Tune in via Zoom at 11 am MST on December 6^th to hear from SIPP’s seven new Mini-Grant recipients. These projects cover a wide range of civil society and environmental programs that support efforts to promote peace and well-being for Israelis and Palestinians. 

This is our third article in this series and highlights four of the seven Mini-Grant projects:

Learning Arabic as Language of Peace – AMAL (the Hebrew acronym for “Spoken Arabic for All”) works to make Arabic and Arab culture more accessible to Jewish children to promote tolerance and mutual respect between Jews and Arabs in Israel. This project provides scholarships to Arab Israeli university students to teach Arabic and Arab culture to Jewish Israeli 5th-graders in and around Tel Aviv.

 Wheels of Change provides outdoor environmental education and individual empowerment to Bedouin youth, especially girls, through off-road biking. This is part of a long-term project by the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council to build bridges of trust between the Jewish and Bedouin communities in the southern Negev.  Our support will allow the group to purchase additional bicycles and expand their program.

Catching Rainwater: Basma/Barta’a Local Council Schools will establish a rainwater catching project as an educational tool for teaching about the water cycle and its importance, and provide additional water to an Arab elementary school in Barta’a.  Barta’a straddles both sides of the Green Line in Northern Israel/West Bank and is in the Hadera water basin. The project will be conducted with participation by scientists and engineers associated with Al Quds University in the West Bank and Engineers without Borders – Israel.

Unity Is Strength promotes online civil dialog between Israelis and Palestinians. SIPP’s grant will assist the organization in increasing its online presence.  

Attendees will also learn about our work to create two biodigester pilot programs – one near Be’er Sheva, and one near Hebron. Biodigesters turn organic waste into cooking gas and fertilizer. The Israeli program, in partnership with the Ramat HaNegev Regional Council (Boulder’s Sister City), will allow Bedouin communities in that area to turn organic waste into off-grid energy.  While this project has just started, it has already attracted interest by businesses and individuals within both the Bedouin and Jewish communities to expand the program into individual homes and agriculture.  The Palestinian program will also be used as an educational tool at GLSHD’s Environmental Education Center when the pandemic subsides.

Register here for SIPP’s December 6^th online event, and read our newsletter

All of SIPP’s successes happen because of donor support and the efforts of its volunteer Board.