Hanan Al-Sanah Co-Executive Director of Itach Ma’aki: Women Lawyers for Social Justice
Interviewed by Michal Schecter, MAZON’s Israel New Media Associate
Michal: I wanted first of all to congratulate you on the impressive documentary about your work in the unrecognized villages in the Negev. It was really a very nice film. And of course, congratulations on your new role as the co-Executive Director of Itach Ma’aki. We all know that we’ve been through a very difficult year and a half, and that these difficulties are much worse where you live in the Bedouin community in the Negev. I’d like to ask you, in what ways did you receive support from MAZON during this horrible period?
Hanan: Yes, during this difficult period and the conflict, we got support from MAZON at different levels. We are a legal organization and at the same time we work in the field, especially in the south. During this war, we also worked in the center, the north, and the south. MAZON supported us especially in the south of Israel with the Bedouin community.
When we talk about the Bedouin community, we talk about a community that’s part of the Arab minority in Israel. We are around 30-35% of the population in the Negev, but we live on only 5% of the land in the Negev area. Some of us live in recognized villages, which were planned by the government in 1968, and some of the community lives in unrecognized villages, which means there are no basic services and the government refuses to recognize these villages because there is a struggle and conflict about land ownership.
So during this period, on one hand, we lost our traditional lifestyle and our economy that was based on agriculture. And on the other hand, we didn’t get any alternative. So in these villages, especially in the unrecognized villages, most of the people live in very difficult situations. According to formal data, almost 80% of the Bedouin community lives below the poverty line.
Michal: And they don’t enjoy food security.
Hanan: Exactly. Not only food insecurity. During the war, it has become worse — on one hand, the Israeli government policy doesn’t provide enough in the budget for food security. For the Bedouin community, they have another challenge and another obstacle. They don’t even have a strategy or structure to provide support to women and families that face food insecurity.
So, during this period, we found ourselves as an organization realizing that it’s not only about working at a legal level. We also wanted to present and promote the voices of women to the decision makers. We also brought packets of food to thousands of families in the unrecognized villages, because no one knew about them. Even the government and the state don’t know that they exist. We are talking about the Bedouin community — they are citizens of Israel and they exist here, but they do not exist on the map of Israel and they do not exist in the system.
Michal: Was MAZON’s help mostly to provide food for the families?
Hanan: Yes, during the war, we found out that the situation became more difficult, and more women and families suffered from food insecurity. It’s not only that they don’t have access to food, they also don’t appear in the system. They have the right to get support from the Israeli government to get food.
So with MAZON’s help, we succeeded at two levels. At the first level, we managed to bring food to these families, especially families in three situations — families with single parents, women who are unfortunately in cycles of violence, and women who lost their jobs during the war, who used to work in agriculture, particularly at Kfar Aza and similar kibbutzim and moshavim. So for these three groups of women, we supported them on two levels — legal aid and food packages. That’s thanks to MAZON, which helped and supported us during this period. We managed to help more than 3,000 families.
Michal: When did you hear about MAZON? I think it was in your previous role. When did you start working with our organization?
Hanan: I knew the organization years ago because I knew Ishai — he’s always in the field. Three years ago, I was in the field working with another organization, also supporting the Bedouin community in the unrecognized villages. I met Ishai and we started working together in policy circles to make sure there was food for everybody in the Bedouin community. But unfortunately, we still face a huge challenge with 80% of the community living below the poverty line.
Michal: What is special about MAZON as a partner?
Hanan: For me, MAZON is very important in Israel. Everyone thinks that Israel is a developed, democratic state and a rich state, but in reality, unfortunately the Israeli government doesn’t take food security seriously. MAZON leads on this issue and brings it to the public sphere. They also bring this issue to decision makers and force them to talk about it and listen to the voices of the communities inside of Israel — all the poor communities who live in Israel, both Bedouin and Jewish.
In my opinion, there’s only one organization that sees them. It’s MAZON. They work to build this network of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from the north to the south, trying to influence and impact the government’s policies. And for me, I believe it’s very important. Also what’s interesting about MAZON is that it’s not only about strategy and policy change, but they’re also working with the government ministries, trying to work with both the NGOs and government offices. It’s very important.
Michal: How do you see our partnership in the near future?
Hanan: During the war, we became more aware of the obstacles and we started to face more challenges. So I think our cooperation is very important, especially working with the municipalities and working in the field to help families. It’s not enough to work in only two sectors — we need to work with the community, local municipalities, and the state government. If we work at these three levels, I believe we’ll manage to bring the voices of the community to decision makers and help them with food security.
In the beginning, nobody believed that we in Israel (and especially the Bedouin communities) had poor families, that they don’t have basic needs. But in the film (“Her War,” a recent documentary about Hanan), you can see that, unfortunately, there are a lot of families facing food insecurity and poverty. When we worked with the schools — we worked with families to bring their voices to local municipalities, and at the same time, we worked with the schools in every village, and they took care of the kids who came to school and didn’t have access to a meal. We made sure that every kid could have a meal.
Michal: What are your wishes for MAZON?
Hanan: My hope is that we will not have any families or people suffering from food insecurity. We will continue this work and help these families achieve food security with these tools. As a legal organization, we at Itach Ma’aki will continue to advocate for them at both the local and international level. Also, I will bring the voices of these women to the UN.
Michal: Thank you. You have so much respect from us for your organization. Thank you for your kind words.