June 17, 2004
Interfaith women's group talks about women's work
Jerusalem, May 27, 2004
On Thursday, May 27, at Kibbutz Ein Shemer, 40 Muslim, Christian, Druze, and Jewish women gathered to study the "Attitude of Religions TowardsWomen Working".
During the opening, the women introduced themselves in a paired exercise and immediately began relaxing and connecting with each other. Teachers from the four religions presented the teachings of the Koran, the New Testament, the Hebrew Bible, and the Druze Holy Book. Considerable time was spent in small group discussions led by the four faith facilitators. The majority of the women were new to the interfaith process and reflected our expansion into new villages in the North.
Women ranged in age from their twenties to sixties. All were surprised and pleased to meet new and different women with whom they would normally not have much contact -- and be able to share their experiences and struggles in the home and in the working world. The closing session featured singing and ended with warm embraces. We are grateful to a British donor who made this Study session possible. Below is the full report:
May 27, Study Day in Ein Shemer: The beautiful spring day and the hothouse incubator filled with flowers and plants at Kibbutz Ein Shemer was a lovely setting for the Study session of the Northern Women's Interfaith Encounter.
As the minibuses arrived, the women were welcomed with food and drink from the hostesses and settled into the pastoral setting in a large circle surrounded by greenery. Our new Christian coordinator, Jeanndark Halloun, from Usifiya, brought a teacher and a large group from her town for the first time. Ibtisam Mahameed brought a teacher and women from Uhm Al Fahm also new to our circle. Siham Halabi brought new and old faces from the Druze village of Daliat ha Carmel. And Mara List was our hostess who had women from the kibbutz and surrounding areas joining us.
We were pleased to be able to expand our process to so many new women coming from new villages and towns. Mara graciously welcomed everyone to her kibbutz which almost all the women had never visited before and led the opening -- instructing everyone to move to one woman she didn't know and establish an immediate introduction and bond between them. The teachings were all very interesting and personal -- speaking about what the various scriptures teach us about the attitude towards women working which is never at the sacrifice of the home and family -- but empowers women to make a contribution outside their home to the community and also to benefit the family financially. Hagit Amitai spoke from Jewish sources saying that the woman is like the Minister of the Interior for her family, that women can be leaders in the professional world -- but must abide by rules of modesty. Uhm Khartum Jabarin said that according to the Koran, women are equal to men and have freedom to be working in the world. However they must have the permission of their husband or father, they must dress modestly, and work in a public space where they are not alone with men. Faten Halloun, the Christian teacher spoke from her own experience about getting guidance and from the Priest about the woman's role and how to behave in society. She stressed that their religion is based on love and tolerance -- and equality between the sexes. The Druze teacher Samira Barukan spoke about how historically their society was agricultural and women worked alongside men. As the society changed,women were confined to the home and family -- or to have a small business or shop. Now the younger generation is becoming educated and entering all the professions.
We broke into small circle discussion groups led by the facilitators, where the women discussed their own struggles to balance work with family, to define and express themselves outside the home, to deal with attitudes in their communities towards their work.
When we gathered back into our large circle, we were entertained by beautiful Arabic songs by women from Daliat and Uhm Khartum Jabarin -- after her namesake. Everyone joined hands in the circle and Ibtisam led a closing meditation followed by embraces and the women from Ussifya invited everyone to have a meeting in their village soon. Their coordinator,
Jeanndark said that they all benefited from face to face encounters with different women and learning about the other religions and the realities of other women -- all this benefits us in our ability to love and understand each other and to build tolerance. The Uhm Al Fahm women were eager for everyone to visit them and welcomed everyone to their village.
Also, a Jewish woman, who is the widow of a man killed in a suicide terrorist bombing, and had brought her mother to the meeting, requested that we have our next meeting in Hadera at their organization of South American Immigrants -- and it is being planned for the end of June. We were very encouraged by all the new energy and enthusiasm to extend our process to new areas and new populations&emdash;and the momentum that was created for on-going contacts. We are very grateful to our British donor who is enabling us to have these meetings and to spread our interfaith process throughout the Northern region. We welcome the support of anyone else who recognizes how face to face contact is the most powerful agent to build peace and trust -- and counteract the stereotypes, mistrust and fear that feed violence.
This report was prepared by Elana Rozenman with the assistance of Mara List, Ibtisam Mahameed, Siham Halabi, and Jeanndark Halloun.
The Interfaith Encounter Association
P.O.Box 3814, Jerusalem 91037, Israel
Phone: +972-2-6510520
Fax: +972-2-6510557
Website: www.interfaith-encounter.org