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The Domari Gypsy Society Community Center in Jerusalem is in Danger of Closing-- How You Can Help

I've written about the Domari, the gypsies of East Jerusalem, on numerous occasions in this blog.  The Dom are gypsies of North Indian origin who have lived in East Jerusalem for approximately 800 years.  They currently number about 3,000 people, and a courageous woman, Amoun Sleem, leads a group of the Dom who want to break the shackles of illiteracy and subsistence living through efforts at building a community, keeping alive their ancestral shared language, and teaching adults and children computer literacy and basic self-help business skills. 

I've visited Amoun on numerous occasions over the past five years and met her extended family.  I celebrated my most recent birthday in Jerusalem with Amoun and Anat Hoffman of the Israel Religious Action Center. Anat and her colleagues at the IRAC have actively helped the Dom for years and originally introduced me to Amoun.

Amoun and her clan have impressed me as honest, resilient people who would like to be self reliant but have fallen through the cracks of the Israeli social system.  Rejected and ignored by Israelis and Palestinians alike, most of the Dom are beggars.

I've attached their most recent newsletter Download domari_newlsetter_4_07.pdf which describes their current situation and how you can help.  The newsletter notes that a $10,000 matching challenge grant to help the Domari is waiting for anyone to make a tax deductible gift to help them....

The Domari are at the absolute bottom of the socio-economic ladder in Israel and they could use a helping hand.  Please join me in helping them to stand on their own. 

To find out more about how to make a tax deductible gift, you can contact drc@domresearchcenter.com or Rachel Canar at the Israel Religious Action Center at rachel@irac.org .

The Resilient Domari-- Update on the Gypsies of Jerusalem

The latest newsletter from the Domari Gypsies of Jerusalem is a testament to the leadership of Amoun Sleem and to the resilience of the Domari, whom I have gotten to know over the past four years.  On my most recent visit to Jerusalem I had the chance to share a special dinner with Amoun and my friends from the Israel Religious Action Center.  At the dinner, I met a new Domari volunteer, Eli Rosenblatt, an American Jew who came to Jerusalem from Serbia last September in order to help the Domari.  Eli had been helping the Roma Gypsies in Serbia and learned about the Domari through an Internet search which also led him to this blog.  This is the kind of Internet matchmaking story that brings me great personal gratification.

Take a moment to read the Domari newsletter and consider that this group of scarcely 3,000 people of North-Indian ancestry has been living at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder in Jerusalem, which is Israel's poorest city, for over 800 years.

Amoun Sleem's dream is to start a Domari-owned and operated bakery business in Jerusalem.  If you would like to learn more about this project and would like to help turn this dream into an entrepreneurial reality, please contact Rachel Canar of the Israel Religious Action Center at rachel@irac.org.

Download domari_newsletter_1_07.pdf