“In ordinary times, our mission is to develop young leadership in the periphery; we work with thousands of young men and women in towns, villages, local councils, and cities, from the North to the South. When the pandemic arrived, it was clear to us that this same mission was still relevant – maybe even more so than ever.
We looked for partnerships with other organizations in the periphery that had a regional outlook. Then we made a connection via Network member, Roni Flamer of Lev Echad (One Heart), which operated emergency hotlines in a number of local authorities.
Lev Echad had a challenge: how to start operating in Arab local authorities for the first time, in communities they were unfamiliar with and who were unfamiliar with them. This is exactly where we had an advantage, as we had already been operating with young local leaders in dozens of Arab local authorities.
So we started working with Arab local authorities all over the country, setting up hotlines to which residents, who were now shut inside their homes with their families, could call.
We set up just such a center in Jisr az-Zarqa. We were assigned a building by the local authority, recruited volunteers from our Masar leadership program, and purchased a telephone number which would serve as an emergency line for residents to call.
At the same time, we launched a public information campaign to communicate with residents about the virus and stress the importance of quarantining. The campaign helped the local authority remove itself from Israel’s morbidity map and helped persuade infected locals to go to quarantine centers. We also distributed thousands of food parcels, games, and children’s activities to help residents in need.
After a few days, however, we realized that we had a problem: we started hearing about residents not being able to reach the hotline. They would call our new phone number, but the number was blocked. It turned out to be a malfunction on the provider’s end. This technical difficulty resulted in a great deal of urgent calls, as well as many requests for basic food products and baby formula that simply weren’t reaching us.
We figured that this problem would be easily solved. How hard can it be to unblock a phone number? But a few hours went by and we were unable to resolve it. A day passed, and then another day, and still we had no answer from the communications company. The line was blocked, and residents were unable to contact the center.
So I sent a message to the MAOZ Network WhatsApp group and asked: ‘does anyone have ideas? Can anyone help?’ A minute passed, and then a message arrived, and then another and another. Everyone offered their own channels of support.
One Network member suggested I consult with another Network member. I called him up and he put me in touch with his contact (who was not a Network member).
I called and he put me straight through to the CEO of the relevant communications company. He promised to take care of it immediately, and within half an hour the phones at the hotline started ringing again. The block on the line had been removed, and hundreds of residents were now able to reach us.
All it takes is a small connection; activating people in the right places and rallying to help each other, because we’re all ultimately working toward the same goal—helping Israeli society respond to this emergency.