Arab and Jewish women leaders meet for a weekend of coexistence in Nazareth
By: Yoav Etiel
(An article published in the Hamoshavot Magazine website >>)
About sixty Arab and Jewish women from all over Israel met for two days of acquaintance, discussion, and creating a mutual experience and connection, with the desire and aspiration for coexistence. The goal of the group was to represent the female voice that calls for making peace with our neighbors, for ensuring a fair quality of living for the entire population of Israel, both Jews and Arabs, and for women’s equal rights.
Last weekend, sixty Arab and Jewish women held a meeting in the framework of the activity of “Anuar” in Nazareth. During those two days, the women got to know each other, listened, communicated and shared, using their experiences, the mutual, yet separate lives. They held discussions, round tables and joined panels, in which the women discussed the topics of coexistence, motherhood, education, change, prejudice and the hope for peace.
The founder of the SHIN movement, Professor Esther Hertzog, the founders of the activity of “Anuar”, Ibtisam Mahameed, the advisor to the head of Faradis Local Council on the status of women, Yonat Klar, an activist in the SHIN movement, as well as Anat Livnat, the chairwoman of the women advisors on the status of women in the municipal authorities, Anhar Masarwa, coordinator of the women’s activity in Givat Haviva, Watfa Amash-Agbaria, coordinator of the “Women Reborn” activity in Jisr az-Zarqa, Sahim Halabi, coordinator and activist for women in Daliyat el-Carmel, additional women who are active in the SHIN movement and in the community, among others, participated in the meeting.
Ibtisam Mahameed, the advisor to the head of Faradis Local Council on the status of women: “The activity of ‘Anuar’ – lights in Arabic, is to drive away the darkness within, and to bring in more and more candles, until there are lights. In order to be with the other, you must accept the other. Once you get acquainted and talk about it, the stereotypes and prejudice alter”. The women came from all over Israel to participate in the meeting, from places such as: Jisr az-Zarqa, Faradis, Daliyat el-Carmel, Isfiya, Tel-Aviv, Ramat-Gan and Bat-Yam, among others.
“Anuar” – a women’s leadership group, of both Jews and Arabs, consisting of a few dozen activists, was founded in 2002 by Israeli Arab and Jewish women, with the purpose of promoting together social and political issues. The initiative for founding the group came from the SHIN (equal representation of women) movement, and from the “Peace Begins Within” association of Ibtisam Mahameed.
The goal of the group is to represent the female voice that warns against social injustice, calls for making peace with our neighbors, for ensuring a fair quality of living for the entire population of Israel, both Jews and Arabs, and for women’s equal rights.