About us
Zazim is the largest campaigning community in Israel. We are a movement of citizens, Arabs and Jews, working together for democracy, equality, and joint, active civic engagement. We are political- our campaigns target decision-makers and raise the hot topics on the public agenda; but we are not partisan- Zazim is an independent movement, brought together by shared values of human rights, combatting the occupation and racism, and social and environmental justice. Our primary vehicle is online tools that enable us to quickly reach a wide audience, and through which we initiate campaigns and actions both online and offline.
We believe that each and every persons’ voice is worth more than one ballot every few years, and that active and critical civic engagement is essential to any democracy. Our campaigns enable our movement activists to make their voices heard, engage and have an impact all year round during formative, decision-making moments. We are not connected to the government’s systems and don’t employ lobbyists in the halls of power, but rather are convinced that people power – when channeled in a focused and efficient manner – can change the reality on the ground.
Zazim has sister organizations in various countries in east and central Europe and the UK, including Campact in Germany, Declic in Romania, Akcja Demokracja in Poland, ahang in Hungary, aufstehn in Austria, 38 Degrees in the UK and Kreni-Promeni in Serbia. Most of us face similar challenges from the extreme right and populist forces driving to weaken democratic institutions. Each of the organizations acts independently in its country for a better present and future. We use the knowledge and experience of our sister organizations in order to create successful, victorious campaigns and serve our community to the best of our ability.
The Team
Raluca Ganea
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Raluca is a campaigner and strategic advisor. Among other things, she worked for a number of years with the global campaign organization Avaaz.org and has a rich experience in leading public campaigns on social and political issues. Raluca has a BA in political science and philosophy from Tel Aviv University and is an Iyengar Yoga instructor.
Saroj Elam
Deputy Director, Finance and Operations Manager
Saroj, born in India, is an activist with experience working at organizations for social change. Saroj worked for the Hotline for Refugees and Migrants for a number of years, amongst other things. Saroj has a BA in education and an MA in human resource management.
Gonny Hyams Kwashie
Campaigns Director
Gonny managed social justice projects to increase equality for impoverished communities and volunteered in civil society initiatives for many years. Goni is a writer and editor and holds a B.A. in History of the Middle East and Communications.
Amal Saad
Senior Campaigner and Digital Coordinator
Amal is a Palestinian social justice activist. She is one of the founders of the online activist and volunteer network Tuskooti-sh (Don't Be Silent), a growing movement dedicated to creating safe spaces of Arab women to share their experiences of sexual violence. Holding a Bachelor's Degree in Sociology and Interdisciplinary Studies.
Yotam Kipnis
Campaigner
Leon Sverdlov
Campaigner
Leon is a political activist promoting human rights and Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. Leon worked as a journalist, participated in a local campaign, and was involved in the Geneva Initiative and Peace Now. Leon holds a bachelor's and master's degree in political science and European Union studies.
Ayelet Ben Dor
Campaigner
Ayelet managed development projects at software companies for a decade, while volunteering with civil organizations. A painter and comic book artist, Ayelet completed her bachelor's and master's degree in art at Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design.
Board
Ziv Stahl
Chairwoman of Board of Directors
Since April 2022, Ziv Stahl has served as Executive Director of the human rights organization Yesh Din. She joined Yesh Din in 2010, dedicating several years to leading their research department. She holds an Master's Degree in Political Science from Tel Aviv University, and sits on the board of Akevot: Institute for Israeli-Palestinian Conflict Research.
Nirit Moskovich
Member of Board of Directors
Nirit's experience in the social change arena has been wide-ranging and dynamic. Served as the director of Ir Amim's Public Outreach & education department. Before that, she led the Social Guard as Executive Director and represented the Association for Civil Rights in Israel as a spokesperson.
Tammy Riklis
Member of Board of Directors
Tammy is a content editor. She manages and edits the independent website HaOkets. Previously, she worked for Haaretz.
Kholod Idres
Member of Board of Directors
Kholod is the Co-Director of the Shared Society Department at Sikkuy, and the Co-Chair of Mahapach-Taghreer. She served as the Arabic Education Coordinator at ACRI from 2009-2019, and has vast experience in education, community organizing, and group facilitation. Kholod holds a BA in Sociology and Human Resources and an MA in Gender Studies, both from Bar-Ilan University and a graduate certificate in organizational consultation from Haifa University.
Betty Benbenisti
Member of Board of Directors
Betty is a campaigner and communications advisor. She has worked at the Van Leer institute in Jerusalem, Shatil and Sister- for Women in Israel. She founded and led the media team at Koah LaOvdim- Democratic Workers’ Organization. Her dissertation deals with social activism and independent online media.
Avi Dabush
Member of the Audit Committee
Avi Dabush is the executive director of Rabbis for Human Rights, and a founder of Zazim. A fellow at the Beit Midrash For Israeli Rabbis of the Hartman Institute and Hamidrasha at Oranim, Dabush is currently evacuated from his home in Kibbutz Nirim. Founder of the Periphery Movement, and author of "The Periphery Rebellion."
Makbula Nassar
Member of the Audit Committee
Feminist and social activist, media personality, and long-time radio host at Ashams Radio. Currently Digital and Arabic Content Manager at Givat Haviva, Jewish and Arab shared society in Israel. Served as the head of the Arabic information and media program of the National Road Safety Authority. Alongside her journalistic work, Makluba has been involved for more than 15 years in leading and coordinating projects and initiatives promoting women’s rights and the rights of the Palestinian community. These include the Working Group for Equality in Personal Status Law, the Tsofen non-profit organization, which promotes hi-tech in the Arab sector as a catalyst for a shared society in Israel, and A-List, an online pool of Arab experts for the Hebrew media.
Ben Brandzel
Co-Founder
Ben is a global pioneer in digital campaigning and one of the leading professionals in the field. After he served as Advocacy Director at Moveon.org and as a campaigns and fundraising director for President Obama, Ben founded and served as CEO of OPEN, which supports and connects organizations like Zazim in 19 countries. As a American Jew, Ben is especially grateful for the chance, through Zazim, to support the struggle for justice for all people in the land which is holy to so many people.
Benjy Cook
Advisor and non-executive Board Member
Benjy was Zazim’s Technology Director until April 2020 and is very experienced in digital campaigns for social change, with a deep familiarity with the field both in Israel and worldwide. Benjy is a programmer, indie game developer and die hard gamer. An experienced developer for companies and startups, Benjy is also an active member of the open source project Blender and a lecturer for programming and games at Shenkar College.
Who funds us?
We are an independent organization that does not receive any funds from governments, political parties or corporations. We rely strictly on private donations. Our community and our campaigns depend on donations from members like you. Most of our expenses are covered by small donations from members, showing the power that many small donations build. The rest of our budget comes from private foundations- the New Israel Fund and affiliated donors as well as the Rockefeller Foundation and the Gimprich Family Foundation. Transparency is important to us, and you can learn more about our financial management at the Guidestar website.
We know that the support of our members is the only way to build a sustainable and successful movement.
In order to guarantee our independence and sustainability – join our family of supporters here.
Contact us
We would love to hear from you! You can contact us through our email address on contact@zazim.org.il and we will get back to you within 24 hours.
Before getting in touch, please look at our FAQ page- maybe you’ll find what you are looking for there
FAQs
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- Please note, for technological reasons, removal may take up to 24 hours and in that time it’s possible you’ll receive another email from us. We’re sorry for your inconvenience.
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- Unfortunately, we are unable to accept donations by check or bank transfer from non-Israeli banks. The fees are too high.
- If you live outside of Israel, please donate via credit card or Paypal. American citizens can also donate through the New Israel Fund at this link, and your donation will be recognized for tax deduction purposes in the US.
- If you live abroad but have an Israeli bank account, you can donate via check or bank transfer with the following details:
- It’s possible that our emails are going to your Spam folder, or, if you have Gmail, to the Promotions folders and not to your primary inbox. In order to resolve this, add our email address: zuzu@zazim.org.il to you contacts list
- In order to make 100% sure that our messages will get to you, join one of our recent campaigns listed on our homepage
- Through our weekly survey and recommendations from Zazim activists, we learn which issues are the most important to our community members. Amongst the many pressing issues, we must unfortunately choose only a few to focus on in order to create winning campaigns.
- We invite you to join the thousands of Zazim members who’ve opened their own campaigns on “Zazim in the Community”. This way, even if we can’t run a campaign on the topic most important to you, you can.
- It takes just 5 minutes to open a campaign on Zazim in the Community. Once you open one, other community activists can join your cause. Click here to start your campaign
Join our team
Currently we are not looking for new staff- updates will be posted to this webpage