Haifa Women's Coalition

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The Haifa Women's Coalition is a coalition of four women's organizations in the Israeli city of Haifa . It includes the Haifa Feminist Center - Isha l'Isha , the organization Kayan (German: Sein), the Haifa Rape Crisis Center (German: Haifa Crisis Center for Rape Victims ), and the organization for Palestinian homosexual women Aswat (German: Voices ). The coalition is committed to promoting women's rights to the public and providing assistance to women who have been victims of domestic or sexual violence. It is unusual that it is jointly supported by Jews and Palestinians and that the four organizations are all united under one roof. The coalition is a central contact point for women of all origins in northern Israel and also has a shared library.

history

The Haifa Women's Coalition was formed around its nucleus, the oldest feminist organization in Israel Isha l'Isha , which was founded in 1983 and sought cooperation between Jewish and Arab women. The Battered Women's Hotline emerged from Isha l'Isha in 1990 , primarily looking after victims of abuse , and in 1998 Kayan , a feminist organization that primarily deals with the concerns of Palestinian women within Israel. As an independent project by Kayan , the Aswat group was launched in 2003 to deal with the special problems and challenges of Palestinian homosexual women in Israel. Independently of Isha l'Isha , the Haifa Rape Crisis Center was formed in 1979 , which later also joined the Haifa Women's Coalition .

Profile of each organization

Isha l'Isha

The organization Isha L'Isha (German: woman to woman) is the oldest feminist women's organization in Israel. It was founded in 1983 as a Jewish-Arab women's organization and aims to strengthen women's rights and show solidarity. Isha l'Isha works on projects against human trafficking and economic empowerment for women and has empowerment groups for new immigrants from Russia and Ethiopia and lesbian women. Other Arab women's organizations such as Kayan and Assiwar (German: chains) emerged from it, and it can therefore be seen as a kind of breeding ground for feminist organizations in Israel.

Kayan

The organization Kayan was founded in 1998 after Palestinian-Israeli women in Haifa and northern Israel since the mid-80s, had worked with Jewish women, to develop support services for their social group. Kayan was ultimately created to meet the special requirements and needs of Palestinian women in Israel . Kayan's projects mainly deal with the empowerment of Arab women, workshops on gender education and teaching leadership skills.

Aswat

Aswat is an independent project under the guise of the Arab women's organization Kayan and was created in 2003 from an e-mail list. The project is led by a group of Palestinian homosexual women and is aimed at all lesbian, intersex , transsexual , bisexual or seeking women. Aswat works primarily for the empowerment and socio-political rights of Palestinian homosexual women, offers support and tries to change public opinion about sexuality, sexual orientation , gender issues and homosexuality. Aswat women hold meetings, empowerment and awareness workshops, offer self-help groups and publish information brochures in Arabic and English.

Haifa Rape Crisis Center

The Haifa Rape Crisis Center (HRCC) is a tax-exempt non-profit organization dedicated to resisting sexual violence. The HRCC is apolitical and offers offers regardless of gender, religion, ethnic and socio-economic status of those seeking help. The services of the Haifa Rape Crisis Center, founded in 1979, are aimed at over one million residents of northern Israel in the region from Hadera to the Upper Galilee. The aims of the organization are to support victims of sexual violence and their families, to raise awareness about sexual violence and how to combat it, to train professionals in the areas of sexual violence and trauma to victims, and to protect the rights of victims. The HRCC operates a 24/7 hotline for victims of rape, sexual assault, incest and sexual harassment. The offers for crisis intervention are provided by trained volunteers. The center provides ongoing support, one-on-one counseling, escort to hospitals, police, prosecutor and court, and victim support groups. The aim of the HRCC is to abolish sexual violence altogether through intensive socio-educational work and educational programs. In addition, the HRCC trains specialists in the competent and sensitive handling of victims of sexual violence and sexual assault. The HRCC is involved in the nationwide projects and campaigns of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel to change the legal situation with the aim of eliminating sexual violence.

Social relevance

In particular, the Isha l'Isha , Aswat and Kayan organizations are of supraregional importance and attract attention. Thus Aswat to in 2008. Go Visible Award won the City of Vienna, an initiative of the Austrian Green Party, and Rauda Morcos, the representative Aswats in public, received the 2006 Felipa de Souza Award from the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission awarded . Aswat was the first Arab lesbian organization in the Middle East to present itself in public and Rauda Morcos is the only member of Aswat to publicly acknowledge his homosexuality. The group has followers all over Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, but mostly all Arab lesbians hide their sexual inclinations out of fear. The first Azwat conference on March 28, 2008 met with a strong response, but opponents of the Arab homosexual movement also came and members of an Islamic movement demonstrated in front of the conference building. Before the conference began, they asked the organizers to cancel the conference, which they refused. The members of Aswat are also trying to strengthen cooperation with feminist organizations in the Palestinian Territories, as they see the fight for their rights as homosexuals linked to the fight against the occupation and the situation of homosexuals in the Palestinian Territories is even more difficult.

The Kayan organization attracted media attention, among other things, with its study on the mobility of Palestinian-Israeli women in the Arab villages in northern Israel, as this is the first study on this topic and shows shortcomings in public transport. In the meantime, a bus line has been introduced in Mghrar, a city in Galilee, and further bus connections, for example in the villages of Sakhnin, Arara and Umm el-Fahm, are currently being planned by the Ministry of Transport. The bus project in Mghrar serves as a model for the other Arab cities with inadequate public transport connections. The Israeli media also reported on an environmental project in which women in Mghrar teach children and young people about environmental education. This, too, is news in the Arab villages, serves on the one hand to empower and employ women and on the other hand to society.

The social significance of the Isha l'Isha organization in Israel can be seen, among other things, in its achievements in the area of ​​trafficking in women. In this way, the organization was able to raise public awareness of this problem area and, for example, a committee was set up in the Israeli parliament to deal with it. In addition, the penalties for traffickers have now increased and Isha l'Isha has become a central point of contact for questions relating to trafficking in women in Israel.

In July 2000, the Haifa Rape Crisis Center and the other nine Rape Crisis Centers in Israel were awarded the Honorary Prize of the Israeli President. The award recognizes the "important pioneering role of the centers in Israeli society" and their "contribution to eradicating the epidemic of sexual violence in Israeli society and to supporting the victims."

criticism

Criticism is in particular of the "quarter policy" of the Israeli feminist movement, which is also implemented by the Haifa Women's Coalition . Within the framework of this “quarter policy”, the largest population groups in Israel are to be represented equally and a distinction is made between Mizrahi (Jews from Arab countries), Ashkenazi (Jews from European countries), lesbian and Palestinian women. On the one hand, there are always fundamental discussions about the application of this policy and its effectiveness; on the other hand, in today's Israeli society, for example, the question arises why the Russian minority is not represented. Because of such criticism, the "quarter policy" was expanded to represent more groups in Israeli society.

The different identities of the women repeatedly cause discussions, so the women of the other minorities feel partly dominated by the Ashkenazi women or not sufficiently represented, which for example led to the separation of Kayans from Isha'Isha . Instead, sharing resources and forming coalitions is often seen as the solution.

literature

  • Rita Chaikin: Fighting against Trafficking in Women in the North of Israel . In: Karen Beeks / Delila Amir: Trafficking and the Global Sex Industry . Lanham (UK): Lexington Books 2006.
  • Elizabeth Faier: Organizations, Gender, and the Culture of Palestinian Activism in Haifa, Israel . Abingdon (UK) et al .: Routledge 2005.
  • Talya Hakin: "Teachers Become Teens to Learn Sex Problems of Youth". Jerusalem Post July 24, 2005.
  • Cathryn S. Magno: New Pythian Voices: Women Building Political Capital in NGO's in the Middle East (Issues in Globalization) . Abingdon (UK) et al .: Routledge 2002.
  • Kalpana Misra / Melanie S. Rich: Jewish Feminism in Israel. Some Contemporary Perspectives . Lebanon (USA): University Press of New England 2003.
  • Janet M. Powers: Blossoms on the Olive Tree: Israeli and Palestinian Women Working for Peace . Westport (USA): Greenwood Publishing Group 2006.
  • Dalia Sachs / Hannah Safran: Equal Representation in a Divided Society: The Feminist Experience in Israel . In: Association for Women's Rights in Development (Ed.): Building Feminist Movements and Organizations: Global Perspectives. London (UK): Zed Books 2007.
  • Shira Sanders. "Protect your Children By Giving them a 'Voice'". Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle Sept. 7, 2007, Jan.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ The Felipa de Souza Award
  2. ↑ Haaretz article: First Israeli Arab conference of lesbians convened in Haifa (German: First Israeli-Arab conference for lesbians in Haifa) ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.aswatgroup.org
  3. ↑ Article in the Guardian: Coming Out in Arabic (German: “Coming out” in Arabic) ( Memento of the original from January 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.aswatgroup.org
  4. ↑ Report: Government should subsidize public transport in Arab communities / No buses means Arab women can't work (German: Report: Government should support public transport in Arab communities financially / Arab women cannot work without buses)  ( page no longer available , Search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.haaretz.com  
  5. ↑ Women bring green revolution to Arab sector (German: women spark "green revolution" among the Arab minority)
  6. ^ Rita Chaikin: Fighting against Trafficking in Women in the North of Israel
  7. ^ Dalia Sachs / Hannah Safran: Equal Representation in a Divided Society: The Feminist Experience in Israel
  8. ^ Kalpana Misra / Melanie S. Rich: Jewish Feminism in Israel. Some Contemporary Perspectives