Abraham Initiatives Awards Recipients the 3rd Annual Shared Society Prize
Last night the Abraham Initiatives presented the 2019 Shared Society Award at a festive ceremony in Haifa. This marks the 3rd year that the Abraham Initiatives has awarded the prize which is given to individuals or organizations, in recognition of significant action taken to promote integration and/or equality between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel. Each winner is a pioneer in their field; dedicated to modeling and building an equal society for the Arabs and Jews of Israel.
Award recipients, honored for the promotion of equality between Jews and Arabs:
Attorney Emi Palmor – Former Chief Justice; Dr. Younes Abu-Rabiya – resident of Be’er Sheva and Israel’s 1st Bedouin physician; Eman el-Kassem-Sliman, a journalist at the Broadcasting Corporation “Kan”, Shalom (Shuli) Dichter – until recently the CEO of Hand in Hand for bilingual education, and before that CEO of Sikkuy; and the Bnei Sakhnin football team.
- Attorney Emi Palmor– Former Director-General of the Ministry of Justice since February 2014, in which she advocated against racism and exclusion, and for integrating and representing Arab citizens in the civil service, and even initiated and established the government unit to coordinate the fight against racism.
- Shalom (Shuli) Dichter – A peace activist who promotes joint life for Jews and Palestinian citizens of the country for many years, most recently the director of the Yad Bada for bilingual education (joint schools for Jews and Arabs), and previously the co-director of the chance organization. Author of “Through the Good Intent – An Outline for a Shared Life of Jews and Arabs in Israel”.
- Eman el-Kassem-Sliman – A journalist at the Broadcasting Corporation “Kan” (in Arabic), one of the most influential journalists in Israel on issues related to Arab society and its integration in the country.
- Dr. Younes Abu-Rabiya – Resident of Be’er Sheva, the first Bedouin physician in Israel (diabetes expert), and active in promoting Arab-Bedouin society and Jewish-Arab relations. Member of Ben Gurion University Management in the Negev; Chair of the Negev Coexistence Forum for Social Equality.
- The Bnei Sakhnin football team – A group that combines Arabs and Jews both as players and at all professional and managerial levels, and demonstrates a thriving Jewish-Arab partnership in practice. 2004 National Cup Winner
The Co-Chairs of the organization, Orni Petruschka and Adv. Basha’er Fahoum-Jayoussi, gave the awards saying: “During this period, when the integration of Arabs into Israeli society and the Israeli economy is on the rise, and on the other hand, incitement against Arab citizens has reached new heights, the important work of the recipients of the award, which contributes to the promotion of equality and the inclusion of Arab citizens, their language and culture in the public sphere of the country, are of particular importance. All recipients of the Shared Society Award are pioneers in their fields and in the process of raising awareness and building bridges between Jews and Arabs. Every day they affect society in Israel and make it more and more equal for all its citizens. ”
Photo courtesy Aviv Neve.
