Sikkuy- The Association for the Advancement of Civic Equality
and the Shared Regional Tourism Associations invite you to

Ramadan Nights

‘When night turns into day and day into night’

You are invited to join in a tour for the whole family in a number of Arab communities across the country, a chance to get to know  the fascinating and exciting places, customs, traditions, flavors and people during this the most important holiday season for the Arab-Muslim Community in Israel and the world over.

Register now for tours

Hello to all the friends of Sikkuy,

At Sikkuy our vision is a shared and equal society between Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.  In order to reach this goal, we must act on several parallel paths, all leading to that shared vision.  We try to see not only the difficulties and challenges, but also identify the many opportunities for the development of equality and a shared future together.

This is the reason why Sikkuy has, for the past 10 years, carried out a concerted effort to expand and develop joint Arab-Jewish tourism ventures across the country. This initiative includes the creation and development of mixed groups of residents, Jewish and Arab, working together, in four areas: The Green Carpet Association in Wadi Ara, ‘Derech haYam’ in the Southern Triangle and the Southern Sharon areas, The ‘B’Emek ve B’Har” group in the Nazareth Mountains/Jezreel Valley, and a new mixed group in the Galilee. 

These tourism initiatives advance three goals: the building of strong and stable relationships between Jews and Arabs living alongside one another, economic development in Arab communities thereby advancing more balanced socio-economic policies, and finally opportunities for the wider Israeli public to personally familiarize itself with the Arab community on an equal footing beyond misconceptions and stereotypes. 

The month of Ramadan provides the opportunity to reveal the activities of these mixed tourism initiatives as we invite one and all to join us for ‘Ramadan Nights’. All across the country we can come together and share the experience of this very special time of year.  Trips are guided jointly by Arab and Jewish local tour guides and provide intimate insights into the customs of this month of ‘nights that become days and days that become nights’.  These tours bring you into the heart of these Arab communities, to meet with people, learn about their customs, and share in the festive atmosphere.  Most tours include ‘Iftar’ meals for the evening breaking of the fast in a home-hospitality atmosphere.

After this challenging past year for Jewish-Arab relations, we decided to offer a wide range of ‘Ramadan Tours’ in nine Arab communities in Israel. We believe that this is the best way to express our desire to create a better future for Jewish and Arab citizens of Israel.

We wish to invite you, your family and friends to ‘Ramadan Tours’ taking place this month beginning on June 18.  This is more than an invitation to join in the celebrations: this is how we start to bring about change from the bottom up.  So that the tours will be successful, we appeal to a wide and diverse audience and call on you to help us spread the word - invite friends, family, organizations, communities and any person or group who might be interested.  Join us and take part in helping support the economic development of the Arab communities and the promotion of shared spaces for Jews and Arabs in Israel.

This is also a good time to express our sincere thanks to USAID for their generous dedication to and support for this initiative.

How you can help promote ‘Ramadan Nights’

• Register for a tour at www.shared-tourism.org.il
• Share a Ramadan trip invitation on Facebook
• Share this e-mail with five friends and invite them to join you on a tour.
• Join Sikkuy on Facebook to help forward our vision of a better Israel for everyone.

Sincerely,
Ron Gerlitz and Jabir Asaqla
Co-Executive Directors
Sikkuy