Fugee Fridays was a humanitarian initiative which I helped create in early 2008 in response to the acute distress of a growing community of African asylum seekers living in Tel Aviv. For approximately one year and a half, a group of volunteers gathered every Friday at the Carmel Market in order to collect fresh fruits and vegetables, which were then distributed to refugee shelters in the south of the city. As part of our efforts to raise awareness of the African community’s plight, foster positive cultural exchange between Israelis and Africans living in Israel and empower both the refugee community and our volunteers, we began keeping a weblog on Haaretz.com in September 2008, to which both volunteers and asylum seekers were encouraged to contribute. These are the posts they wrote.

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Refuge, Yes… But Not in Tel Aviv by Florentine Lempp, July 27 2009

“If I was the kind of person that had heroes, T. would be one of them. She’s a refugee from South Sudan who lived in Egypt for a while, until there too life became unbearable. Almost two years ago, she walked across the border from Sinai into Israel, together with her husband S., in the search of a better life for their children. At the age of 23, she has just had her third child, the first girl after two boys. Last week, S. was detained by the police. He was released, but given six days to get out of the city.”

Giving Refugees More than Just a Basket of Food by Daniel Rosenberg, April 26 2009

“Last week I delivered a box of food to the home of a woman who is nine months pregnant. When I arrived at her home, her husband invited me in for tea. I had the privilege of sitting down and having a cup of tea with him while he told me his story. He escaped Chad in 1991, and he described to me the difficult journey that he experienced as he traveled through Libya and Egypt until finally reaching Israel.”

Help Us Help Ourselves by Hamed Sadindin, April 12 2009

An open letter to the Israeli people by a refugee from Darfur: “We are a group of asylum seekers, forced to flee our homeland and our families. Officially prohibited from working between Hadera and Gedera, many of us have tried to look for jobs outside of Tel Aviv, but there are few to be found. We live in Tel Aviv because it is the only place in Israel where we have access to jobs and health care. I believe that, given the right to work in Israel, we could support ourselves and be a benefit to the communities that we live in.”

Down Down Bashir! (photo essay) by Daniel Cherrin, March 23 2009

“On March 5, The International Criminal Court in The Hague issued a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, citing seven counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and forcible displacement. However, according to the ICC, there was not enough evidence to include the charge of genocide. Tel Aviv’s substantial community of Sudanese refugees held a large rally soon after – organized and attended by asylum seekers from Darfur – praising the ICC’s decision to indict al-Bashir.”

Tel Aviv Through the Lens of Refugee Youth (photo essay) by Daniel Cherrin, Jan. 16 2009

“Over the past few months, a video course was born and conducted, with the aim of putting the camera in the hands of refugee youth currently living in Tel Aviv. The course was extremely successful and instructors were able to teach the importance of filmmaking and storytelling both in theory and in practice. As a result, some very interesting and important films were produced.”

Left to Fend for Themselves by Daniel Gold, Dec. 24 2008

“I found her Saturday night, 8 months pregnant and sleeping in the park,” Yotam Sheffy tells me. She is the newest addition to a cramped shelter run by the organization Sheffy works for, the African Refugee Development Center (ARDC). There is no hint of emotion in his voice as he tells me this. After more than a year of working for the ARDC, the sight of helpless African refugees left to fend for themselves in the streets of south Tel Aviv has grown all too familiar for him.”

We Are All Refugees (photo essay) by Daniel Cherrin, Dec. 5 2008

“African refugees first began arriving in Israel in significant numbers after riot police attacked a Sudanese refugee encampment in Cairo in late 2005, leaving dozens dead and hundreds without a place to sleep. Those that manage to enter Israel despite this are faced with detention and neglect by authorities. One policy response by the government was the Interior Ministry’s attempt, back in March, to prohibit African refugees from living and working in the center of the country, between Hadera and Gedera.”

Mayoral Candidate Dov Khenin on the Tel Aviv Refugee Situation (video) by Daniel Cherrin and Jesse Fox, Nov. 7 2008

“We cannot close our eyes to this problem. The main responsibility should lie with the government, of course. But in the current situation, in which the government does not do its part, the municipality should be very active. Our purpose should be that everyone who lives in the city will get a basic, maintained standard of living suitable for a human being. It is not so simple to achieve, but this is our goal and it should be very clear.”

More than Just Giving a Man a Fish by Steven Fox, Oct. 24 2008

“Grassroots organizing has moments of success and moments of failure – something to remember when it seems that effecting change is impossible. As the difficulties arose, I began to wonder what kind of impact our project was actually having. I did not see myself raising awareness or changing the public consciousness, and I questioned the whole premise of the project – why were we giving a man a fish, when we should be giving him a fishing pole?”

Taking Refuge Behind a Blue Door in Neve Sha’anan (photo essay) by Daniel Cherrin, Oct. 10 2008

“On the pedestrian mall in Tel Aviv’s Neve Sha’anan neighborhood, between the old and the new Central Bus Stations, stands a blue metal door. This unmarked door conceals a shelter housing Sudanese refugees from Darfur. Until very recently, between 80-100 Darfuri men lived in the 5-room shelter at any given time. In mid-September, however, immigration police arrested several residents of the shelter.”

From War-Torn Sudan to a Tiny Classroom in South Tel Aviv by David Oppenheim, Oct. 3 2008

“When I arrived at the “shelter” – a three-bedroom apartment housing over 20 inhabitants – I was shocked. A small stuffy bedroom had been turned into a classroom with table and chairs, where 10 to15 kids of all ages, background and level of education were given irregular lessons by volunteers – some qualified and others (like me) unqualified to teach. But the kids craved any opportunity to learn whatever their teachers could offer, and both students and parents displayed a remarkably high value for education.”

How We Came to Work with Tel Aviv’s African Refugee Community by Jesse Fox, Sept. 19 2008

“The Fugee Fridays initiative started in February 2008, when we heard that Levinsky Park, across from the New Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv, had become a sort of improvised refugee camp. This was during the height of a wave of African refugees arriving in Israel, and new people were arriving in Tel Aviv every day. The first time that we collected food at the market, we brought it directly to the park.”

Fugee Fridays in Tel Aviv (photo essay) by Daniel Cherrin, Sept. 12 2008

“Fugee Fridays is a weekly initiative that brings donated food from the Carmel Market to African refugees in south Tel Aviv. Every Friday, a group of volunteers gathers late in the afternoon at the end of the market and begins collecting food, which is then transported to various refugee shelters.”