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Is everyone
afraid of everyone?
Selected links to information on female Palestinian and Israeli authors,
producers, politicians, journalists, as well as NGOs and peace initiatives.
Christiane
Jungblut
The main emphasis of this issue of LOLApress was to be the conflict between Palestine and Israel from a feminist point of view. We requested Israeli and Palestinian women to write about their positions and experiences with the war, but also to report on alliances and joint actions.
The replies that we received: "I have too much to do and cannot write now"; "I would like to apologize for my late reply, it has been hectic over here and I couldn't reach the office on a daily basis."; "Sorry, I simply missed the email in the 'heat of the battle' (one can really say that here)."; "She thanks you very much for your request but is sorry that she currently has no time to write an article for you. Due to the difficult situation she has to concentrate on her work locally. You will surely understand this."
Yes of course, we understand that it is impossible for her - the Palestinian author Sahar Khalifa - and the others to currently take the time to write an article. Whether we can really understand, or whether we can get an idea of how the different living conditions and the resulting political attitudes of women in the region are marked, I do not know.
In the 'Heat of the Battle'
there are increasing urgent communications, appeals and reports being published
on mailing lists and websites. The following collection of links should
contribute to the spreading of important current news as well as background
information, and should facilitate direct contact with the women in the
region.
Media
Indymedia-Israel:
http://www.indymedia.org.il/imc/israel/webcast/index.php3 (Hebrew, English,
Arabic)
Indymedia-Palestine:
http://jerusalem.indymedia.org/
(English)
Al-Quds (palestinian daily
newspaper):
http://www.alquds.com/ (Arabic)
Ha'aretz (israelian daily
newspaper):
http://www.haaretzdaily.com/ (English,
Hebrew)
Amira Hass, an Israeli,
journalist for Ha'aretz, moved to the Gaza Strip to cover the Palestinian
side of the peace process. Despite restrictions from both Israeli and Palestinian
officials, she provides insight needed to help resolve the conflict:
http://www.freemedia.at/IPIReport2.00/22Hass.htm (English)
Women's
Organisations
The Jerusalem Link is the coordinating body of two independent women's centers:
Bat Shalom - The Jerusalem Women's Action Center, located in West Jerusalem,
and Marcaz al-Quds la l-Nissah - the Jerusalem Center for Women, located
in East Jerusalem:
http://www.batshalom.org/2002/the-jerusalem-link.htm (English)
Bat Shalom is a feminist
peace organization of Israeli women:
http://www.batshalom.org/1.htm
(English)
Links to Israeli, Palestinian
and joint women's organisations:
http://www.womenwagingpeace.net/content/whatwedo/newsevents/7jlink.asp
(English)
Links to Palestinian Women's
organisations:
http://www.jerusalemites.org/Findley49.html (Spanish)
Coalition of Women for Just
Peace Issues: is a mix of Jewish and Palestinian women (all citizens of Israel)
who call upon Israel to end the occupation and negotiate a just solution.
Includes: Women and Mothers for Peace, Women Engendering Peace, Movement
for the Civilization of Israeli Society , WILPF - Israeli chapter, TANDI:
Movement of Democratic Women for Israel, Noga Feminist Magazine, NELED: Women
for Coexistence, Machsom-Watch. PO Box 8083, Jerusalem, 91080, Israel, Ph#:
(+972-2) 672-5293, Fax#: (+972-2) 672-5293,
Email:
gsvirsky@netvision.net.il,
Website:
http://www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org/ (English)
or
http://www.fire.or.cr/junio01/coalition.htm (English)
Altufula: Pedagogical and
Multipurpose Women's Center, Nazareth Nurseries Institue, PO Box 2404 Nazareth
16000, Israel.
E-mail: altufula@rannet.com
Jerusalem Center for Women,
PO Box 51630, East Jerusalem, Israel, Ph: 972-2-234-7068, 02 244 7653, Fax:
972-2-234-7069,
E-mail: jcw@palnet.com
Website: http://www.j-c-w.org/
(English)
Women's Center for Legal
Aid & Councelling: Established in 1991 WCLAC is a Jerusalem-based Palestinian
NGO working to promote the legal and social status of Palestinian women:
http://www.wclac.org/ (English)
NISAA offers women in the
Arab World the opportunity to exchange experiences and information on gender
specific topics in order to intensify their co-operation among each other.
NISAA is also provides a means to enter into and enhance the dialogue between
women in the Arab world as well as women in other parts of the world. NISAA
is a regional project of the Arab Women's Forum, AISHA. The Women's Center
for Legal Aid and Counselling/Jerusalem (WCLAC), a Palestinian NGO, is
responsible for the coordination and implementation of this
Web Site: http://www.nisaa.org/,
http://www.nisaa.org/palest-e.htm
(English, links to Arabic pages)
Women's Studies Center in
Jerusalem, The Women's Studies Center (WSC) was established in 1989 to fulfill
the goals and mission of the Palestinian women's movement by conducting field
studies to assess the reality and needs of Palestinian women, and to devise
programs to meet these needs:
http://www.wameed.org/about-en.html
(English)
Eyewitness stories are the
result of a joint project between the Women's Studies Center in Jerusalem
and WCLAC which documents the stories and testimonies of Palestinian women
relating their experience of life in the occupied territories. These stories
and essays will be updated monthly:
http://www.wameed.org/ (Arabic,
English)
Amanjordan.org: The Arab
Regional Resource Center on Violence against Women:
http://www.amanjordan.org/ (Arabic,
English)
Machreq/Maghreb Gender Linking & Information Project: MACMAG GLIP is a forum for debate, learning and exchange on women, gender and development amongst interested groups in the Middle East and Maghreb region: http://www.macmag-glip.org/ (Arabic, French, English)
Women's Affair Center, Gaza:
A Palestinian women's research and training center which works to promote
women's rights and equality in the Palestinian society:
http://www.wacgaza.org/ (English)
Women & Family Affairs
Center: Aims to help women improve their competence in leadership positions,
and at work in the Palestinian society. and to conduct activities, publications
and information that promote women's human rights within the Palestinian
society:
http://www.wafac.org/ (English)
The Palestinian Working
Women Society (PWWS): A community based non-governmental organization that
was established in 1981 as the Union of Palestinian Working Women
Committees
http://www.pal-pwws.org/
(English)
Films and female
Producers
While the possibilities of political negotiation are becoming more and
more limited, documentation on events and living conditions, as well as stories,
are growing in importance. Thus in numerous documentary films, female Israeli
and Palestinian producers such as Mai Masri, Anat Even, Ada Ushpiz or Azza
el Hassan are casting a critical eye on the occupation and settlement policy
of Israel with regard to Palestine.
Oldenburger Israel Palestine
film festivals:
http://www.oldenburger-filmtage.de/3sa2000.html (German)
On Mai Masri's films (Children
of Shatila,1989; Children of Fire, 1990; Suspended Dreams, 1992; Hanan Ashrawi:
A Woman of Her Time, 1995; Frontiers of Dreams and Fears):
http://www.cepal.ca/events.html
(English)
Mai Masri film review: Frontiers
of Dreams and Fears, 2001:
http://www.caabu.org/events/masri.html (English)
BBC Interview with Azza
el Hassan (This is Palestine, 2001; The Place, 1999):
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/documentaries/storyville/azza_el_hassan_interview.shtml
(English)
Portrait Azza el Hassan
(by Samaa Abu Sharar):
http://www.fiba.dircon.co.uk/fiba2001/text/Azza.html (English)
Anat Even, Ada Ushpiz (Asurot,
2001):
http://www.movie-times.net/cgi-local/store/commerce.cgi?product=ASUROT
(English),
http://www.idfa.nl/programma/programma/iprog_film_film.asp?filmid=11227
(Dutch).
Female authors
Together with the feminist Sahar Khalifa, Palestinian female writers such
as Sumaya Farhat-Naser, Liana Badr, the Palestinian Israeli author Aida Nasrallah
and the Dutch Israeli author Orly Castel-Bloom are portraying pictures of
Palestine and Israel in novels and short stories.
Sahar Khalifa (We Are Not
Your Slave Girls Anymore, 1974; Wild Thorns, 1975; The Sunflower, 1980; Memoirs
of an Unrealistic Woman ,1986; The Door of the Courtyard, 1990; The Inheritance,
1997- Her works have been translated into a variety of language, including
Hebrew, Dutch, Russian, German, Swedish, English):
http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Khalifeh.html2 (English)
Sahar Khalifeh's biography:
http://www.sakakini.org/novelists/biography1.html (English)
About Sahar Khalifeh's writings:
http://www.sakakini.org/novelists/writings1.html (English)
Sumaya Farhat-Naser: (Leader
of the Jerusalem Centre for Women, female author of 'Rooted in the land of
olive trees', 2002; 'Thymian und Steine', 2000). Letter of July 2001 in the
'Palestinian diary':
http://www.swr2.de/palaestina/tagebuch/farhat-naser/teil1.html
(German).
Another letter of 17.04.2002: "Die weiße Flagge ist zerrissen"
http://www.nzz.de/2002/04/17/fe/page-article83GYK.html (German),
The white flag is torn:
http://www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org/articles/TheWhiteFlagisTorn.htm
(English);
Feminists talk across an abyss (Sumaya Farhat-Naser und Terry Greenblatt,
The Jerusalem Link):
http://www.globalfundforwomen.org/4news/news/2001/news-chronicle-abyss.html
(English).
A chapter from 'Rooted in the land of the olive trees':
http://www.lolapress.org/elec3/artenglish/nase_e.htm (English)
Liana Badr (A compass for
the sunflower, 1979), biography:
http://www.sakakini.org/novelists/biography.html (English)
Amal Amireh, Article on
Arab Women Writers: "Problems and Prospects for Publishing in the West: Arab
Women Writers Today," Al-Jadid Magazine 2.10 (August 1996):
http://www.igc.apc.org/solidarity/amal67.txt (English)
Aida Nasrallah und Orly
Castel-Bloom: 'Everyone is afraid of everyone', two mothers between war,
terror and occupation. A Palestinian and an Israeli female writer describe
their everyday life:
http://www.zeit.de/2002/21/Leben/200221_mutter_palaestin.html (German);
Aida Nasrallah also organizes joint art exhibitions for Palestinian and Israeli
women.
The Working Group on
the Status of Palestinian Women in Israel
NGO Report: The Status of Palestinian Women Citizens of Israel - The Working
Group on the Status of Palestinian Women in Israel is comprised of the following
organizations and individuals:
The Association of Women
Against Violence (WAV) - Aida Toma-Suliman;
The Arab Association for Human Rights (HRA) - Mohammed Zeidan & Hoda
Rohana;
Al Tufula Pedagogical Centre - Multi-Purpose Women's Centre - Nabila Espanioly,
Siham Badarne & Dr. Hala Espanioly Hazzan;
Al Siwar - Arab Feminist Movement in Support of Victims of Sexual Abuse -
Iman Kandalaft;
The Haifa Crisis Shelter - Hoda Rohana;
The Follow-Up Committee on Arab Education - Dr. Hala Espanioly Hazzan &
A'reen Howari;
The Committee for Educational Guidance for Arab Students - Suhad Bishara,
Advocate;
Arabiya Mansour, Human Rights Activist;
Rina Rosenberg, Advocate, Coordinator of The Working Group & Editor.
Complete report:
http://www.wforw.it/NGO.html
(English)
MIFTAH
MIFTAH: The Palestinian initiative for the promotion of global dialogue and
democracy:
http://www.miftah.org/ (English)
members:
Maha Abu-Dayyeh: Director of Women's Center for Legal Aid and Counseling,
Jerusalem.
Hanan Ashrawi: Secretary General of MIFTAH and Member of the Palestinian
Legislative Council, Jerusalem.
Suheir Azzouni: Director General of Women's Affairs Technical Committee,
Ramallah.
International
Conference
The first vifu virtual
conference with the title "War, Peace, and the Future of Civil Society: The
Case of Palestine" VIFU online-Konferenz im Mai 2002:
http://www.vifu.de/network/conference.html (English).
Christiane Jungblut is editor of LOLApress Europe.
Translated from German by
Heather Batchelor.