exciting. It was full of hope. Haifa is the epitome of shared society and the Carmel Medical Center is an example of why this is true.

As we were concluding our day, I began to realize how much I missed my colleagues and new friends from Rozana who live in the West Bank. They weren’t with us because some need permits to enter Israel and couldn’t get them while others had checkpoints closed which made it incredibly difficult to join us. It was a powerful feeling and realization. My Palestinian friends. They weren’t allowed to join us. Amazing people and professionals who couldn’t get a permit or who couldn’t travel easily because of blocked checkpoints weren’t able to participate in the joy of what they helped create. Despite the amazing day filled with hope, it made me realize just how much work there is to do and how far we still have to go. It showed me how important this work is – making it possible for Palestinians and Israelis to get to know each other as people and colleagues and maybe even friends. How this work can change the world and our reality.

From IsraAID to Sheba to Carmel it was a meaningful and impactful day of hope and excitement. I am lucky to have the opportunity to meet these people, work with and on behalf of everybody I met in these three days of site visits, and make a difference in the region and in the world. I talk with many friends in the United States who see no hope, who see no future. I’m here to tell them and you that isn’t true. I experienced it myself and sometime soon, you will be able to as well. If you are going to be in Israel and want to see the work in the West Bank, let me know and we will make it happen. If you want to come to Israel and travel to the West Bank to see it, we will make that happen too. It’s simply too important. As we finish our site visits I am filled with gratitude for being a part of the amazing work of Rozana.

Hope

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

As I wrote in my last post, I have struggled to write of late. I had a long conversation with a friend and mentor last week where the topic came up. He talked about how hard it was for him to read much of what I was writing because there was so much pain and suffering being highlighted. He was appreciative that I pointed it out and that I was sharing what was happening but also wished there was more hope.

I realized that is what has blocked me from writing. There are so many challenges in the world today and the need to fight against these challenges is so great, that I had been consumed by them. The time I have taken away from writing has enabled me to refocus. While I will continue to fight against the Jew hatred that is growing, while I will continue to call out and fight against the lies being told about Jews and Israel, while I will continue to fight against the many problems coming from both the American political left and right, I will also dive deeper into the things I get to see, do and participate with that give me hope. Without hope, we are lost. There are plenty of things that give me hope so I am going to begin highlighting some of what I see that inspires me and gives me hope for a better future.

I have the privilege of working with Dror Israel, an Israeli organization that focuses on education, leadership, and community building. I have been able to visit their programs in both 2024 and 2025. I want to share two stories that truly inspire me about a better future.

In 2024, we went to visit Kibbutz Eshbal in the Galillee, a Dror Israel community. At Kibbutz Eshbal, they have a boarding school for at-risk youth. Part of the program there is a therapeutic stable where they learn how to take care of and ride horses. The program teaches these at-risk children responsibility. If they don’t feed the horses, they don’t eat. If they don’t clean the stables, the horses are living in filth. If they don’t exercise the horses, they don’t get what they need. Suffice it to say that the stables are clean, the horses both fed and exercised.

While visitng the stables in September of 2024, we met a young girl who was in the boarding school and participating with the program at the stables. We walked over to talk with her and noticed how she looked a little rough. She told us that she was in 11th grade and had just started at the boarding school a few months ago. That explained why she looked a little rough. We asked her what she thought of the boarding school, Kibbutz Eshbal, and Dror Israel. I’ll never forget her reply.

She told us that this place saved her life. She told us before she came here she was spending nights out on the streets, “doing bad things.” It was pretty clear what she meant by “bad things.” The gratitude in her voice, her body language, and her eyes is something I will never forget. While she looked rough on the outside, she was cleaning up and warming up on the inside.

In October of 2025, I was back at Kibbutz Eshbal, seeing different parts of the work of Dror Israel. We, of course, returned to the stables. The stables represent so much about healing. About responsibility. About growing up. About giving children something that is not only theirs but is their responsibility. As we were walking around the stables and talking with the head of the program, I looking over to my right where a young girl waved at me. I turned to my colleagues and said, very softly, “I think that’s the girl we met last year.” Why did I ‘think’ it? Because she looked so different. She was not rough but very put together. There was a calmness about her. A peace. Where the year before I saw a troubled girl trying and hoping to put a life together for herself, the girl standing to my right had put a life together. She had found herself. I walked over and said, “I think we met you here last year.” She smiled and said, “Yes. We did. That’s why I waved to you.” I was blown away. While it was the same girl, it wasn’t the same girl. The transformation in just a year was so unbelievable. We talked about what she was doing, her goals when she graduated high school in the summer of 2026. How much her life had changed. All because of the people and programs of Dror Israel. All because people cared about a random child who needed help. To this day, it warms my heart, puts a smile on my face, and inspires me to make a difference. I never got her name. I didn’t take pictures either time I met her. Both are things I regret. I’d like to be able to follow her journey so I’m trying to find out who she is.

The second story that inspires me comes from my visits to Dror Israel programs in 2024 and 2025 as well. Dror’s affiliated youth movement, HaNaor HaOved VeHaLomed (NOAL), is 102 years old. It’s a Labor Zionist Youth Movement that is in every Druze Village and 58 Arab villages with more than 20,000 Arab children involved in an Israel Zionist Youth Movement. Let that sink in. More than 20,000 Arab children are choosing to be a part of an Israeli, Zionist, Youth Movement.

In 2024 we had the opportunity to visit the youth movement in the Arab Village of Ein Mahel. The Mayor of the village came to talk to us because the youth movement was so important to him that he put his own daughters in it. Think about that deeply. The Mayor of an Arab village thought that an Israeli, Zionist youth movement was so important that he made sure his own daughters participated. We met with leaders of the movement in the village who shared their stories of the impact of this Israeli, Zionist youth movement on their own lives. And then we got to meet some of the kids. They didn’t speak English. I don’t speak Arabic. Yet we connected. We smiled. We laughed. It was wonderful and beautiful.

With the children in NOAL in Ein Mahel – Sept 2024

One of the leaders we met is a man named Shadi. Shadi is in his mid 30s and grew up with the movement. He shared his October 7th story with us. The world doesn’t hear Israeli Arabs’ October 7th story. The impact it had on him. He was out of the village, taking his son for a haircut. When he heard what happened and was happening, he raced home, to the safety of his village. Why? Because he didn’t know who was going to try to kill him. Would it be the terrorists because he is part of an Israeli Zionist Youth movement and has Jewish friends? Would it be Jews because they thought he was a terrorist? Would it be Arabs because they thought he was a terrorist? He asked us who did we think were the ones who checked on him? Who was it that cared enough to make sure that he was ok? It was his Jewish friends from the youth movement. That’s what shared society looks look. Real friendships. Real connections. Real caring.

With the leaders of NOAL in Ein Mahel – September 2024. Shadi is in the blue shirt two people from my left.

A year later, in October 2025, I was with Dror Israel in a different Arab village. This time is was the Arab village of Jisr Al Zarqa. This is one of the poorest Arab villages yet amazingly, is the only one that actually is on the Mediterranean Sea. Beachfront access for one of the poorest Arab villages. We heard about the impact that Dror Israel and NOAL have with the children of this village. How the program they partner with, Surfing for Peace, is actually keeping these children in school. Keeping them out of trouble. Teaching them responsibility. Shadi joined us in the village and as he drove us from the village to our next meeting, we began to have a fascinating conversation. He began sharing with us the challenges he faces being an Arab, Israeli, and Zionist.

First, the world doesn’t think an Arab can be a Zionist. Especially an Israeli Arab because how could an Arab living in Israel believe in Jewish self-determination? In a Jewish state? The media shows us a narrative to generate clicks and views, not to share facts. Secondly, the current Israeli government is problematic for Israeli Arabs. That doesn’t make Israel unique, as the United States has similar issues with our government and different groups. England, France, Spain and Canada have issues with antisemitism and a lack of protection from the government. The conversation with Shadi was long and deep and not long enough. We got to the next meeting and stayed in the car to continue the conversation. It was hard to stop and go to the next meeting. It was the type of conversation that doesn’t happen enough in today’s world. Near the end, Shadi invited me to come back in a few months to join him for the Arab teen leaders retreat. Unfortunately I couldn’t attend in early 2026 but it is now on my bucket list. Think about that – a Jewish guy in America has on his bucket list to go to an Arab teen leadership retreat that is part of an Israeli Zionist Youth movement. I think that could break the internet. People might think it is A.I. It so defies the narrative being pushed.

When I think that things are dark and the future is bleak, these are two things that I can look at that show there is hope. They show that there is a real chance for a brighter future. Instead of listening to the talking heads, those who are filled with hate to get those clicks and views, I choose to look at what’s really happening. The people I have met and that I know who are changing the world. Our future does not have to be bleak, depressing, or dark. Dror Israel reminds me that if we choose to take action ourselves, if we become the change we want to see, the world can be bright.

I hope that I get to see that girl at Kibbutz Eshbal before she graduates. I look forward to my next visit with Shadi and continuing and expanding our conversation. I can’t wait to go to another Arab village and interact with the Arab children who are choosing to partcipate in an Israeli Zionist youth movement and visit my first Druze village where the Druze children are doing the same.

Hope is alive. It’s up to each of us to grab it and expand it.

Coexistence vs. Shared Society

Posted on by Keith Dvorchik

One thing has become crystal clear over the past few years. Our world is really messed up. Those who used to advocate for standing up against hate are now leading the charge with their Jew hatred. Places that were once safe for Jews no longer are. The Arab world has begun to stand up against Hamas — sort of. The far left advocates for the Palestinians until Hamas begins to murder them – then they go silent. There is a famine in Gaza until a ceasefire is agreed upon at which point there is suddenly 3 months worth of food, overnight. The cries for the ceasefire are endless until there is one agreed upon and then those crying for the ceasefire urge Hamas to reject it so more people will die. New York, home to one of the largest Jewish populations outside of Israel, is ready to elect a Mayor who openly hates the Jews. A huge number of those NY Jews are ready to vote to elect him as Mayor as he openly talks about excluding anybody who supports the existence of Israel from his administration. The mainstream media publishes lie after lie and when caught, just pretends it didn’t happen.

It’s a crazy world we are living in. A crazy world we are told we are living in that often isn’t accurate or the truth. The words we use are often the wrong ones and we call things by the wrong name to incite people (famine instead of hunger, genocide instead of war, militant instead of terrorist).

Coexistence is one of these words. I never thought about it until yesterday when I spent time with people from the Arab villages of Ein Mahel and Jisr Al Zarqa. I had the opportunity to visit Ein Mahel last September and meet the leaders and some of th children in their branch of HaNoar HaOved (NOAL), an Israeli, Zionistic youth movement that is now 101 years old. That’s right, in Arab villages in Israel (55 to be exact) there are Zionist youth movement branchs. There are more than 20,000 arab children in these branches. More than 20,000 arab children who are actively involved with an Israeli, Zionistic, youth movement. Where do you see this on the news? Where do you read about this? It changes the paradigm in a way that those who hate Jews don’t like.

With the children in NOAL in Ein Mahel – Sept 2024
With te leaders of NOAL in Ein Mahel – September 2024

On Thursday, I had the chance to visit the Arab village of Jisr Al Zarqa. It is one of the poorest Arab villages that struggles with violence inside the village. As we entered the village, it was pointed out to us the locations where people were murdered by gangs inside the village last week. Jisr Al Zarqa has a remarkable asset that sets it apart from every other Arab village in Israel. It sits on the beach of the Mediterannean Sea. This poor town is right on the water with a beautiful beach. As we walked to the beach, we saw the trash strewn all around. It was a harbinger of the story we were about to be told – a story of hope and of a potential different future.

Looking at the city of Jisr Al Zarqa as we walked to the beach
Arab schools on a field trip to the beach at isr Al Zarqa

At the beach, we met Shadi, who lives in Ein Mahel and who I got to know last year during the visit. We also met Hamami, an amazing women from the village of Jisr Al Zarqa, and Hassan, an amazing young man from the village of Jisr Al Zarqa. Why did we meet with them? Because of their involvement with HaNoar HoOved (NOAL). Both Shadi and Hassan grew up in the movement. Shadi is in his early 30s, Hassan is 20. Both are leaders in the movement. You read that right – Arab (Muslim) leaders in an Israeli, Zionistic, youth movement. Shatters what the media tells you. Shatters the paradigm the world is taught and believes. We also met Hamami, a spectacular woman who is changing the reality on the ground. Hamami is a fisherman, the only woman in the fisherman’s guild in Jisr Al Zarqa. She was a professional soccer player when it was unheard of to have an Arab woman play professional sports on an Israeli team. She is a force of nature.

What is she doing? In a village where children often skip school and get in lots of trouble, she began going out in the streets and pulling them off the streets to participate in a sports program she created herself. She took them fishing, surfing, swimming, and all sorts of water sports. Every day she goes out in the streets and corrals them to come with her and do something productive instead of getting in trouble in the streets. At one point, she went to the schools and began working with them. She took the children off the streets in her program and then ordered them to return at 8 am the next day. All but 2 returned on time. The two who were late were sent home. The next day all of them showed up on time. She spent 3 months working with them on the water, with the sea, before returning them to school where they restarted their education. What an incredible woman.

Hamami’s boats on the beach
Hamami’s boats and surfboards on the beach

Uri, a member of NOAL who works with the Arab villages, learned about the work of Hamami, and went to meet her. She told us that he was the first person who didn’t try to make money off her program and instead just wanted to know how he could help her and help the children. They are now partners in the effort, as Dror Israel, the overaching organization of NOAL, works to fund and support her organization Instead of trying to MAKE money off the work of Hamami and the children, they are INVESTING money in the work of Hamami and the children! Once again, you read that right. Jews and Arabs working together, in partnership, in Israel, to help the Arab children who are at risk. You don’t hear that from the UN or in the media. But it is happening.

As we sat together to eat lunch and continue our conversation, one of our group used the phrase “coexistence’. Shadi quickly spoke up telling us not to use that word. He told us that coexistence means we live alongside each other. We don’t interact. There are Arab schools and Jewish schools. Arab youth movements and Jewish youth movements. Arab leadership programs and Jewish leadership programs. Saying coexistence means living separately, side-by-side. The right phrase, he educated us, was ‘shared society’ because we share things together. That’s what they are doing with NOAL. That’s what we need to strive for. Not coexistance where we live separately but a shared society where we truly live together. I was inspired and am changing my vocabulary.

Having met Shadi last year and connecting, we spent more time together this year. We built our friendship and talked about many things. The challenge of being Zionistic (loving Israel) with the challenges of the government and the country, especially post October 7th was the start of a fascinating conversation that I look forward to continuing with my friend.

As we talked, he shared his upcoming visit to the United States, mostly New York, to share the work of NOAL, Dror Israel, and help change people’s minds about what is happening and what is possible. When I shared that I may be back in December, he was quick to ask when and tell me about an amazing three (3) day leadership conference they are having in early January and urge me to come and experience it. I’m not sure what my schedule will look like but I know it’s something that if I can attend, I will attend. I can’t wait to see Shadi and the others lead and educate these Arab and Jewish youth together about leadership and shared society. As Shadi said to me and I replied back to him, “Inshalla” which means “if it’s God’s will”. A beautiful Arabic word. Part of a shared vocabulary now.

While the title uses the phrase Shadi taught me not to use, this is a great event and when they cme near you, make sure to go meet him, listen and learn.

There is so much happening in Israel that does not fit the narrative the media tells us. There is hope and there is possibility. There are Arabs and Jews working together, not just with NOAL and Dror Israel but across the entire country. It is something you can see with your own eyes and they are people you can meet in person and speak with. It is part of why I urge people of all faiths to go to Israel and see it themselves. Experience it yourself. Don’t believe the narrative. Don’t believe the lies. We can have a shared society if and when we work hard for it. Hamami, Shadi, Hassan and Uri are only 4 people working towards it. I’ve met many, many more. Too many to list by name. Come join them. See it, feel it, believe it, and help make it happen. Bring them to your community. Share the story and share them with your friends and family. Shared society is about togetherness and that’s what we need to make it happen.

On the beach – Marc, Irit, Gary, Shadi, Sasha, Hamami, Jill, me, and Hassan – a new group of friends.