Good Neighbor-ship

The Good Neighbor-ship Project encourages the formation of social connections and mutual acquaintance between teenagers from neighboring communities in the Negev Highlands, based on shared values.

The Negev Highlands are home to both Bedouin and Jewish communities that share daily life, work, and services, fostering generally good neighborly relations. However, significant language and cultural differences have created barriers, leading to misunderstandings, prejudices, and sometimes racism. These issues can intensify during periods of national security tensions.

Due to these cultural and linguistic gaps, interactions between teenagers from both communities are rare. Even when adults collaborate, the youth often remain uninvolved, growing up in an environment where unfamiliarity prevails over neighborliness.

Good Neighbor-ship gathering, January 2025, at Ben-Gurion College.

The best way to reduce alienation and create new friendships that eliminate prejudices and expressions of racism is through social gatherings, especially during adolescence.

To bridge this divide, the Good Neighbor-ship Project was established. This initiative organizes a series of monthly interactive and experiential meetings throughout the academic year between Jewish students from Ramat HaNegev and Bedouin students from Ein Avdat School in Abde village, where students from all the communities of the Negev study. The meetings take place between group members once a month throughout the school year. These sessions are led by two facilitators representing both communities, emphasizing a collaborative approach. The project is part of a broader concept of collaborative work between the organization and the residents of the village communities in the Negev Highlands.

The project’s primary goal is to foster long-term cross-sector social connections among selected youth leaders who will serve as ambassadors for good neighborly relations, promoting mutual understanding and reducing social alienation between the communities.

The content of the meetings includes a rich and experiential program in the Jewish and Bedouin community settlements, meeting with community representatives, cultural introductions, preparing joint meals, intimate discussion circles – tasks that require cooperation in small mixed teams, meetings with social and environmental activists, and engaging activities with an emphasis on the commonalities between the members of both communities. The desert environment and local collaborations in desert tourism serve as a common denominator for both communities and as a foundation for current and future cooperation. During the activities, various content workshops will also take place to acquire communication tools, such as a photography workshop, a digital and internet usage workshop, art workshops, and more.

The activity begins with a single-sector preparatory meeting at the participating schools, followed by a series of joint meetings. The goal is that in the ninth meeting, the participating students, both Bedouin and Jewish, will organize a joint community event that will include their schoolmates, parents, and community representatives. The annual activity begins and ends with a meaningful meeting and a nature trip in the shared desert area.

Our partners in the project for the 2024-2025 school year are: