Yafit Gamila Biso

It's important for me to explain that Israel isn't all tanks and soldiers running after small children. Israel isn't just the army. There are law-abiding citizens who are concerned about human rights in Israel. That's very important for me to clarify.
Yafit Gamila Biso immigrated to Israel from Syria in 1985. She is active in many joint Israeli-Palestinian peace and human rights groups, including Ta'ayush, Windows, and her own organization the Olive Tree. Her activities include being a translator and contact person for Palestinian children and families getting treatment in Israeli hospitals, organizing humanitarian aid for Palestinian children in the West Bank, and assisting Palestinians with the olive harvest. She is known interchangeably by her two first names, with mean "beautiful" in Hebrew and Arabic, respectively.

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Place of BirthDamascus, Syria
ResidenceRishon Letzion
Year of Birth1958
ProfessionSalesperson, fashion designer
OrganizationThe Olive Tree
IdentityJewish Israeli from an Arab country
LanguagesArabic, Hebrew, English, French
Date of InterviewApril 12, 2005