The second event of the Young Women’s Parliament (and the forth since its beginning in June 2010) took place Bat Yam, in December. Welcome greetings and opening remarks were made by Esther Peron, vice mayor in Bat Yam, Vered Swid, director of the prime minister’s authority for women’s affairs and Anat Livnat, the mayor’s advisor on women’s affairs. The debate was conducted by Linoy Bar-Geffen and the panelists were: Dr. Galit Deshe, Hanna Azulai-Haspari, Stav Shafir, Ayala Raz, Liri Levi, Agat Shmuel and Yuli Amram (the last four are students of Ramot highs school in Bat Yam).
The main issue of the discussion stemmed from the argument that women are the first to suffer from inequality and lack of freedom. Does this fact, so it was asked, bares any impact on their commitment to struggle for social justice and if so, in what ways are they involved in these struggles? The adult panelists described their experiences of being silenced and oppressed when they were younger and how they arrived at gender and social awareness and from there to being activists for social change. The young panelists expressed their eagerness to fight discrimination in the army and in any other sphere of life, emphasizing the need to have friends who take part in the struggles.
In the discussion groups that were held after the panel in the auditorium, high school girls from Kfar Saba, Kfar Kara, Lev Hasharon, Givayayim, Alfei Menashe, participated. They related to the question: what do we mean when we talk about social justice?