We are five young British Jews - the first graduates of the New Israel Fund UK’s year-long activism fellowship. We spent time with leaders from the asylum seeker community in South Tel Aviv last summer, and we were inspired by their fortitude and determined to support their cause. This World Refugee Day, join us to help transform the lives of African refugees in Israel by equipping refugee leaders with skills and knowledge that can enable them to advocate for their cause and secure basic rights for their communities. 

What's the issue?

Asylum Seekers in Israel deserve our protection. They require a fair and just asylum system, which provides real hope of building a life in Israel. That’s why  this project develops strong leaders within the refugee community  who can advocate on their own behalf.

Israel is home to 45,000 African asylum seekers who, like our ancestors of the exodus story,  made the journey from Egypt to the Promised Land in search of safety and hope. 

Fleeing war, persecution and brutal dictatorships in Eritrea and Sudan, many of those seeking asylum have endured torture camps in the Sinai desert en route to Israel. 

Although Israel offers these asylum seekers “temporary protection” from deportation, fewer than 200 claims (0.5%) for asylum have been approved by Israel since it signed the Refugee Convention over 60 years ago, leaving  an entire community in a state of limbo. They live without formalised legal or civil rights, facing the threat of detention or prison, and under constant pressure to commit to “voluntary return” to third-countries in Africa, where many are placed in further danger.

How will we solve the problem?

The New Israel Fund is the main organisation supporting equality and democracy in Israel today. It has been supporting the plight of African Asylum Seekers through grants to the African Refugee Development Center (ARDC) for many years.

In 2014, the African Refugee Development Center (ARDC) started a pioneering leadership development course for asylum seekers in Tel Aviv and the Holot Detention Center. The programme is designed to give them the knowledge, skills and confidence to  represent their community in its struggle for justice.

In 2016, the ARDC will begin training new leaders  in community mobilization, awareness raising, media engagement and campaigning. Young leaders will learn how to map community needs, effectively engage with stakeholders and the media, utilise nonviolent action, and build partnerships and coalitions to  lobby for systemic change. Find out more about ARDC's ground-breaking programme: http://ardc-israel.org/en/projects/community-development-and-empowerment

What is our potential long-term impact?

By supporting this project, you will be helping to develop a generation of refugee leaders who can clearly and effectively articulate their lived experience to the Israeli people, campaign for their rights of their community, and help to bring awareness to Israeli society in order to change public opinion and, ultimately, government policy. 

This is a sustainable, grassroots initiative which is developing the kind of leaders Israel needs.

It costs just £350 to put an asylum seeker through the year-long programme, and £8375 to fund the entire course for a year.

We’ve already raised enough to put three participants through the African Refugee Development Center’s ground-breaking leadership programme - please help us to double this.

Please give what you can and help spread the word. Your contribution will demonstrate solidarity with those who have been forced to seek protection in Israel after escaping war, violence and persecution in their home countries. Let them know that the UK Jewish community has not forsaken them.

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