Earning Money for Christmas Gifts Through Israel's "Alternative Means to Retributive Justice" Program

Every day after school for four hours a day, 16 year old Yousef shows up to work at a church in Nazareth where he sweeps the floors, cleans the pews and helps with renovations. During the summer he worked eight hours a day, and he will continue to work there for quite a while.

Despite the hard work, Yousef does not have much spending money. The majority of Yousef's earnings – all but one fifth – are returned to the Church, which used its Loan Fund to repay money that Yousef stole from a neighbor. The arrangement was reached as part of Ashalim's Family Group Conference Program (in Hebrew, known as Kedem)and Israel's Youth Probation Service and Police, whose unique approach that seeks to ensure a broader delivery of justice. Ashalim is the partnership between JDC, the Government of Israel and UJA-NY Federation.

The year before, Yousef stole $15,000 from the mother of his best friend and neighbor – money the woman had saved to help pay for the dowry of her sister, who lives abroad.

The friend's mother, Samira, was a teacher who attended university after divorcing her husband, who was a drug-addict. It did not take professional training for Samira to recognize that her son's friend, the youngest of five children with parents who were also addicts, was in danger of slipping into criminal activity. Nonetheless, she opened her home to the boy and treated him like a son. Yousef was often in the house, ate most of his meals in her and her son's company, and even slept there.

Until the day $15,000 went missing.

Yousef was quickly implicated in the crime. Rather than just sentencing the boy though, the judge who found him guilty asked Yousef if he intended to pay back the woman who had opened her home to him. Yousef had spent all the money on radios, clothes and gifts, but expressed remorse and a willingness to find some way to make amends.

The judge recommended that Yousef, Samira and their families participate in a Family Group Conference so that restitution, and not only retribution, would be had.

Family Group Conferences bring together not only the victim and the perpetrator, but also extended family and community resources to help resolve the conflict. This broad involvement ensures that the crime is not a secret to be hidden, but rather a mistake to be corrected. To date, this Ashalim program has successfully resolved 80 cases in Israel.

Samira and her son, who have no family in Israel invited friends, Muslim and Christian residents of the city, to attend the proceedings. Yousef invited his older brothers, his uncles and cousins. Since both families are of the Christian faith, though from different streams, they agreed that a priest would attend as well.

Eighteen people met for a gathering including Yousef's Youth Probation Officer, the Church Hostel Director, a priest, the coordinator, friends and extended family members – Christian, Muslim and Jew. In a marathon meeting, during which the coordinator, professionals and victim stepped out of the room to allow Yousef's family to come up with a plan, a solution was found to fully pay back the money. More importantly for Samira, a process was set into motion to address the betrayal she felt.

Yousef has family in the United States who agreed to pay $12,000 of the stolen funds. The church offered to loan the remaining $3,000, and allowed Yousef to work there to repay the loan. Yousef also was invited to live at the church hostel.

Yousef agreed to regularly participate in family and church events. He also was encouraged to participate in activities to keep him off the streets. In doing so, Yousef has discovered a love for drawing.

Once a week Yousef visits his home and on occasion has even begun to visit his friend and Samira. Despite the crime and the money that was lost, he was able to retain a friend because of the process. Yousef has also taken the lessons he learned and has applied them elsewhere. "Now, when my brothers argue, I encourage them to sit down together and work it out," says Yousef.

While the return of the money enabled Samira to pay for her sister's wedding, the act of disloyalty was most difficult for her. "I had lost my belief in people," says Samira. "But now I am gaining it back."

"Everybody was pleased by the outcome," remarked the coordinator.

Today, one week at a time, Yousef is repaying his debt. This Christmas, the gifts Yousef will buy for his family and friends will be from money justly earned.

At the beginning of December 2003, a conference was held in Istanbul, Turkey. The Experts' Seminar on Alternative Means to Retributive Justice in Violent Conflicts in the Middle East, sponsored by the prestigious Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, was attended by representatives from Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Jordan, Egypt, Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The Turkish Minister of the Interior, Abdulkadir Aksu, was also in attendance. The Family Group Conference model of Ashalim, Youth Probation Service and Israel Police was presented at the conference.