A New Dawn in the Negev

A New Dawn in the Negev is a Bedouin-Jewish coexistence and youth-development nonprofit based in Rahat, Israel, the country’s largest Bedouin city. Its work focuses on Bedouin children, teenagers and young adults, particularly those facing educational, social and economic disadvantage. The organization reports serving more than 600 Bedouin young people between the ages of five and eighteen each year through educational, cultural and enrichment activities. The organization was established in 2009 by Jamal Alkirnawi, a Bedouin social worker who had worked as an academic counselor for Arab students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Its founding premise was that education, employment and leadership development could help young people overcome poverty and become active participants in civil society. Rather than treating youth support and coexistence as separate objectives, New Dawn combines practical skills training with sustained contact among Bedouin, Jewish and international participants. Its activities include English and Hebrew instruction, information-technology education, music, employment preparation, leadership development and social-business initiatives. A central offering, Secure Future for Youth, is designed for at-risk Bedouin youth who have left school. The program uses separate classes for boys and girls and seeks to reconnect participants with learning, vocational possibilities and civic engagement. Language training is intended to improve access to further education and employment in Israel. New Dawn also operates partnership-based initiatives. Through the Israel Teaching Fellows program, delivered with BINA, young Jewish volunteers from abroad spend an extended period in Rahat teaching English to Bedouin pupils while learning about local culture and community life. In cooperation with Wix, the organization has trained and employed Bedouin teenagers in web development. Explore Rahat – Cultural Tourism trains Bedouin young women to work as tour guides for visiting groups connected with organizations such as Taglit-Birthright Israel and Masa Israel, linking employment with the presentation of Bedouin history and culture. The organization’s coexistence work extends to youth exchanges and cultural programs. Since 2012, it has worked with Europeans for Peace and Friends Without Borders on a German, Jewish and Arab youth exchange involving dialogue groups and visits to places of importance to the participants’ histories. The program has included visits to Holocaust memorial sites in Germany and to sites in Rahat and Jerusalem. These encounters are intended to create relationships among young people who may otherwise have had little or no contact with one another. Music is another major area of activity. In January 2015, conductor Omer Meir Wellber, musician Jacob Reuven and Jamal Alkirnawi established Sarab – Strings of Change. Sarab, whose name means “oasis” in Arabic, was described as the first and only music class available in Rahat at the time. Students who complete the program can continue their musical education at the Beersheba Conservatory of Music. The initiative also carries a cultural-preservation aim: Wellber expressed an interest in documenting and preserving indigenous Bedouin traditional music. New Dawn presents Rahat and Bedouin life to visitors while also addressing broader questions surrounding Bedouin social rights, political recognition, education and employment. Its model depends on a diverse network: its board includes Arab and Jewish Israelis, while volunteers have included Christian, Jewish and Muslim participants from Israel and countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, France, the Czech Republic, Germany and Canada. In February 2017, a delegation of 35 German Bundestag politicians and lawmakers met with New Dawn and other Bedouin organizations to discuss conditions in the Negev and the struggle for social rights and recognition affecting nearby unrecognized villages. The organization’s public identity is therefore rooted in both community development and bridge-building. It is not a commercial product brand; its “offerings” are educational, vocational, cultural and dialogue programs delivered through partnerships and volunteer participation. Publicly available material does not establish a corporate parent, owner, listed status, financial profile or a definitive current executive roster beyond the organization’s founder.

A New Dawn in the Negev emerged from the social and educational challenges experienced by Bedouin communities in southern Israel. The Negev Bedouin historically lived as pastoral, nomadic Arab communities. During the late Ottoman period and especially after the establishment of Israel, many underwent a prolonged transition toward permanent settlement. That transition disrupted established social and economic patterns and created continuing difficulties involving education, employment, public services, land, political recognition and integration into wider Israeli society. Rahat, where New Dawn is based, is the largest Bedouin city in Israel and has a particularly young population. Public descriptions of the city have highlighted low socioeconomic indicators, high unemployment and comparatively low rates of high-school completion. Nearby unrecognized Bedouin villages have faced additional uncertainty because they lack municipal status and may be subject to demolition orders. These conditions form the social context for New Dawn’s emphasis on youth development, education, work preparation and civic participation. Jamal Alkirnawi founded the organization in 2009 after working as a social worker and academic counselor for Arab students at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. New Dawn was designed as a local initiative with an explicitly coexistence-oriented approach. Its programs give Bedouin youth access to English, Hebrew, information technology, music and leadership activities, while creating opportunities to meet Jewish Israelis and people from other cultural backgrounds. The organization’s principal youth-development initiative is Secure Future for Youth. It targets young people at risk, including those who have dropped out of school, and combines employment training, leadership development and social-enterprise activities. Separate classes are offered for boys and girls. Language education is particularly important because stronger English and Hebrew skills can improve access to higher education and employment. The organization has described its broader theory of change as resting on education, employment and leadership: each is intended to help young people move from marginalization toward active participation in civil society. New Dawn developed an international volunteer dimension through the Israel Teaching Fellows program, conducted with BINA. Young Jewish volunteers from around the world spend an extended period in Rahat teaching English to Israeli Arab Bedouin youth. The arrangement is both educational and relational: students receive instruction, while volunteers gain sustained exposure to Bedouin society rather than encountering it only through short visits. New Dawn has also worked with Wix on web-development training, enabling teenagers to acquire digital skills and, according to the organization’s published account, obtain employment using the Wix platform. Employment and cultural representation intersect in Explore Rahat – Cultural Tourism. The program trains Bedouin young women as tour guides for groups connected with partner organizations, including Taglit-Birthright Israel and Masa Israel. It gives participants a route into non-graduate employment and presents Bedouin life, culture and contemporary concerns to visitors. This visitor-facing role complements New Dawn’s broader effort to encourage understanding of Bedouin communities and to make Rahat a place where outside groups can engage directly with local residents. Since 2012, New Dawn has participated in a German, Jewish and Arab youth exchange in partnership with Europeans for Peace and Friends Without Borders. Participants take part in dialogue circles and travel to places connected with one another’s histories, including Holocaust memorial sites in Germany and locations in Rahat and Jerusalem. The program addresses the absence of contact that can exist between Jewish and Bedouin youth and uses shared travel and discussion to build familiarity across historical and communal divides. Music became a distinct strand of the organization’s work in January 2015, when Alkirnawi joined conductor Omer Meir Wellber and musician Jacob Reuven to establish Sarab – Strings of Change. The program was presented as Rahat’s first and only music class at that time. Graduates can continue at the Beersheba Conservatory of Music, while the initiative also seeks to protect and document indigenous Bedouin musical traditions. New Dawn has additionally worked on emotional support. In cooperation with Eran, an Israeli emotional-first-aid service, it planned an Arabic-language hotline for Negev residents. The initiative was intended to provide a confidential channel for emergency, personal and community-related concerns, including support for groups that may face barriers to existing services. The organization’s diverse governance and volunteer base reflects its coexistence mission. Its board has included both Arab and Jewish Israelis, and volunteers have come from Christian, Jewish and Muslim backgrounds as well as from several countries. Its public profile expanded in February 2017 when 35 members of the German Bundestag visited New Dawn and other Bedouin NGOs to discuss conditions in the Negev, social rights and the status of unrecognized villages. Available reference material does not document later leadership changes, financial figures or a formal corporate ownership structure. New Dawn is best understood as a locally rooted nonprofit platform whose programs connect youth services with employment access, cultural visibility and Jewish-Bedouin dialogue.

• 2017

  German parliamentary delegation visits New Dawn

  [1]A New Dawn in the Negeven.wikipedia.org

  A 35-member Bundestag delegation met with New Dawn and other Bedouin organizations to discuss Negev life, social rights and recognition issues.

• 2015

  Sarab – Strings of Change founded

  [1]A New Dawn in the Negeven.wikipedia.org

  A music program was created by Jamal Alkirnawi, Omer Meir Wellber and Jacob Reuven, giving young people in Rahat access to instrumental education.

• 2012

  German, Jewish and Arab youth exchange begins

  [1]A New Dawn in the Negeven.wikipedia.org

  In partnership with Europeans for Peace and Friends Without Borders, the organization began facilitating exchanges involving Bedouin Israeli, Jewish Israeli and German youth.

• 2009

  Organization founded in Rahat

  [1]A New Dawn in the Negeven.wikipedia.org

  Jamal Alkirnawi established A New Dawn in the Negev to support Bedouin youth through education, skills development and opportunities for cross-community contact.

A community-based Bedouin-Jewish coexistence organization that combines youth education, employment preparation, cultural preservation and cross-community exchange in the Negev.

• Youth education, employment and leadership

  Secure Future for Youth

  New Dawn’s central youth-at-risk initiative serves Bedouin young people, including school dropouts. It uses separate classes for boys and girls and combines employment preparation, leadership development, social-business projects and English and Hebrew instruction. The program is intended to reconnect participants with education and improve their prospects for further study, work and civic participation.

• Language education and volunteer exchange

  Israel Teaching Fellows

  Delivered with BINA, this program places young Jewish volunteers from around the world in Rahat for an extended teaching assignment. Volunteers teach English to Bedouin youth while living within and learning from the local community, making the program both a language initiative and a practical coexistence experience.

• Vocational training and cultural tourism

  Explore Rahat – Cultural Tourism

  This initiative trains Bedouin young women as tour guides for visiting groups connected with partner organizations such as Taglit-Birthright Israel and Masa Israel. It links non-graduate employment with the interpretation of Bedouin culture, history and contemporary life for Israeli and international visitors.

• Music education and cultural preservation · 2015

  Sarab – Strings of Change

  Founded in 2015, Sarab provides music education in Rahat and offers graduates a pathway to continued study at the Beersheba Conservatory of Music. The project also has a cultural-preservation dimension, with an expressed ambition to document and preserve indigenous Bedouin traditional music.

• International youth dialogue · 2012

  German/Jewish/Arab Youth Exchange

  Run with Europeans for Peace and Friends Without Borders, this exchange brings together German, Jewish Israeli and Bedouin Israeli youth. Dialogue sessions and visits to places of historical significance are used to encourage personal relationships and discussion across different communal memories.

• Community support

  Emotional First Aid Hotline

  Planned with Eran, this initiative was intended to provide emotional first aid in Arabic by telephone and internet to residents of the Negev. The published description presents it as a confidential resource for emergency, personal and community concerns, but does not establish its later operational status.

• 2015Sarab – Strings of Change

  Israel

  The organization launched a music initiative in Rahat with Omer Meir Wellber and Jacob Reuven, combining instrumental study with an interest in Bedouin musical heritage.

  Outcome. Participants gained a local music-learning opportunity and a route to further study at the Beersheba Conservatory of Music.

  Source
• 2012German/Jewish/Arab Youth Exchange

  Israel · Germany

  New Dawn began a recurring exchange with Europeans for Peace and Friends Without Borders. Bedouin Israeli, Jewish Israeli and German youth participate in dialogue circles and visits to locations associated with their histories.

  Outcome. The program creates structured contact among groups that may otherwise have limited interaction and uses shared travel to support coexistence dialogue.

  Source

• 2015

  Launch of Sarab music programProduct launch

  Background

  Rahat had limited access to formal music education, and New Dawn sought to add cultural and creative development to its youth programming.

  Action taken

  Jamal Alkirnawi, Omer Meir Wellber and Jacob Reuven established Sarab – Strings of Change in January 2015.

  Aftermath

  Graduates received an opportunity to continue their musical education at the Beersheba Conservatory of Music, while the project also supported the stated goal of preserving Bedouin musical traditions.

  Source

1. 1A New Dawn in the Negeven.wikipedia.org
2. 2A New Dawn in the Negev official websiteanewdawninthenegev.org