Women in Arab Society in Israel

One of the interesting parts of my job and the triumphs of being able to understand Hebrew is attending conferences such as the following:

Women in Arab Society in Israel
Initiating a Change or Going against the Grain?

To learn more about the conference and the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung's work in Israel, visit:

Women in Arab Society in Israel

I've never done this before but since I wrote the summary and this particular topic is very important to me, I am posting the summary that will appear on the website in days to come.

One of the greatest things about living in the region of the world that you study is proximity to the inside. Notice I'm not saying I am actually inside. It would be impossible to really get into the variety of communities that live in Israel. There are too many identity issues, too much politics, insularity, protection, preservation and so forth. But once in awhile I am allowed to get a peek and an idea of how people set about changing their lives one person at a time, and one day at a time. And as a woman who derives immense pleasure out of learning, supporting and trying to find ways to bolster women in their quest to be equal citizens of this planet, it's my job to spread the word on conferences such as this one. I hope you'll follow the links and learn more about these amazing women in Arab society of Israel, and those who study it too. Talk about being the change you wish to see in the world...

"Women in Arab Society in Israel:
Initiating a Change of Going Against the Grain?"
The Konrad-Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation, November 22, 2011, Tel Aviv University


Nearly a year after the start of the Arab uprisings that have swept the Middle East, it is impossible to ignore the seminal role that women in the region have played and are still playing in these unfolding events. In Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, Morocco, Bahrain and Libya, women have been active in political and civil society actions against regimes for which patience has run out. Significantly, throughout the Middle East and including the Arab community of Israel, it appears that women are in the midst of their very own silent revolution.

Providing an academic and substantive understanding of the current status of Arab women in Israel and the political, social, cultural and economic developments therein, on November 22, 2011, The Konrad-Adenauer Program for Jewish-Arab Cooperation held a conference at Tel Aviv University titled: "Women in Arab Society in Israel: Initiating a Change or Going Against the Grain?"

Women in Arab Society: A Comparative View:

Customarily, the Middle East and its various societies are labeled as conservative, traditional, patriarchal and tribal. In such communities the woman question is often controversial, sensitive and can lead to intra-communal conflict, said Former Knesset Member Nadia Hilou. But despite these longstanding challenges to the advancement of women, there is no question that Arab women in Israel are influencing and being influenced by Israeli, Arab and global society. As a result, the forces that are trying to hold women back are being challenged by an increasingly mobilized female population that has access to political recourse and is well on the way to fulfilling untapped potential. In fact, specifically in Israel, the Social Justice Movement that began during summer 2011 provided a perfect platform for all the women of Israel to show up and demand social justice that can only be truly realized by the guarantee of equal rights for both men and women. Furthermore, as Israel recently became a member-state of the OECD, women's claim to equality bears even more weight in political discourse when they demand that the state meet and maintain the terms of its international agreements.


In light of the Arab uprisings, more and more women in the Middle East are taking part in the politicization of their personal lives and negotiating the extent of their political involvement. The activism of civil society, as witnessed in Cairo's Tahrir Square, saw women of all walks of life, religious and secular, showing up and using the power of numbers to make change. Regardless of whether or not a more conservative Egypt is on the horizon, women in Egypt and throughout the region are using new media, such as Facebook and Twitter, to maintain their presence in the evolving political discourse, said Moshe Dayan Center Researcher Dr. Mira Tzoreff. This virtual world in which political activism is formulated and then materializes in the real world has thus far ensured that women voices are not silenced.

In addition to new media technology that breaks down barriers to communication, increasingly women of the Middle East are producing academic work using the women of their communities as the subjects of their research. The fact that women in the Palestinian-Arab community of Israel are examining the political, social, economic and cultural issues of their own societies increases the legitimacy of these studies, as well as raises awareness about ongoing efforts, for example to decrease violence against women and polygamy. Dr. Taghreed Yahia-Younis, Tel Aviv University, stated that trends in research discourse on Palestinian-Arab Women in Israel are especially indicative of this development. Palestinian-Arab women professionals and academics are formulating the questions that direct the discourse on women in this community and use a multidisciplinary approach that incorporates anthropology, epistemology and history in the production of this canon of works.


Arab Women in Israel as Agents of Social Change:

Women's activism in the Arab-Palestinian community of Israel is not only taking place at the theoretical/academic level, however. Since the 1980s, women-led organizations that advocate for the advancement of women have flourished throughout the country. There are two categories of these philanthropic, non-governmental organizations, said Dr. Mary Totry, University of Haifa. These groups are either feminist in their political philosophy and sprung up in the 1980s and 1990s, or they support the local population by providing services upon which the state fails to deliver. In both cases, influential Arab-Palestinian women in Israel organize at the local level with the goal of making state-wide change through policy reform. A look at two case studies of women in the Bedouin and Druze communities allows for concrete understanding of the increasing agency that Arab women exercise in Israel.

Ben Gurion University's Dr. Sarab Abu-Rabia-Queder's extensive research on the Bedouin women of the Negev indicates that despite a 20-year period in which women had no access to formal education, since the 1980s women in these communities have become agents of change, taking personal and political matters into their own hands. Of course, there are differences in the activism of these women based on the extent of their religiosity or secularism. Moreover, in the Bedouin community the politics of tribalism pose another set of challenges to the Arab women of the Negev. Nevertheless, Bedouin women are using the resources at their disposal to create economic opportunities for themselves, and even creating a discourse on "Islamic Feminism" that seeks to fight patriarchy by engaging and re-interpreting Islamic texts that have been used to repress women.

In the last 15 years, the research of Dr. Naomi Weiner-Levy shows that young Druze women in Northern Israel are slowly revolutionizing their communities by pursuing higher education. Notably, the Druze clergy has not stymied this development, but rather adapted to this growing trend. Perhaps the most fascinating observation about the women of the Druze community is the keen awareness young women who leave in pursuit of higher education have of their responsibility to future female generations. Generally speaking, similar to the Bedouin community, the Druze community represents a collective society and mindset. This means that while young women may leave home to gain an education and, hypothetically, advance their own economic or professional status, they see themselves as role models that will influence whether or not the community will continue to make space for an increasing public role for Druze women.

Whether or not the Arab "Spring" revolutions will devolve into a metaphorical winter, the experience that women throughout the Middle East have and are gaining from these events is something that no one can take away. In Israel among the communities of Arab women, we are witnessing a process that is in movement and there is no question that the political is personal and the personal is also political, stated Nabila Espanioly, director of the Al-Tufula Center in Nazareth. Although Arab women of Israel continue to struggle against patriarchy, tribalism, discrimination and violence, they are active members of society who are contributing and directing the discourse about them and formulating the methods by which to promote their advancement.