Haifa Women's Coalition

The Haifa Women's Coalition is a coalition of four women's organizations in the Israeli city of Haifa: Isha l'Isha - Haifa Feminist Center, Kayan - Feminist Organization, Haifa Rape Crisis Center and Aswat - Palestinian Gay Women. The coalition works for women's rights awareness and supports women victims of domestic and sexual violence. Jewish and Arab women in Israel work under one roof, creating a contact point for Northern Israeli women of all backgrounds.

Contents

History

The Haifa Women's Coalition has its seeds in Isha l'Isha, the oldest Israeli feminist organization founded in 1983 and a cooperation of Jewish and Arab women. In 1998, Isha l'Isha originated Kayan - Feminist Organization which represents the interests of Palestinian women citizens of Israel. In 2003, Kayan became the origin of Aswat, an organization for homosexual Palestinian women in Israel. The Haifa Rape Crisis Center was founded in 1979 and later joined the Haifa Women's Coalition.

Profiles of each organization

Isha L'Isha - Haifa Feminist Center

[Isha L’Isha][1] (Woman to Woman) is a community-based, grassroots feminist organization established in 1983. We offer women a safe, supportive environment in which they address their needs, providing room for self-expression and development. Isha L’Isha provides a platform to discuss issues of direct importance to women’s lives and their communities, such as feminism, women's rights, violence against women, reproductive rights, discrimination in work and society, sexual identity, trafficking in women, the economy, ecological and environmental issues, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and healthcare.

Parallel to this, Isha L’Isha also works on a national level, advocating for women’s rights in all fields. In over 26 years of grassroots activities on behalf of women, Isha L’Isha has gained a positive, national reputation among government officials, including Members of Parliament; non-governmental organizations devoted to women's rights, social justice, Jewish/Palestinian coexistence and peace; and laywomen in a wide variety of fields.

Isha L'Isha's mission is to advance the status of all women in Israel by: (a) empowering them and encouraging them to become leaders in their communities; (b) campaigning for full civil rights and equal opportunities for women; (c) opposing all forms of violence and discrimination against women; (d) developing and encouraging new projects to address women's needs; and (e) promoting collaboration between women’s organizations.

Kayan

Kayan - Feminist Organization was founded in 1998 by a group of Arab women from Haifa and Northern Israel who already since the mid-80's had worked for Arab women's rights as staff and volunteers of Jewish-Arab organizations such as Isha l'Isha. Kayan was founded as an organization for Arab women whose needs and living situation differ from those of Jewish-Israeli women in many ways. Kayan's programs aim to empower Arab women through community organizing and women's leadership, advocate for Arab women's legal and economic rights and provide legal aid and education.

Aswat

Aswat is an independent project hosted by the Arab women's organization Kayan and was founded in 2003. The project is led by a group of homosexual Palestinian women and directed at lesbian, intersexual, transsexual, bisexual or "searching" women. Aswat aims for the empowerment and the socio-political rights of homosexual Palestinian women, offers support and wants to change the public opinion about sexuality, sexual orientation, gender questions and homosexuality. The women of Aswat organize meetings, empowerment and awareness-raising workshops, and support groups and publish information in Arabic and English.

The Haifa Rape Crisis Center

The Haifa Rape Crisis Center (HRCC) is a tax-exempt, non-profit organization dedicated to opposing sexual violence. The HRCC is apolitical and provides services regardless of gender, religion, ethnicity or socio-economic status. Established in 1979, the Haifa Rape Crisis Center is responsible for providing services to a region in northern Israel (from Hadera to the Upper Galilee) that includes over one million people. The organization's goals are to support survivors of sexual violence and their families, to raise the awareness of sexual violence and its prevention, to train professionals in the subject of sexual violence and survivors’ trauma, and to protect survivors’ rights. The HRCC operates a 24-hour crisis intervention hotline for survivors of rape, sexual assault, incest and sexual harassment. Crisis intervention services are provided by trained volunteers. The Center provides survivors with on-going support, face-to-face counseling, and accompaniment to the hospital, police, district attorney and courts, and facilitates support groups with survivors. The HRCC works to end sexual violence through extensive community outreach and educational programs. In addition, the HRCC is active in training professionals to respond to sexual violence survivors and address sexual assault in a knowledgeable and sensitive manner. The HRCC is involved in the national advocacy efforts and campaigns of the Association of Rape Crisis Centers in Israel to influence legislation and advance the cause of eliminating sexual violence.

Significance

Isha l'Isha, Aswat, Kayan and the Haifa Rape Crisis Center have gained international recognition. In 2008, Aswat was awarded the Go visible Award of the city of Vienna, an initiative of the Austrian Green Party. Rauda Morcos, then the head of Aswat, was awarded the Felipa de Souza Award of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission in 2006.[1] Aswat was the first public organization for Arab lesbians in the Middle East and Rauda Morcos was for a long time the only openly gay member of Aswat. The group has supporters in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, but most Arab lesbians hide their sexual preferences for fear of reprisals. The first conference of Aswat in March 2008 was met with a high level of response from supporters but also from opponents of gay rights. Israel's Islamic Movement had requested cancellation of the conference. The organizers refused, and members of the Islamic Movement demonstrated in front of the conference building.[2] Aswat aims to strengthen cooperation with feminist organizations in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. The women see their struggle for gay rights in connection to the Palestinian struggle against the occupation, and also aim to show solidarity with Palestinian homosexuals in the OPT whose situation is even more difficult than that of Palestinian homosexuals in Israel.[3]

Kayan called public and media attention inter alia with its research about mobility among women in Arab villages and towns in Northern Israel. This first study of the topic showed the complete lack of public transportation in Israel's Arab localities, and convinced the Ministry of Transport to install bus lines in Sakhnin, Arara, Umm el Fahm and other Arab towns and villages. The project "Women Demand Mobility" also involved women's community activism in Mghar and other villages without public transportation, where women installed bus lines out of their own initiative.[4] Israeli media also reported widely about an environmental project where women from Mghar raise environmental awareness among children and youth. Environmental work by women is a novelty in Arab society, empowers women and helps the community at the same time.[5]

Isha l'Isha's achievements for the prevention of trafficking of women are of utmost importance. The organization succeeded in raising public awareness for the problem, including the installation of a parliamentary committee that deals with the issue. Traffickers of women face heavier punishments today thanks to Isha l'Isha's initiative, and Isha l'Isha is regarded a central reference and expert on the topic in Israel.[6]

In July 2000, the Haifa Rape Crisis Center, along with the other nine national rape crisis centers, received the Volunteer Award presented by the President of Israel. The award is in recognition of the Centers’ “ important pioneering contribution to Israeli Society” and their “contribution to the uprooting of the epidemic of sexual violence from Israeli Society and on the support given to survivors.”

Criticism

Especially the quarter policy of the Israeli feminist movement, which is also implemented in the Haifa Women's Coalition, is subject to criticism. The quarter policy aims to ensure equal representation of Israel's large population groups - Mizrahi women (Jews who descend from the Middle East, North Africa, Central Asia and the Caucasus), Ashkenazi women (Jews who descend from European countries), Lesbian and Palestinian women. On the one hand, there are basic discussions about the implementation and usefulness of this policy. On the other hand, it is asked why Russian women, a large minority in Israel today, are not represented.[7] In reaction to this criticism, the quarter system was expanded to accommodate additional groups that make up Israeli society.

The different identities of the women are an ongoing topic of discussion. Women from minority groups often feel dominated by Ashkenazi women and unequally represented. The building of coalitions and the sharing of resources shall provide answers to these questions.[8]

Literature

External links

References

  1. ^ The Felipa de Souza Award
  2. ^ Haaretz: First Israeli Arab conference of lesbians convened in Haifa
  3. ^ The Guardian: Coming Out in Arabic
  4. ^ Report: Government should subsidize public transport in Arab communities / No buses means Arab women can't work
  5. ^ Women bring green revolution to Arab sector
  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