We wish all our friends and supporters a happy and peaceful Hannukah and hope for peace in the troubled parts of the world.
THE BRITISH SHALOM-SALAAM TRUST
..was established in 2004 by a group of Jews in response to the humanitarian crisis in the Middle East caused by the Israeli Occupation. We welcome supporters of all faiths and none.
CROSSING BORDERS
We work in Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories, aiming to foster positive relations between Jews, Palestinians and other communities living within Israel’s 1967 borders. This includes the rapidly increasing numbers of refugees from Africa and unregistered migrant workers.
REACHING OUT
In Israel and the Occupied Territories we support cross-community, human rights, education, health and anti-poverty programmes. We actively seek out groups to work with (for example Bedouin communities and refugee groups) and maintain on-going contact with them. Wherever possible, we visit the projects to gather further information and offer support.
SMALL IS BEAUTIFUL
We focus on small-scale, grassroots or developing projects that help participants build their own opportunities for a future of peace and cooperation; projects that may be overlooked by major funders. Our grants rarely go above £5000. As organisations have prospered and /or developed their own network of donors, we have happily stepped back. But we still stay in touch and many use our Post Box service.
SIMPLE IS ECONOMIC
Our application process is simple — just a short application form, which is followed up by email and sometimes phone calls. Such simplicity, plus heavy reliance on volunteers, helps us keep our administrative costs extremely low.
RAPID RESPONSE
During the summer 2014 assault on Gaza, we once again raised funds for Physicians for Human Rights-Israel (PHR-I) in their emergency medical relief.
10th Anniversary Celebration
BSST had a very successful and enjoyable 10th Anniversary Celebration on 3rd December.
Thanks to St Luke’s Parochial Trust for the hire of their Garden Suite, delicious Middle Eastern cuisine with wine and Jeremy Hardy for making us all laugh so much. Thanks also to Jon Snow for his heartfelt impressions from Gaza and Israel and to Hamed Qawasmeh from Hebron and Miri Weingarten from Israel and London. And thanks too to David Burns for his musical accompaniment to our meal and to Nick Hillel for putting together our slide show. But especial thanks go to our 101 (yes 101) guests for making the evening one to remember. And much gratitude to those friends who sent us donations.