Sam Shepherd, at The Blogs

Sam Shepherd

Jun 26, 2023, 3:02 PM

The Abraham Initiatives board members and staff gather in Umm Al-Fahm during their annual retreat. Photo courtesy of Yaacob Ibrahim.

A Canadian, a New Yorker, a Jewish Israeli, an American married to a Bedouin man, and a Palestinian-Australian walk into an Indian restaurant in Ramle… …and they had a delicious farewell lunch! What I just described was not a joke. I...

May 31, 2023, 4:51 PM

Breaking the other silence

Image courtesy of The Abraham Initiatives.

Since arriving in Israel in September, I encountered a political slogan that I never heard on my North American university campus: not “Am Israel Chai” or “Free Palestine,” but “Arab Lives Matter.” “Arab Lives Matter” is a slogan popularized by...

Mar 27, 2023, 3:04 PM

Speaking the same language

Students paint the word "Love" in Arabic, Hebrew, and English on banners at the Mishkan Museum of Art as part of a shared learning project organized by The Abraham Initiatives. Photo by the author.

Nelson Mandela once (reportedly) wrote, “If you talk to a man in a language he understands, that goes to his head. If you talk to him in his language, that goes to his heart.” The late South African leader only visited Israel once in...

Feb 20, 2023, 11:26 AM

Uniting for democracy in a divided society

A pro-democracy demonstration in downtown Tel Aviv on Saturday, February 4, 2023. Photo by the author.

Over the past few weeks, tens of thousands of Israelis have been taking to the streets in downtown Tel Aviv to protest proposed reforms to the country's judiciary system. As a young Canadian volunteering in Israel for the year,...

Dec 27, 2022, 4:09 PM

No, shared society is not an existential threat to Israel

In a recent TV interview with “Meet The Press,” incoming MK Avi Maoz took aim at non-profits within Israel working towards shared Arab-Jewish society. He cited “radical progressive organizations working with the Ministry of Education, the IDF, and the...

Nov 28, 2022, 1:56 PM

‘Okay, but why not Tel Aviv?’

When I told my family that I wanted to volunteer in Israel after graduating university, the reaction was unanimously positive. I would be near cousins and family friends whom I rarely see, and I would be spending a year...

Feb 18, 2021, 4:39 PM

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Meet the Yemeni-Jewish musician singing soulful Jewish R&B

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About Me

Sam Shepherd (he/him) is a recent graduate of McGill University, where he studied history, literature, and Jewish Studies. He is currently volunteering in Lod as part of the Yahel Social Change Fellowship, in which he works as an English-language teacher and community volunteer. Sam is also an intern at the Abraham Initiatives for 2022-2023.