The horrors of October 7th did not omit any of us. The Hamas murderers did not differentiate between blood, and neither did the rockets. The brave heroes who saved lives under fire come from all sects of Israeli society. Humans who saved humans.
This is not a war between Jews and Arabs, but rather between agents of life, and those who work for death and destruction. This is a war between darkness and those who choose to spread the light. In face of the great darkness, we choose to bring out the light.
Soon after that dreadful Saturday, we established the Joint Jewish-Arab Emergency Relief Center in Rahat, which operates purely on Arab-Jewish partnership. Donations are collected from Jewish and Arab individuals, packages by Jewish and Arab volunteers, and distributed to Jewish and Arab families who were harmed by the hostilities.
The Joint Center was co-founded by “Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?” and Adv. Hanan Alsanah from “Itach-Maaki” (Women Lawyers for Social Justice), in partnership with Fuad Ziadna, manager of the Rahat Community Center. We were quickly joined by “Desert Stars” (Promoting Young Bedouin Leadership) and “Alnashmiat” (Women’s Leadership in the Bedouin Unrecognized Villages).
The Joint Center quickly became a central platform for leaders and delegations to express support for our cause and
strengthened the message of partnership. The Center was honored with the visits of the President of Israel Isaac Herzog, Cabinet member Benny Gantz, Minister of Interior Affairs Moshe Arbel, Minister of Welfare Jacob Mergi, and many delegations from government and local leaders and institutions. Additionally, Ambassadors from around the world arrived, including the US Ambassador to Israel Mr. Jacob J. Lew.
Alongside the humanitarian purpose of the Joint Center, it serves as a beacon of light and hope by reaching widespread media coverage, locally and internationally, including in countries like Japan, Brazil, Italy, Germany, the USA, Canada, and many more.
