نبيلة اسبانيولي
Nabila Espanioly
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INTERVIEW WITH NABILA ESPANIOLY
November 24, 2014 · by sfrantzman · in Articles, Interviews, Palestinians. ·
Originally published in The Jerusalem Post Magazine
By SETH J. FRANTZMAN
On Saturday, October 25, Buseina Abu Ghanem, a 31-year-old mother of six was shot to death while sitting in her car in Ramle. She was the 10th Arab woman from the same extended family, including her sister and stepmother, to be murdered in the city since 2005. She had been photographed with MK Haneen Zoabi (Balad) not long before, but this had meant nothing to her killers. Nabila Espanioly, a longtime activist for Hadash who is set to take up a seat in the Knesset early next year, is an outspoken critic of the public’s use of the term “honor killings” for these murders of women by family members.
Nabila Espanioly (Courtesy)
“There is no honor in killing,” she says. “It is femicide (women killing). We had a discussion about it in the [Knesset’s] women’s status committee. On Monday there was a representative of the police and Welfare and Social Services Ministry and Arab MKs came and some Jewish MKs came. It was mentioned that in Ramle and Lod there was a pilot program in 2012 where they built a model of treatment [for] any woman who is under [the threat of] attack with police involved in protecting them.” Espanioly says that this pilot program was successful, but its budget was cut. Buseina was left alone and even though threats were known against her, she was killed. “They knew she was in danger,” asserts Espanioly.
Buseina Abu Ghanem with Hanin Zuabi
In only four cases of 23 murders of women were the killers brought to justice, according to Espanioly. “We ask and demand the police take more responsibility, because if you kill and stay free there is impunity. If you kill and don’t pay the cost it allows you to commit the next [murder].” She says that the change in society must come from both sides. “We are tackling the attitudes that were used in the past to legitimize killing. There is a change in society, all the Arab parties’ members came and condemned the killings. It shows as a women’s organization we are succeeding in changing society. We took responsibility and [now] the government must take responsibility and protect women.” One of the issues in the Arab community in Israel is its distrust of the police. In the circumstances, even as activists come forward asking police to do more, how can they work with a society that views them as an enemy in some cases? Espanioly disagrees, pointing to the pilot program in Ramle. “If we put it as a priority and the government takes it as a responsibility and works together,” she says, “I think you are right. Due to history and experiences we experience today, like the behavior of the police against the protesters in the summer [the Gaza war]… the history and collective memory with the police is not a positive experience and not one that supports cooperation.”
Effective policing along with the state taking on responsibility can lead to what she calls a paradigm shift. “Today, the police in the Arab communities are not seen to be protecting against drugs and stealing, from the violence that is celebrated in some areas, in some towns and villages. The illegal weapons used by different groups, is known to the police, and nothing is done. These are elements and issues the police don’t deal with. The police don’t put the Arab community as its priority….
We need a paradigm shift towards the Palestinian citizens of the state, to see them as citizens and not see them as a fifth column or a threat.” The need for that paradigm shift dates back to the foundations of the State of Israel. In 1957 Emile Habibi, a leader of Israel’s Communist Party, gave a speech at the party’s 13th congress. He said that despite the suppression the party faced, the “Arab nation” was prepared to support the “faith that democratic powers will be victorious in our land.” He was confident that “Jews and Arabs can live in a shared homeland in equality, brotherhood and peace.”
Emule Habibi (Wikimedia commons)
Almost alone among the parties in Israel, Hadash, whose official name is the Democratic Front for Peace and Equality, has sought over the years to bridge the gap in Arab and Jewish relations in Israel. Its electoral base is both Jewish and Arab, and it has averaged three Knesset members since its founding in 1977. Bridging the ethnoreligious divide has not been an easy role to play in country whose politics are so divided on those issues. Early next year, Nabila Espanioly is slated to continue this tradition when she is sworn in as a new MK for the party. She is to be the first Arab woman from this party in the Knesset, and she’s to join the minuscule number of Arab women who have served in Israel’s parliament. A veteran peace activist of the Left, she sits down with The Jerusalem Post to discuss her background and her dreams for the state.
Bamberg, home of the university
ESPANIOLY WAS born in Nazareth in 1955 and went to study in Germany at the University of Bamberg in the 1980s. When she returned to Israel in 1987 she started the al-Tufula center that concentrates on women’s empowerment and early childhood development. “I was born to a family of eight sisters and two brothers in Nazareth, and in my school, in my childhood, I was active but not organized politically. My awareness of systematic activism began after my studies in Haifa and in Jerusalem,” she recalls. When Hadash was first being organized in Nazareth in 1975 she joined. “Education is one element of success, but being a Palestinian and facing the discrimination and feeling it [against me as a person] first of all created awareness and I learned a lot through the peace movement and Hadash,” Espanioly tells of her background. She describes the many obstacles she faced, including being fired from three different jobs as a social worker due to her political activism.
When she traveled to Germany, it provided an opportunity that opened her eyes to differences. “It affected my awareness. It gave me other tools and learning from other cultures….I packed and went there with lots of hopes and had very little money. And it was not an easy choice. Germany at that time for a Palestinian student was a hard choice. I had to face that. Also the difficulty of being in Germany. The racism. The stereotyping towards the Palestinians. It wasn’t easy. But I had to work as a babysitter and also in a restaurant and housekeeping and cleaning to support myself; I went [there] without resources or a scholarship. It was not easy but I succeeded.”
Espanioly says Israeli society is going through a profoundly racist period in its history. In the old days when she was a communist activist she recalls the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) trying to encourage her to stop her political activism. “I wouldn’t call it racism then, it was trying to control… [there were] civil rights abuses at that time and not racism.
The atmosphere was not as racist as today. Today, if you are an Arab you think twice where to go to have a coffee if you are in a Jewish place. Or if you are a woman with a scarf, you board the bus and they [passengers] feel afraid with the expectation that you will blow up the bus. That is how they deal with her [the Arab woman].”
There has been an increase in racism and tension related to the conflict in Gaza over the summer. She traces the rise of the current situation to the 1980s and Rabbi Meir Kahane’s Kach Party, which was banned from standing in the 1992 elections due to racism. Racism is pervasive in her view. “Jews and Arabs experience it, and it is very dangerous for all of us.” she claims. “Not just for Palestinians in Israel, but those who want to build democracy and are interested in human rights and want to make a shared society, based on respect of minorities and respect of our differences. We are supposed to be able to live together.”
She says that while other countries have had public battles against racism, Israel is still in its infancy in understanding this issue. “I always say ‘racism is racism is racism,’ it doesn’t matter if it is against a Mizrahi Jew or Ethiopian. It may have begun with Palestinians, but it doesn’t stop there because it has no borders….The problem today is that we are in danger of fascism, not only racism. We have laws that are racist laws and we have politicians who say racist statements. Instead of taking hold of democratic rights, we see a decrease in the space for democratic values.”
A peace doze
ESPANIOLY HAS been a motivated and inspiring voice on the margins of Israeli society for many years. A cofounder of the left-wing peace group Women in Black’s Haifa chapter, in 2003 she won the Aachen Peace Prize in Germany, which recognizes individuals working for the underprivileged and mutual understanding. She has been particularly active on issues relating to bringing together women in the peace movement. She sees herself as joining a long line of Jews and Arabs who believed in a shared society, such as Communist Party leaders Tawfik Toubi and Tamar Gozansky and prominent women activists such as Samira Khoury of the Democratic Women’s Movement in Nazareth.
They were “great people who did a lot for the Palestinians and for the Jews in Israel. Although they were not appreciated enough in both communities, history will give them the credit for representing the interests of both peoples. In the end, when we reflect back in 200 years, I am sure they will be mentioned [as important] for both peoples, for Jews and Arabs.”
A Hadash poster
Espanioly emphasizes the respect that is needed in Israeli society for minorities and the majority. “Respect for the Palestinian narrative. Respect for the history of the Jewish people. They struggled for a society that is equal and open for all.” Espanioly’s path to the Knesset was an ideological choice for Hadash to ensure representation from a woman. It was agreed that MKs Muhammad Barakei and Hanna Swaid would step down. For her it can’t come soon enough. “We should have accomplished this years ago but I never say it’s too late, it is a beginning, and I hope it will become a model for other women. I hope it will open possibilities for other women to represent our issues.”
Women’s issues transcend the ethnic and religious divide in Israel, and she thinks there are issues that she shares concerns over with other female members in the Knesset. The 2013 elections produced the largest representation of women in Israel’s history, around one quarter of all seats. “I am ready to work together with different people and groups, not just those that think like me or believe like me. Some issues are common to women. They might be common to me and MK Michal Roisin [Meretz] or MK Merav Michaeli [Labor] and we can work together.
We can work together to advance women’s rights. I want to build coalitions with other people. I want to advance those dreams. I don’t only think about issues relating to Palestinian women only, we are part of the women in Israel. To be a full citizen and equal, in some issues Jewish women are not equal. We will work together to change that situation.”
In her view the “neoliberal” policies of the center-right government are falling particularly hard on the shoulders of women. “More privatization, which means the rich get richer and poor more poor. We know the poor people are mostly women and children, and we are paying these prices. This is a government that is seeing and solving its problem through violence and attacks, and we know women pay the price in times of war….All women are interested in democracy. But she acknowledges that women won’t necessarily see eye to eye on national issues, such as “stop[ping] the occupation and building a national state for the Palestinians beside Israel. There are issues… we may differ, but I search and look for coalitions.”
Hadash leader Mohammed Barakeh
The swearing-in ceremony for Espanioly is not to take place for several months, so she is occupying her time learning parliamentary procedure and accompany Barakei around the glowing halls of parliament. Every Monday she spends time with him. As an active lobbyist for years on various issues she is already familiar with the environment, but “I think that I have good teachers around me and those around that are ready to support, and [I’m] glad to be stepping into a supportive environment.”
ESPANIOLY SEES the media as playing a crucial role in stereotyping Arabs and creating a view of them as an “other” in society. “I think this is a call for the media to be more interested in presenting the Palestinians in Israel and its diversity, whereas the media usually work with stereotypes. We don’t hear about change and directions. We hear only about problems. There is segregation between Jews and Arabs and it is protected by the media and policymakers.”
It is no surprise that she stresses time and again that we should refer to Arab citizens as Palestinians. “There is a need to stop the use of the wording such as ‘Arab sector’ and ‘Arab-Israelis’ that strengthens misconceptions.” Arabs are not, in her view, like Ethiopian Jews or haredim, they are not a sector, but rather “a national minority, and we need to be dealt with as citizens, as a specific homeland minority with a specific history and identity.” The Arab parties in the Knesset, including Hadash, which is an Arab-Jewish party, are often not seen as playing a role in the politics of the state, except as an opposition. They have never been part of a coalition, for instance.
Israelis often read about members from these parties only in connection with anti-Israel activity. But she is adamant that it is unfair to blame Hadash or others for this; it is blaming the minority victim in her view. “I think we are effective. The fact that we are continuing is a big success and it is not easy. I think all the parliamentarians are trying to do their best…. It is not the responsibility of the politicians only; it is the responsibility of the government and other elements in the society and the media.”
Asked about the activities of Zoabi, the only other female Arab MK, Espanioly does not discuss her. “I can speak only about my own mistakes….As I said the issue is the responsibility to make that change. If we are interested in change. When I make my mistakes I will declare them and I will accept critique.”
THE HADASH activist has a poignant story to tell. A young girl who came up to her recently said she had so many school books she could barely carry them all to school. She looked at Espanioly and said “you must change that.” Inside the books were values that belonged in the 1950s. “When we look at the books that our children study from, when I looked at the Arabic teaching books from the [Education] Ministry, I looked at the texts and there was no emotion. The text was rigid and political representation was all [male], about the king, the prince, the queen and sultan; not one leadership position in the textbooks from grades 1 to 6 was a democratic figure, not even an elected committee member…. The Education Ministry has to explain how in the 21st century in what is called the ‘only democracy’ [in the Middle East], these are the books [the kids learn from].”
She advocates a change in society to embrace progressive values, peace and conflict resolution. Recently President Reuven Rivlin attended a memorial ceremony at Kafr Kasim for the 48 villagers shot to death by the Israel Police in 1956 for violating a curfew they did not know about. “I valued the symbol of the president being there, but I want more…. I hope one day we will have a government that can take responsibility for history.” Espanioly is optimistic, even in the shadow of the current tensions, that Israel will become a better society and more equal. “I have to be optimistic. Pessimism is a feeling for the privileged, and I am not privileged.”
Nazareth activist honored by global women's group
Espanioly, 56 and unmarried, is a social worker and clinical psychologist. She is also active in the Hadash political party and in various Jewish-Arab peace groups.
By Jack Khoury | Mar. 11, 2011 | 2:29 AM
Nabila Espanioly. Photo by Abdallah Shema
In honor of International Women's Day, the international organization Women Deliver compiled a list of 100 people worldwide - some famous, some not - who have improved women's lives. The list included one person from Israel: Nabila Espanioly, an Arab Israeli who founded and runs the Al-Tufula Pedagogical Center and Multipurpose Women's Center in Nazareth.
Espanioly, 56 and unmarried, is a social worker and clinical psychologist. She is also active in the Hadash political party and in various Jewish-Arab peace groups. In the past, her political and social activism frequently got her fired, she said - including from a job at the National Insurance Institute many years ago.
In 1989, she launched Al-Tufula, and the center has since run numerous projects to empower Arab women. It is also active in women's health issues.
While her lifestyle choices made her unusual for an Arab woman of her generation, today, she said, "there are more and more women of independence and wide-ranging activity, and that contributes a great deal to Palestinian Arab society in Israel."
http://www.womendeliver.org/knowledge-center/publications/women-deliver-100/women-deliver-100-1-25/
Bernand Vanleer foundation
Musharaka's Nabila Espanioly named among world's most influential women
BvLF congratulates Nabila Espanioly on being named as one of the 100 most influential women in the world. Director of the Altafula Center in Nazareth, Nabila is a key person in the Musharaka Association, a collective of organisations supported by BvLF which works to improve early childhood care and development in Arab Palestinian communities in Israel.
Israeli-Arab, female and headed for the Knesset
In an unprecedented breakthrough, Nadia Hilou (Labor), Nabila Espanioly (Hadash) and Hanin Zoabi (Balad) may all serve as MKs during the same term
BY MICHAL SHMULOVICH January 22, 2013, 2:35 am 8
A landmark achievement, possibly
Three more notable Arab-Israeli women are running in the same race: Asma Aghbaria-Zahalka, the head of Daam; Nabila Espanioly from Hadash; and Hanin Zoabi from Balad. That four Arab women are running for Knesset isn’t a landmark achievement, but the fact that three of them have good chances of getting into the Knesset is.
There has been a total of three Arab-Israeli females in the Knesset to date, starting in the year 1999, and never more than one at the same time. Zoabi, the sole Arab female in the 18th Knesset, is the third to have served in that role. She is also the only one who stands sure to be elected again, having survived efforts led by Likud’s Ofir Akunis to have her banned from the elections for participating in the Mavi Marmara flotilla that tried to break Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza. (Zoabi’s campaign did not grant an interview in time for this article).
Hilou, number 18 on the Labor list, has a decent chance of making it in, according to a recent poll by The Times of Israel that estimated that Labor could get 21 seats; other polls have shown Labor at 17-18, however.
Espanioly is assured a seat even if she isn’t elected outright thanks to a party agreement in which Jamal Zahalka and Hannah Swaid, first and second on Hadash’s list, respectively, vowed to step down halfway through their terms (in two years) to give the next candidates on the list who didn’t make it into the Knesset an opportunity to serve.
Nabila Espanioly, the 5th spot on Hadash’s list for Tuesday’s elections. (photo credit: Courtesy/Hadash)
Although analysts speculate that Aghbaria-Zahalka will not cross the electoral threshold needed to enter the Knesset, her campaign has garnered a lot of attention and buzz. She is the only Arab woman heading a party, remarkably one of six women currently heading parties running for Knesset.
Although women are about half of the population in Israel — in 2009, there were 3.8 million women and 3.7 men in Israel — less than one in five MKs in the outgoing Knesset are female. Moreover, several parties in Israel don’t have any female participation, including United Torah Judaism, Shas, and the joint Arab list, Ra’am-Ta’al.
Like Arab political candidates in general in Israel, female Israeli-Arab politicians walk fine lines, both between the sexes and between the Arab and Jewish populations. Scorned by some within their own populations for participating in the Zionist political system yet mistrusted by many among the Jewish majority, the few Arab-Israeli females in Knesset face numerous challenges.
Galit Dehesh, executive director of the Israel Women’s Network, said Israeli-Arab women have to cross more hurdles than do other women to get into Knesset, stemming from the fact that the support system for them isn’t as versatile as it is for Jewish women. Furthermore, political questions regarding their loyalty or agenda can overshadow their goals.
Asma Aghbaria-Zahalka, head of the Daam party, is one of four Arab-Israeli women running for Knesset Tuesday (photo credit: Courtesy/Daam)
“Female Arab leaders with strong social agendas have often been judged by their security or national agendas, and not by the other initiatives,” said Galit Dehesh, executive director of The Israel Women’s Network, “but some, like Zoabi, did wonderful things for women’s rights in Israel.”
Another statistic stacked against the female candidates is that 55%-60% of Arabs in Israel — the group that could potentially help bring a female Arab candidate to the Knesset — don’t vote.
Ofer Kenig, political researcher and head of the Israel Democracy Institute’s Forum for Political Reform, said one reason for the low turnout of Israeli-Arabs is their leaders’ calls to boycott elections and not to partake in the Zionist system — although the Arab League has called on Arab-Israelis to vote this time. “The second reason is more to do with their frustration — both with their inability to enact policies and also vis-à-vis the feeling that Arab-Israeli politicians don’t really represent their true interests,” Kenig said.
One of their major concerns is financial security: Approximately 60% of Israeli-Arabs live under the poverty line. Moreover, only 20%-22% of Israeli-Arab women are part of the workforce.
“Their leaders have the reputation of being more concerned with the Palestinian question, or the policy in the West Bank, rather than taking care of the day-to-day concerns of the population,” Kenig added.
Practical revolutionaries?
The campaigns of both Aghbaria-Zahalka and Espanioly are strongly tied to the demand for restarting the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and to the social justice movement. Daam organizes workers via unions and and Hadash supports a socialist system. The two parties’ platforms may appear very similar to an outsider: They’re both left-wing Jewish-Arab groups, and they even compete for a similar voter base — an issue that has caused somewhat of a rift in left-wing circles.
In mid-January, Aghbaria-Zahalka, 39, a prominent women’s rights activist and labor organizer, addressed a group of mixed Jewish-Arab activists at a cavelike tavern bar in Jaffa. An effective speaker, Aghbaria-Zahalka captivated her audience as she presented Daam’s platform.
“Isn’t it about time an Arab woman led a party in the Knesset? To enact change, real change, for all of us?,” Aghbaria-Zahalka asked.
Asma Aghbaria-Zahalka, the head of Daam and the only Arab woman leading a political party into the elections Tuesday. (photo credit: Yael Golan/Daam)
When Aghbaria-Zahalka finished speaking, Ronen Dan, a quiet, lanky computer scientist, said he felt that she was “the hope of our generation” but that he wasn’t sure if he should vote for her — not because of his conscience, but due to cold calculations. The party is unlikely to clear the 2% Knesset threshold, so a vote for it would be wasted.
Alon Lee Green, the director of field operations for the Hadash campaign, said that in the last election, his party was one-third of a mandate away from getting a fifth seat in the Knesset.
“We are extremely effective when it comes to legislating and enacting policy,” he said, “and this seat is so important.” In this Knesset, Green said, Hadash and the parties it banded together with were able to prevent 150 anti-democratic measures from being passed; they added riders onto bills and exhausted all possibilities in the legislative process to stall other motions, for example.
So why doesn’t Aghbaria-Zahalka just join Hadash and get herself a shot at a Knesset seat?
During an interview this week, Aghbaria-Zahalka acknowledged that the two political groups strive for similar things but noted a few basic differences. First, Daam seeks to be an alternative to the Histadrut labor federation. It has unionized several thousand workers and given legal assistance to some 20,000. “Hadash is part of the Histadrut,” Aghbaria-Zahalka said, “but if you claim to be a person of the left, then this doesn’t make sense. We need to give workers an alternative,” she said.
Another difference is that Daam “doesn’t close deals with the Arab patriarchy — the chamulot [clans] — that Hadash does,” Aghbaria-Zahalka explained. “Because Hadash cooperates with the chamulot, they don’t bring enough women into the fold,” she said, “and a lot of their voters are Arabs, not Jews. Their dialogue is different to the two groups — to Arabs the rhetoric is more chauvinistic and nationalistic than it is to Jews, and these are things Daam won’t do,” she said.
A few days later, during a telephone interview, Aghbaria-Zahalka’s claims were countered by veteran activist Espanioly, 57, who is in the 5th spot on the Hadash list.
A Hadash campaign ad featuring Nabila Espanioly, a noted activist and women’s rights advocate, who is number five on the party’s list for the upcoming elections (photo credit: Courtesy/Hadash)
Espanioly, a clinical psychologist by training who was one of the people who established Hadash in Nazareth in the 1970s, was named one of the world’s 100 most influential women in the world by Women Deliver, an international nonprofit advocacy group, for working to promote gender equality and conflict resolution for 40 years. She founded and runs the al-Tufula Pedagogical Center and Multipurpose Women’s Center in Nazareth and helped found the leftist pro-peace groups Women in Black and the Coalition of Women for Peace. Perhaps most revolutionary of all is her decision not to get married — a step that “isn’t easy,” she admitted. “But I feel loved, and I feel complete.”
Speaking about Aghbaria-Zahalka’s comments, Espanioly said that Hadash uses the same discourse for all groups. “It’s no secret that most of Hadash’s voters are Arabs… We respect our community — that’s why they vote for us — but we don’t compromise on our values, and if there is one thing that Hadash stands for, it’s equality,” she said.
“Our society is patriarchal, and we know it, and we try to change it,” she said. Hadash believes the family system, the chamula system, is antithetical to democracy, she explained. “Yet, we still want to work with all the people in our society, and we begin from where the people are,” she said.
She put the larger theme of Israeli-Arab female participation in politics this way: The candidacies of Aghbaria-Zahalka’s and Zoabi, a younger generation of candidates, are a direct outcome of years of work by Hadash and other activists to make political participation of Israeli-Arab women a reality.
As for Aghbaria-Zahalka, who’s become the darling of the left-wing Arab-Jewish activist scene in Tel Aviv, she knows her party may not pass the threshold needed to enter the Knesset. But, she said, Daam’s struggle — to unionize Jewish and Arab skilled truck drivers and laborers and establish more workers’ committees while fighting for social justice and Jewish-Arab integration — will continue.
As is the case with her compatriots in Labor or Hadash, the road to the Knesset may be a long one, but it’s not the only one, she said, because their agenda of community activism stands regardless of whether they make it to the Knesset on Tuesday or not.
Baby Steps in Nazareth
The Hour
By Leonard Fein
Published July 15, 2009, issue of July 24, 2009.
It’s not that conversation here (I write from Jerusalem) is about existential questions. In fact, there is little such talk. But the existential question, like a miasma, is everywhere, inescapable. The response approaches the bi-polar, grand visions of Israel’s might and power one minute, dismal perceptions of Israel’s alone-ness, its vulnerability the next.
Such understandings may be more available to visitors than to the people who live here. Visitors (as contrasted with tourists) look for patterns, are implicit anthropologists. Their eyes and ears are sensitive — perhaps too sensitive — to nuance, to the unspoken, to the casual remark.
A counterpoint is useful, perhaps even necessary. That is why, among my very special joys, when I am here at the right time, is the annual celebration of the work of the New Israel Fund. (Disclosure: I served for many years on the NIF board, and am now a member of its international advisory council.) The celebration introduces to the assembled — activists, supporters, friends — some of the “stars” of the many organizations NIF supports, and the work they and their nonprofit organizations do to advance civil society here.
Because this year’s event took place in Nazareth (which gives me the chance to write, “last year in Jerusalem”), very many of the people called to the stage were Palestinian Israelis. Some examples from this year’s gathering:
Nabila Espanioly of Nazareth, founder and director of the Al-Tufula Pedagogical and Women’s Empowerment Center in Nazareth. Herself a member of the NIF board, she is about empowering the disempowered, with a special (though hardly exclusive) emphasis on Israel’s Arab citizens. She is known throughout and beyond the NGO community, and when I first met her some years back, I came away from our meeting, from hearing her speak of her educational ideas and practices, thinking that she called to mind Dr. Janusz Korczak, one of the greatest heroes of the Jewish people in the 20th century. Korczak’s principal educational idea was precisely the empowerment of the children he taught in the orphanages he directed. In his books, ranging from his novel, “King Matthew the First,” to “How To Love A Child,” a book that in some respects anticipated Dr. Benjamin Spock, he explicated his ideas. Poland and UNESCO and Israel have all issued postage stamps in his honor. I wish for Nabila Espanioly a long, long life — and I look forward to the day when Israel is at sufficient peace not only with its neighbors but also with itself to issue a stamp honoring her work.
There was Rula Deeb, whose organization, Kayan, has successfully lobbied for bus service in 11 Palestinian towns and villages in Israel’s north, places with a combined population of 180,000 people. That sounds like a small thing, but it is in fact transformative, enabling the women of those places the freedom to meet, whether in workshops or for other purposes. That means they need no longer depend on their husbands to transport them. It is quite startling to realize how so mundane a service can — here’s that word again — empower people.
And there was Ali Haider, co-director (with Ron Gerlitz) of the venerable organization Sikkuy, the most authoritative source of reliable data on the condition of Israel’s Palestinian minority. Sikkuy has recently founded the Jewish-Arab Mayors’ Forum, which builds sustainable frameworks for cooperation between neighboring Arab and Jewish communities.
And Salam Hamid, who was born in Umm al-Fahm a few days after the Yom Kippur War of 1973 and is now Umm al-Fahm’s deputy mayor. His parents named him “Salam” as an expression of their hope for peace; months back, he was a key organizer of an immensely important rally for tolerance and peace in Umm al-Fahm, a rebuke to Baruch Marzel, an Orthodox immigrant from America, a close associate of the late Meir Kahane and about as extreme a right-winger as this country suffers. Marzel had come to Umm al-Fahm in an effort to provoke the people there. Salam Hamid took the high road, together with his co-conspirator, Gadi Gvaryahu. Gvaryahu was the founder of Yudbet Heshvan (the Hebrew date of Yitzhak Rabin’s assassination), whose devotion to making tolerance real has produced a liberal Orthodox school, a nationwide youth movement and the only synagogue in Israel named for Yitzhak Rabin.
Doctors, bookstore owners, sports announcers — a long list, a long evening of introductions and film clips of the work the honorees are engaged in. The obvious question: Does it all amount to anything? In a region as volatile as this, in a nation whose political leaders seem, almost to a person, in way over their heads, at a time when fateful choices await the people and when no choice is without considerable cost and considerable risk — can these modest efforts be truly meaningful? Or are they just little white truths we tell ourselves to make the punishing realities more palatable? Great tides of history are at play here, may before dawn become convulsions. Can a bunch of niche redeemers and redemptions make a difference, a genuine contribution to how the larger tomorrow unfolds?
The answer: Who knows? All that we can know for sure is that the kind of efforts invested in empowering people, in extending the boundaries of tolerance and of civil society, in something as modest as ensuring that in a nation where most Jews have never engaged in a real conversation with a Palestinian, where casual, thoughtless racism is a staple in Knesset debate — that such efforts may at the very least preserve the morale of those whose passion for democratic and pluralistic values and behaviors may one day infect an entire system. In the meanwhile, they offer much-needed respite for both visitors in search of sunlight and citizens in search of hope.
Read more: http://forward.com/articles/109599/baby-steps-in-nazareth/#ixzz3QrJxlfR7
Hadash chairman Mohammed Barakeh to retire from the Knesset in March
CPI / October 26, 2014
MK Mohammed Barakeh, the chairman of the Hadash front, said Thursday he would retire on March 8 and be replaced in the Knesset by Nabila Espanioly, a psychologist and currently No. 5 on the Arab-Jewish front’s slate.
Nabila Espanioly during an anti-occupation rally in Tel-Aviv (Photo: Al Ittihad)
Espanioly is a cofounder of the Mossawa Advocacy Center for Arab Citizens in Israel. In November 2012, Barakeh, 59, said he would retire in two years to make room for new faces and ensure a women’s presence in the front’s Knesset faction. On Thursday, Barakeh, speaking at a conference on gender differences in Israeli voting patterns, said he intentionally chose March 8, International Women’s Day. Barakeh, who has been in the Knesset for 15 years, chairs the Committee on Drug Abuse. Espanioly, who is also 59, was born in Nazareth, where she lives today.
October 26, 2014 in Party Life.
What does Beautiful Trouble have to do with feminism and nonviolence?
Contributed by Rae Abileah on January 21, 2015
“I don’t have the privilege of losing hope,” said Nabila Espanioly, a Palestinian feminist activist speaking on stage. “The urgency of action requires reflection to be more sustainable and effective.” In two breaths, Espanioly addressed two ongoing philosophic activism questions — How can we find hope in such troubling times? and How can we find time for thoughtful reflection amidst the chaos outside? — and poised herself as a beautiful troublemaker.
Nabila Espanioly
Espanioly was speaking on a panel titled “Is Nonviolent Struggle Necessarily a Feminist Struggle?” at a conference in Jaffa, the port city that was once the thriving center of commerce in Palestine, now the neglected south end of Tel Aviv. The conference, titled A Hole in a Brick Wall, was coordinated by theCoalition of Women for Peace, a feminist organization in Israel working against the occupation of Palestine and for a just peace.
Women-led Palestinian resistance may not make the front page of the NY Times, but it is happening, and it is bold, creative, and determined to end the Israeli occupation. From my seat on stage alongside Espanioly, I began my remarks with a bow of awe to her and her work. As a grassroots organizer, and former Training Director at Beautiful Trouble, I was invited to speak at this conference to share tactical and strategic tools on building diverse movements and engaging the arts in street activism. As a Jew with family in Israel (not to mention an American taxpayer contributing my hard-earned meager activist wages to the stockpile of weapons in Israel), I felt a particular responsibility to take action for human rights and a just peace for Palestinians and Israelis.
After Espanioly, Dr. Dalit Baum took the mike. Baum is an Israeli organizer with American Friends Service Committee. She cofounded Who Profits?, a research group whose reports form the backbone of many global boycott and divestment campaigns. She noted that across the 20th Century’s nonviolent movements, from Gandhi to King to Mandela, the most indelible images tended to be men of color refusing to strike back when being beaten by white police. These images were shocking and surprising; they helped to reverse stereotypes, capture the moral high ground, and win the “battle of the story.” However, if women had been enlisted for the exact same form of resistance, Baum speculated, the image might not be nearly as jarring, since the image of women being beaten mercilessly without rebuke is a gravely familiar and all-too-commonplace phenomena in our patriarchal societies. I’d never considered this before.
Instead, Baum offered seven principles of specifically feminist nonviolence (which I hope she will turn into a submission for Beautiful Trouble’s growing library of principles!) Baum’s list includes fun and audacity, flexibility and intersectionality. She cited the bold, often humorous, tactics used by the women’s peace group, CodePink, such as a kiss-in outside a military recruiting office, or a canoe boat blockade of a senator’s yacht to protest a proposed US naval blockade on Iran.
Echoing Riane Eisler’s “dominator versus the partnership model,” Baum also discussed the need for feminist actions to unfold from organization structures that are flexible, supportive, and horizontal. Goodbye patriarchy. Hello collaboration. In addition to resisting, Baum asserted, feminist nonviolent movements tend to be also dedicated to creation, to building viable alternatives and proofs of concept. After her talk, I invited the audience to participate in the sequel to Beautiful Trouble — Beautiful Solutions — which is gathering the most promising and contagious strategies for building a more just, democratic and resilient world.
Espanioly then explored whether there could be a feminist struggle without addressing issues of state violence, and also critiquing the privileged Jewish feminist movements in Israel that have sought to uplift women’s rights while ignoring Palestinian rights. For Palestinian women, she argues, there is no separation between their rights as women and national rights to freedom, equality and justice. As she saw it: gender self-determination and national self-determination go together. After all, what does female empowerment even mean in a village surrounded by a segregation wall; with no right to vote, no freedom to travel, and lacking the security to live in peace and right livelihood?
We troublemakers are in trouble if we fail to make these connections. We need to simultaneously challenge racism and sexism (and other -isms), and boldly, audaciously, creatively, and with both good humor and serious commitment, get on with the job of creating the kind of world we’d be proud to live in. While Beautiful Trouble is informed by the history of feminist action, it has much to continue to learn from current feminist struggles (and wouldn’t hurt to have more pieces written by women in the growing library too).
Coalition of Women for Peace poster remembering 36-year-old Palestinian activist Jawaher Abu Rahmah, who was killed in 2011 by inhaling (Made in the USA) tear gas fired by Israeli soldiers at demonstrators protesting the Wall.
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Nabila Espanioly
"Wir schaffen das nicht allein"
Im September 2003 wurde Nabila Espanioly zusammen mit Dr. Reuven Moskovitz der diesjährige Aachener Friedenspreis verliehen. Martina Sabra portraitiert die palästinensische Friedens- und Menschenrechtsaktivistin aus Israel.
Im September 2003 wurde Nabila Espanioly zusammen mit Dr. Reuven Moskovitz der diesjährige Aachener Friedenspreis verliehen. Martina Sabra portraitiert die palästinensische Friedens- und Menschenrechtsaktivistin aus Israel
"Wenn es juckt, musst Du selber kratzen" – dieses arabische Sprichwort ist das Lebensmotto von Nabila Espanioly. Nicht in der Opferrolle verharren, sondern aktiv zupacken, die Realität aus eigener Kraft zum Besseren verändern; das fordert sie von sich als Mensch, als palästinensische Bürgerin in Israel und als Frau in der arabischen Gesellschaft. Seit über drei Jahrzehnten setzt die Diplompsychologin sich deshalb energisch für die Bürgerrechte der palästinensischen Minderheit in Israel ein, für Frieden zwischen Israel und Palästina auf der Basis einer Zweistaatenlösung, und für die Gleichberechtigung der Frauen. Für ihre Bemühungen um Menschenrechte und Frieden im Nahen Osten wurde Nabila Espanioly in diesem Jahr zusammen mit dem jüdisch-israelischen Friedensaktivisten und Historiker Reuven Moskowitz der internationale Aachener Friedenspreis verliehen.
Nach der Verleihung Anfang September war sie auf Einladung des Arbeitskreises Israel-Palästina in Bonn zu Gast. Zweieinhalb Stunden berichtete sie dort über den Nahostkonflikt, und die meisten hätten ihr gern noch länger zugehört: denn der Humor, den Nabila Espanioly sich trotz ihres langjährigen, oft nervenzerrenden Engagements für eine gerechte Lösung zwischen Israelis und Palästinensern bewahrt hat, ist einfach mitreißend. Aber auch der Zorn treibt sie an. "Was mich bewegt ist meine Wut. Ich bin oft wütend." Sie sei mit dem Respekt vor den Menschenrechten aufgewachsen. "Meine Eltern und meine Lehrer, wie der Dichter Tawfiq Zayyad haben mir diese Werte vermittelt. Und last not least meine christliche Erziehung," erklärt sie.
Zweites palästinensisch-israelisches Duo
Mit Nabila Espanioly und Reuven Moskowitz wurde in diesem Jahr in Deutschland schon zum zweiten Mal ein palästinensisch-israelisches Duo mit einem medienwirksamen Friedenspreis ausgezeichnet: im Juni erhielten der weltbekannte palästinensische Dichter Machmud Darwisch und der jüdisch-israelische Psychoanalytiker Dan Bar-On den Erich-Maria-Remarque-Preis der Stadt Osnabrück. Wie fühlt es sich an, als Palästinenserin in Deutschland für Friedensarbeit ausgezeichnet zu werden, während die Situation der eigenen Landsleute in den israelisch besetzten Gebieten immer aussichtsloser wird, und die deutsche Regierung wenig für das Selbstbestimmungsrecht der Palästinenser und einen lebensfähigen palästinensischen Staat tut? Nabila Espanioly lächelt. "Die Aachener Friedensiniative, die den Friedenspreis vergibt, gehört zu einer noch kleinen Gruppe von Menschen in Deutschland, die versuchen, auch die Stimmen der anderen hörbar zu machen. Deshalb finde ich es völlig in Ordnung diesen Preis zu bekommen." Sie empfinde den Preis keineswegs als Alibi. "Aber ich finde die Ehrung für mich allein viel zu groß, und ich habe sie deshalb auch gleich weitergegeben, an eine Reihe Frauen und Männer, die für ähnliche Ziele kämpfen wie ich. Und ich will den Preis nutzen, um die Stimmen derer hörbar zu machen, die man zum Schweigen bringen will: die Palästinenser in Israel, die Friedensbewegung in Israel, die Frauen, die Kinder, die leidenden Palästinenser, die vernünftigen jüdischen Israelis; alle, die wegen der Besatzung Zorn oder Angst empfinden. Ihnen will ich eine Stimme geben."
Benachteiligung der palästinensischen Bevölkerung
Die weitverzweigte Sippe der Espaniolys existiert seit Jahrhunderten in Nazareth, und hat einem ganzen Stadtviertel den Namen gegeben. "Hay Spanioly", das "spanische Viertel" bildet einen Teil der malerischen Altstadt von Nazareth. Nabila wurde 1955 geboren, als siebtes Kind einer Familie mit acht Töchtern und zwei Söhnen. Zu jener Zeit stand Galiläa noch unter Militärverwaltung. Um von Dorf zu Dorf, von Stadt zu Stadt zu gelangen, brauchten die Bewohner der palästinensischen Gebiete schriftliche Genehmigungen der israelischen Armee, die nur bei politischem goodwill erteilt wurden. Das palästinensische Land, einst Lebensgrundlage, wurde vom israelischen Staat nach und nach fast vollständig enteignet. Viele Palästinenser, vor allem die Menschen der älteren Generation, fühlten sich hilflos, und versuchten, sich zu arrangieren.
1966 wurde die Militärverwaltung in Galiläa aufgehoben. Doch die palästinensische Minderheit, die im offiziellen israelischen Sprachgebrauch "israelische Araber" hieß, wurde weiterhin auf vielfache Weise benachteiligt: bei der Vergabe kommunaler Entwicklungsgelder, in der Bildung, im Berufsleben. Die zweite Generation, zu der auch Nabila gehörte, wollte sich damit nicht abfinden. "Bei mir machte es klick, als ich mich in Haifa zum Studium der Sozialarbeit einschreiben wollte. Ich wurde abgelehnt. Als ich meine Schwester fragte, sagte sie zu mir: Nabila, ist Dir nicht klar, dass Du um alles kämpfen musst?" Nabila beschloß, sich zu wehren, und bekam schließlich ihren Studienplatz, und später sogar eine Stelle als Sozialarbeiterin im öffentlichen Dienst. Doch wegen ihres Eintretens für die Rechte der Palästinenser bekam sie bald Probleme. "Dreimal habe ich meine Stelle verloren, und ich bin sicher, der israelische Inlandsgeheimdienst hatte seine Finger im Spiel", sagt sie. Anfang der achtziger Jahre ging Nabila Espanioly zum Studium nach Deutschland.
"Man muss erst mal selbst existieren"
1987 kehrte sie zurück und gründete in Nazareth ein Zentrum für Frauen und Kinder, "At-Tufula". Ziel war unter anderem, die frühkindliche Erziehung in den palästinensischen Gebieten Israels zu verbessern. Eine Hauptaufgabe des Zentrums, das heute von der Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung unterstützt wird, sieht Nabila Espanioly darin, Kinder
Al-Tufula Center
POB 2404
Nazareth
16000 Israel
Tel/Fax +972 6 656 6386
e-mail: altufula@rannet.com
bei der Entwicklung ihrer persönlichen und kulturellen Identität zu unterstützen. "Wir entwickeln Kinderbücher und Schulmaterial, die den Kindern erlauben, ihre palästinensische Identität wahrzunehmen und zu reflektieren. Denn wenn man mit dem anderen, dem jüdischen Israeli koexistieren will, muss man erst mal selbst existieren." Nabila Espanioly ist auch Mitbegründerin der in Haifa ansässigen palästinensisch-israelischen Organisation "mosawa" (Gleichberechtigung). Mosawa setzt sich für die Bürgerrechte der Palästinenser in Israel ein, die heute mit 1,2 Millionen Menschen etwa ein Fünftel der Gesamtbevölkerung des jüdischen Staats ausmachen und sich immer noch weitgehend als Bürger zweiter Klasse fühlen. "Die palästinensischen Städte und Dörfer sind im Durchschnitt weit weniger entwickelt, obwohl wir Steuern zahlen wie alle anderen," sagt Nabila Espanioly. "Es gibt ganze Dörfer, die die israelische Regierung für illegal erklärt hat. Sie haben keinen Strom, kein Wasser, keine sozialen Dienste." Palästinensische Eltern, so Espanioly, bekämen in Israel weniger Kindergeld, obwohl sie dieselben Sozialabgaben zahlten, die palästinensischen Schulen seien weit schlechter ausgestattet, und der Zugang zur Universität sei für Palästinenser sehr schwierig. "Mosawa" kämpft auch gegen ein neues israelisches Gesetz, demzufolge Palästinenser aus der West Bank und Gaza nicht mehr eingebürgert werden, wenn sie Palästinenser aus Israel heiraten: "Das heißt, dass die Ehepaare nicht mehr in Israel zusammenleben können, sondern in die besetzten Gebiete oder ins Ausland ziehen müssen. Davon sind 21.000 Einzelpersonen betroffen, das heißt rund 100.000 Menschen, wenn man die Familien einrechnet!"
Nabila Espanioly fordert die Anerkennung der Palästinenser in Israel als nationale Minderheit. "Ich bin keine israelische Araberin, sondern Palästinenserin," sagt sie. "Aber die reaktionären Kräfte in Israel weigern sich, von Palästinensern zu sprechen. Denn das hieße, einzugestehen, dass dieses Land einmal Palästina war, und dass auch Nichtjuden ein Recht haben, hier gleichberechtigt zu leben." Israel müsse anerkennen, dass die Vertreibung von 750.000 Palästinensern und die Zerstörung fast sämtlicher palästinensischer Dörfer und Städte 1948 ein historisches Unrecht gewesen sei und die Verantwortung übernehmen. "Ohne diese Anerkennung können wir nicht in die Zukunft schauen," sagt Nabila Espanioly. Ihre persönliche Zukunft sieht sie jedoch in Nazareth, wo sie eine Wohnung gekauft hat. "Wenn es einen palästinensischen Staat geben wird, würde ich gern einen palästinensischen Pass haben. Aber ich würde Nazareth nicht verlassen. Ich will in Israel leben, aber als gleichberechtigte Bürgerin."
Einmischung von USA und Europa gefordert
Seit den achtziger Jahren engagiert sich Nabila Espanioly nicht nur als Palästinenserin, sondern auch in feministischen Zusammenhängen. "Wir Palästinenserinnen in Israel sind dreifach diskriminiert," sagt sie, "als Angehörige der palästinensischen Minderheit, als Frauen in der israelischen Gesellschaft und als Frauen in der konservativen palästinensischen Gesellschaft." Heute kämpft sie zusammen mit jüdischen Israelinnen und Palästinenserinnen gegen Gewalt gegen Frauen und für mehr Rechte am Arbeitsplatz. Zusammen mit den internationalen "Frauen in Schwarz" und der israelisch-palästinensischen "Frauenkoalition für Frieden" koordiniert Nabila Espanioly Aktionen gegen die israelische Besetzung des Westjordanlands und des Gazastreifens und Hilfstransporte für die Menschen in den abgeschnittenen Gebieten. "Der Terror von Hamas und Jihad gegen Zivilisten ist schrecklich, und ich bin absolut gegen diese Anschläge. Aber Sie müssen sehen, dass auch Israel Terror ausübt. Ariel Scharon glaubt immer noch, dass er den Wunsch der Palästinenser nach Selbstbestimmung mit militärischen Mitteln liquidieren kann. Hamas und Jihad spielen ihm dabei in die Hände." Nabila Espanioly sieht nur eine Lösung: zwei unabhängige Staaten Israel und Palästina. Und sie fordert, dass die USA und Europa sich aktiver einmischen als bisher: "Wir schaffen das nicht allein. Wir brauchen Druck von außen." Auch von Deutschland, betont sie. Selbstbestimmung zu verweigern.
Martina Sabra
© 2003, Qantara.de
http://www.dipf-verein.de/Downloads/Moskovitz.pdf
http://www.ekir.de/www/downloads/2003Aachener-Friedenspreis.pdf
February 10, 2011
New Generations Informal Discussion with Nabila Espanioly
photos_00001NIFC New Generations Canada partnered with Yalla Journal to present NIF Board Member Nabila Espanioly in downtown Toronto. With a crowd of over 40 people and standing room only, Nabila spoke about her life as a Palestinian-Israeli and the challenges she has faced throughout her life, all which have compelled her to establish many civil society organization in Israel. A fervent feminist, advocate for Palestinian-Israeli preschool children and citizens, Nabila spoke about the impact her work has had on her community and addressed the work that lies ahead.
„Je mehr wir wissen, desto mehr zerreißt es uns“
Zwanzig Jahre Partnerschaft zwischen KDFB des Bistums Speyer und dem Al Tufula-Zentrum in Nazareth
Speyer (05.12.2014). Nabila Espanioly (59), die Leiterin des Kinder- und Frauenzentrums Al Tufula in Nazareth, ist eine mutige und engagierte Frau. Die Palästinenserin mit israelischem Pass, die in den 1980er-Jahren in Bamberg Psychologie studiert hat, kämpft für die Gleichberechtigung palästinensischer Frauen und fördert mit vielfältigen Projekten deren Kinder. Sie ist eine landesweit bekannte Friedensaktivistin und kandidiert aktuell für einen Sitz in der Knesset, dem Israelischen Parlament. „Bei einer Demonstration gegen den jüngsten Gaza-Krieg erlebte ich das erste mal wirkliche Angst“, bekennt sie. „Wir wurden attackiert, die Straße radikalisiert sich.“ Den nationalistischen Kurs der Regierung und den zunehmenden Einfluss rechter Gruppierungen sieht sie als Gefahr für die israelische Gesellschaft und jeden Prozess der Versöhnung zwischen Palästinensern und Juden. „Die Situation ist so problematisch wie seit vielen Jahren nicht mehr. Die Demokratie in Israel ist bedroht“, sagt Espanioly und verweist auf ein geplantes Gesetz mit Verfassungsrang, das vorrangig das Land zum „Nationalstaat des jüdischen Volks“ erklären will.
Besuch in der Redaktion des „pilger“ (von links): KDFB-Vorsitzende Irene Wimmi, Samira Darawshi, Brunhilde Frickel-Faulstich, Georgette Jahshan, Margarete Bauer und Nabila Espanioly
Besuch in Redaktion des „pilger“
Resignieren ist für die Kämpferin Espanioly jedoch keine Option. Das machte sie in diesen Tagen bei einem Gespräch in der Redaktion des „pilger“ deutlich. Zusammen mit Samira Darawshi und Georgette Jahshan – ebenfalls aus dem Leitungskreis des Al Tufula-Zentrums und langjährige Weggefährtinnen – besuchte sie das Bistum Speyer. Anlass des Besuches ist das zwanzigjährige Bestehen der Partnerschaft zwischen Al Tufula und dem Katholischen Deutschen Frauenbund (KDFB). Seit 1994/95 bestehen nach gegenseitigen Besuchen die Kontakte, aus denen eine Solidaritätsaktion geworden ist, verbunden mit vielen persönlichen Freundschaften. Dr. Brunhilde Frickel-Faulstich und Margarete Bauer, Mitbegründerinnen der Partnerschaft und bis heute im damit verbundenen Freundeskreis engagiert, waren mit der KDFB-Diözesanvorsitzenden Irene Wimmi sowie den palästinensischen Gästen zu Besuch in der Redaktion des „pilger“.
Ein Ort der Begegnung
Die Arbeit von Al Tufula beeindruckt. Christliche und muslimische Frauen arbeiten hier zusammen – vernetzt auch mit jüdischen Einrichtungen und Organisationen. Das Haus, in Gemeinschaftsarbeit über zwölf Jahre hinweg erbaut, konnte 2003 in Betrieb genommen werden. Es ist ein Begegnungsort in dem rund 70 000 Einwohner zählenden Nazareth. Es beherbergt eine kleine Buchhandlung bzw. Bücherei, eine Kinderkrippe für rund 70 Jungen und Mädchen bis drei Jahre sowie Büros und Begegnungsräume für Gruppen. Auch eine jüdisch-arabische Jugendgruppe trifft sich hier.
Es gibt Spielplätze, zahlreiche Angebote für Mütter, für Großeltern, für Menschen mit Behinderung. Das Haus atmet eine große Offenheit, die Menschen kommen gerne hierher, schätzen den Ort auch als „Rückzugsraum“ in einer überbevölkerten Stadt, die ihr Umland durch Enteignungen seitens der israelischen Behörden fast völlig verloren hat.
Kunst-Bus für traumatisierte Kinder
Eine Erfolgsgeschichte ist auch ein „Kunst-Bus“ des Zentrums, der in ganz Israel unterwegs ist. Eine der besonderen Zielgruppen: Kinder, die bei der Räumung und Zerstörung von illegalen palästinensischen Siedlungen durch die israelischen Behörden ihre Heimat verloren und dabei traumatisiert wurde. Der Kunst-Bus bietet ihnen die Möglichkeit, durch Malen und Gestalten die Erlebnisse ein Stück weit zu verarbeiten.
„Wir Palästinenserinnen in Israel sind dreifach diskriminiert,“ sagt Nabila Espanioly, „als Angehörige der palästinensischen Minderheit, als Frauen in der israelischen Gesellschaft und als Frauen in der konservativen palästinensischen Gesellschaft.“ Das Al Tufula-Zentrums will darüber hinaus besonders die Frauen ganz am Rande der Gesellschaft erreichen. Dazu gehören insbesondere Frauen mit Behinderungen. „Sie sind in der Öffentlichkeit nicht sichtbar, sie haben keine Stimme, ihre Rechte werden missachtet“, berichtet Nabila Espanioly, die für ihren Einsatz mit dem Aachener Friedenspreis ausgezeichnet wurde.
Hilfe für Frauen mit Behinderung
Das Al Tufula-Zentrum hilft den Frauen mit Behinderung in ihrer ganz konkreten Lebenssituation. Macht ihnen zum Beispiel spezielle Hilfsmittel zugänglich, sorgt für die Übersetzung der Gebrauchsanweisungen. Ziel der Arbeit ist jedoch vor allem, den Frauen Selbstbewusstsein zu geben, dass sie selbst für ihre Rechte eintreten und ihre Lebenspläne verwirklichen können. „Wir wollen Behinderung nicht über Bedürfnisse, sondern über Fähigkeiten zum Thema machen. Das wirkt auch in die jüdische Gesellschaft hinein“, beobachtet Espanioly. An einem Trainingsprogramm nahmen zuletzt rund 20 Frauen teil, von denen nach Abschluss jetzt vier hauptamlich als Beraterinnen für Behinderte tätig sind und andere ehrenamtlich diese Funktion ausüben. Auch wenn der direkte Wikungskreis von Al Tufula auf die Region von Nazareth begrenzt ist, über die Medien – vor allem über das Internet – werden die Konzepte auch in anderen Teilen Israels und in den Palästinensergebieten auf der Westbank und im Gaza-Streifen wirksam.
Sorge um politische Entwicklung
Sorge macht den Gästen aus Nazareth die politische Entwicklung in Israel. Inzwischen gebe es maßgebliche Politiker, die ihre jüdischen Mitbürger aufforderten, nicht in arabischen Geschäften einzukaufen, oder die Araber zur Ausreise aufforderten. Bedrohlich empfinden die Al Tufula-Frauen das geplante Nationalstaats-Gesetz, das Verfassungsrang haben soll. Danach soll nur das jüdische Volk nationalstaatliche Rechte haben. Damit werde auch das Arabische als gleichberechtigte Amtssprache in Israel nicht mehr anerkannt, so Nabila Espagnoly. Das Gesetz wird ihrer Ansicht nach „die politische Infrastruktur des Landes“ nachhaltig verändern und die Diskriminierung der palästinensischen Bürger Israels weiter vertiefen. Das trifft natürlich auch die Christen, denn der weitaus größte Teil der christlichen Minderheit gehört zur palästinensischen Bevölkerung, die immerhin rund zwanzig Prozent der Gesamtbevölkerung Israels ausmacht. Auch die Tatsache, dass Arabisch kein Wahlfach mehr an den israelischen Schulen sein soll, kritisiert Espagnoly. „Wie soll da Verständigung wachsen?“ fragt sie.
Das Al Tufula-Zentrum und die Unterstützung dafür ist für den KDFB im Bistum Speyer nicht ohne die politischen Entwicklungen zu sehen. „Je mehr wir wissen, desto mehr zerreißt es uns, weil es keine Lösung zu geben scheint“, sagt Irene Wimmi, die Diözesanvorsitzende des Frauenbundes. Und wenn Margarete Bauer und Brunhilde Frickel-Faulstich von den vielen guten Erfahrungen und menschlichen Begegnungen im Rahmen der Partnerschaft berichten, wird angesichts der gegenwärtigen Situation eine tiefe Betroffenheit spürbar. Aber Nabila Espagnoly macht deutlich, dass gerade die solidarische Begleitung – inzwischen weit über das Bistum Speyer hinausgehend – Hoffnung und Kraft für die Arbeit in Nazareth gibt.
Das Jubiläum „Zwanzig Jahre Partnerschaft KDFB Diözesanverband Speyer mit dem Al Tufula-Zentrum Nazareth“ wird am 5. Dezember in Neustadt gefeiert. Text: Pilger/Fotos: Pilger-is
shatil
Nabila Espanioly
Providing Assistance to Israel’s Northern Arabs
Nabila Espanioly is the founder and program director of Nazareth-based Al-Tufula (Childhood) Pedagogical Center, which focuses on early childhood and women’s empowerment in the Arab community in Israel. Four days after the outbreak of the Second Lebanon War, Nabila called an emergency meeting of Al-Tufula to decide on strategy and action. That afternoon, a rocket fell in Nazareth, killing two children. Only ten percent of the Arab population in the North had access to safe rooms or shelters, and few villages had public alarm systems. An emergency public-education campaign was a must. Al-Tufula helped an Arabic-language radio station write a broadcast about trauma and stress relief. With Shatil assistance and NIF support, Al-Tufula produced 6,440 stress-relief kits (with activity sheets to help children express and cope with their fears) and recruited 60 volunteers to distribute the kits to families in 54 villages and towns in the North – despite the falling rockets. Al-Tufula also organized 10,000 packages of school supplies, including manuals on trauma and post-trauma, so Arab children would be prepared for the new school year. “Shatil stood by me and Al-Tufula throughout all the trials and tribulations during and after the war,” says Nabila. “Shatil found emergency resources and organizational networks for our work and gave me the tools to ensure that the Arab Israeli community’s voice would be heard.”
If You Make It Possible
( print this page )
Type:
Documentary
Director:
Lynn Feinerman
Year:
1996
Time:
75 minutes
Language:
English
Official Selection, San Francisco Jewish Film Festival
If You Make It Possible offers four uniquely personal, in-depth portraits (18-20 minutes each) of Israelis and Palestinians who have devoted their lives to the work of achieving non-violence and coexistence in the Middle East.
The peace-makers featured are Nafez Assaily (co-founder of the Palestinian Center for the Study of Non-Violence and director of the Library-on-wheels project); Rabbi Menachem Fruman (founder of the Gush Emunim Religious Settler Movement); Father Bruno Hussar (founder of Neve Shalom/Wahat Al Salaam, a multi-faith, multi-race village); and Nabila Espanioly and Hannah Saffran (a Palestinian woman and an Israeli woman who've built a strong friendship together through their women's advocacy work).
Featuring beautiful videography and music, this documentary is a thought-provoking look at people from both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian struggle who have learned to respect and value their differences and who are working to make living together in peace a possibility.
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Peacework: women in action across Europe
LIZ KHAN and SUE FINCH 9 May 2014
The full engagement of women at all levels of negotiations is essential in order to promote nonviolent solutions that address the causes of conflict and build peace and justice. Sue Finch and Liz Khan report from the European Women in Black conference in Belgium on a critical moment for Europe’s future.
A hundred women, dressed in black, with banners and flags
Over 100 Women in Black (WiB) from 22 countries met in Leuven, Belgium to discuss challenges to peace and security in Europe, and of people around the world suffering the impact of European economic and military policies. Deeply concerned at the levels of militarism and nationalistic and sexual violence in our countries, the European conference called for the full engagement of women at all levels of negotiations to promote nonviolent solutions that address the causes of conflict and build peace and justice.
The international Women in Black - For Justice, Against War network was forged out of opposition to militarism and ethnic cleansing in Israel-Palestine, then the Balkans. Opening on May Day, in the 100th anniversary year of the destruction of Leuven in World War 1, the European conference explored critical issues for Europe. These included Ukraine’s recent crises, Israel’s continuing occupation of Palestine, and European arms sales and military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, DR Congo and Mali…. to name just a few.
Women in a workshop session discussing one of the topics
Key themes included the expansion of NATO, implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1325, Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions against the Israeli occupation of Palestine, lesbians in the peace movement, and feminist activism against nuclear weapons and militarism in Europe.
Women against NATO
Cynthia Cockburn from WiB London led a workshop on the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO). Women who organised against the Strasbourg NATO Summit in 2009 made the case that NATO perpetrated wars that had dire and gendered effects, and increased the militarisation of the EU and the risk of war through its patriarchal logic and language of enmity. NATO has expanded to include 12 ‘Eastern bloc’ countries, 28 countries in all, and is trying to secure control of the melting Arctic by putting pressure on Finland and Sweden to join.
The current NATO Strategic Plan pursues full-spectrum dominance worldwide through its ‘Mediterranean Dialogue’ (Israel and North Africa), ‘Istanbul Initiative’ (Middle East) and ‘Partnership for Peace’ (Japan, South Korea etc) arrangements, as well as approaches to Caribbean and South American countries. Increasing interference in former Soviet states like Armenia and Azerbaijan, the continued NATO commitment to nuclear weapons, and the conflict with Russia over Ukraine mean that peace and security are increasingly threatened.
Peace Event Sarajevo 2014
The largest international peace event in 2014 will take place in Sarajevo, June 6 - 9th with over 170 workshops, arts activities and a youth camp. A century after the beginning of World War I and two decades after the end of the bloodiest war in Europe since World War II, 1914-2014 can be seen as a century of a “Culture of War and Violence”. This event will bring together world-wide peace movements, nonviolent actions and alternatives to war and violence.
Action against the NATO summit in Wales
A week of activities organised by No to Nato from August 30th – September 5th against the NATO summit in Newport, Wales, on September 4-5th. There will be 60 world leaders, including President Obama, attending the summit. Plans include two counter conferences in Newport on August 30th and Cardiff on September 1st, both with sessions on women and militarism; a demonstration in Newport on August 30 th; and a peace camp during the week of action. European Women in Black groups agreed to hold vigils and demonstrations outside parliaments in their own countries at the same time.
UN Security Council Resolution 1325
London and Belgrade Women in Black presented a workshop carrying forward the resolution made at the international WiB conference in Montevideo, to launch a campaign against the immunity of peacekeeping forces from prosecution for rape and sexual exploitation. They showed that despite attempts by the UN, including Kofi Annan's zero tolerance policy, and measures set out in UN Security Council Resolution 1325, to prevent and prohibit sexual violence, and punish the perpetrators, abuses still continue to be reported. Resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security (passed in 2000 following pressure from 40 women’s organisations) promotes the prevention of sexual violence, human trafficking, domestic violence and other forms of violence primarily affecting women and girls in conflict-affected contexts, the protection of women and girls from such acts, and the participation of women in conflict-resolution and security enforcement strategies. Although some progress has been made since the first reports came out of post-war Bosnia, troop contributing countries are still failing to prosecute their peacekeepers.
WiB agreed to take part in an action on UN day, and to write letters to their governments calling for an end to impunity.
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
Two women stand arm-in-arm holding a sign each: one in English, one in Arabic. The one in English says: Stop the Occupation
Marijke Kruyt from the Netherlands introduced different aspects of Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) that many WiB groups are working on:
Boycott - personal economic boycott of goods from Israel, cultural boycott of Israeli artists and cultural institutions, academic boycott of Israeli academics (who work in Israeli universities) and research collaborations, and sports boycott.
Divestment - lobbying companies to stop investing and collaborating with Israeli companies, purchasing/distributing/selling Israeli products etc.
Sanctions - EU regulations are in place but not enforced.
Sama Aweidah from the Women’s Studies Centre in East Jerusalem reported that in 2005 they started to work around BDS, with the aim of alerting and informing the world about what is happening in Palestine. She sketched the economic background: in 1967/8 Palestinians left or were made to leave working on the land, to get work for higher wages in Israeli factories, and this trend is difficult to reverse. Much of the land they left is now occupied by settlers. Today, Palestinians work mostly in the Israeli settlements, as it’s easier to get permits for work there than for work in Israel (especially for women).
Another Palestinian speaker, Nabila Espanioly, stressed the need for international solidarity to put pressure on the Israeli government, and to fight for human rights, and that any campaign from the ‘outside’ helps Palestinians ‘inside’ and also helps to break down their isolation. She suggested that checking out companies and products can help to develop BDS strategies and priorities.
Yvonne Deutsch (Israel) explained that in the wake of the effect of the Who Profits website, Israeli laws were changed to ensure that anyone calling for a boycott can be sued by someone who claims to be negatively affected by the boycott. This makes is very difficult to organize a boycott from inside Israel, so the focus of WiB Israel is to ‘end the occupation’. Participants agreed to lobby MEPS to enforce the agreed sanctions.
Lesbians in the peace movement
Lepa Mladjenovic (Serbia) and Rebecca Johnson (London) led a workshop about discrimination against lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transexuals (LGBT). Audre Lord said that each one of us has some power, as little as it may be, and it is our responsibility to define it and use it in the service of what needs to be changed.
Key actions agreed included supporting LGBT rights in countries where it is a criminal offence, and supporting refugee lesbians/gays to gain asylum from countries where they are defined as criminals.
Feminist activism against nuclear weapons and militarism in Europe
Rebecca Johnson and Heena Thompson from WiB London facilitated a workshop on the ways that militarism disproportionately harms women’s lives, needs and security. Nuclear weapons have reinforced militarism for the last 70 years. Over a 1000 nuclear weapons are deployed across Europe and neighbouring countries: in Belgium, Britain, France, Germany, Israel, Italy, Netherlands, Turkey and Russia. Crises from the Ukraine to the Middle East are used to boost support for more militarism and nuclear weapons. Governments are cutting health, education and other services that support women’s needs and security, while spending billions on keeping and renewing nuclear weapons in Europe.
Participants agreed that information on the costs of militarisation was key to successful campaigning – as well as information about the humanitarian effects of nuclear weapons. 146 countries had met in Mexico in February as part of a new Humanitarian process to lay down the basis for an international treaty to ban nuclear weapons led by the non-nuclear states.
Action at Aldermaston Weapons Establishment on August 9th
On Saturday August 9th - the anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki – the Wool Against Weapons action will see thousands of people hold a pink knitted Peace Scarf running between Aldermaston Weapons Establishment and Burghfield (another Nuclear Weapons Establishment site 7 miles away) in Berkshire – to protest against the UK’s ongoing involvement with nuclear weapons, and the money the UK Government is intending to spend on renewing Trident nuclear missiles (over £100 billion) The seven miles of pink scarves (1 metre x 60cm) will be recycled to create blankets for homeless people and refugees afterwards.
The European WiB conference ended with a demonstration and flashmob dancing in the main square of Leuven, followed by a Reception at the gothic town hall hosted by the Deputy Mayor. She talked about the devastation that war had brought to Leuven and thanked the Leuven women, and all Women in Black, for their continuing contribution to peace.
Women in Black in London continues its 21st year of weekly vigils, on Wednesdays from 6 – 7 pm around the Edith Cavell statue in St Martin’s Place London WC2 (near Trafalgar Square). All are welcome !
We will be taking the lovely peace bells used at the European conference to the next international Women in Black conference in Bangalore, India, in November 2015.
Read more articles on openDemocracy 50.50 exploring women's critical perspectives on peace, justice and equality Peacework and Human Security
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