On November 3rd 2016, a video conference was held, between girls from Israel, Kenya and the United States, initiated by the “Shin” Movement as part of YWP activity. The discussion focused on women’s leadership in light of the US coming elections, were for the first time a woman candidate is running for office.
The conference was made possible through cooperation with the US Embassy in Israel, which provided the necessary resources and technology.
The discussion was moderated by Alexis Alexander of the US Embassy. The girls who participated were: Aya Jaber (Yarka) and Yuval Hananel (Kfar Saba) from Israel, Ashton Gilroy and Jocelyn Martin from Dayton Ohio, USA and Norah Moturi from Kenya.
Representing the “Shin” Movement were: Prof. Esther Herzog, Serin Angel, Rachel Levy Hertz and Michal Zeevi.
Also participated Jackie Ogegais from Kenya, President of Mpanzi for Women and Girls Empowerment (https://mpanziempoweri1.godaddysites.com), and Andrea Blanch, Director of the CRT Center for Religious Tolerance in Sarasota, USA (http://www.c-r-t.org/).
Here Are Some Quotes from the Discussion’s Participants:
Aya Jaber – Israel
– It is important that every woman know that she can be a leader.
– It’s very important for me to state my opinion in school, everywhere and in any way.
– In the society where I live (Arab), it is hard to find women leaders, fortunately for me my aunt is a leader in our community. She has promoted many issues and initiatives in Yarka. She is role model and opens new perspective for me on the matter.
– In order to remove barriers for women to be leaders, more programs like this one The Girls’ Parliament are needed. programs such as this encourage women not to be afraid, to confront men and to be strong.
Yuval Hananel – Israel
– The government always maintains that equality exists, in fact it does not.
– To remove barriers, the most important thing is to open all options for free choice, to be receptive to ideas and not be afraid to say and stand for what you believe in.
Jocelyn Martin – USA
– I believe that women who come to power will act to ensure an equal pay for equal work.
– I admire Michelle Obama because she is a strong black woman, and so am I. Michelle Obama makes her voice heard and fights for what she believes.
– In the United States men belittle women and white women belittle black women so it is important to have a black woman in power or at least a woman.
– In the United States, there was never a woman candidate, so this is history for us. As far as I’m concerned this is another crack in the glass ceiling, so this is a tremendous advancement for women. It enhances my ability to overcome obstacles women have.
Ashton Gilroy – USA
– We can remove barriers if we can dispose of the stereotypes that women have, this is a long and difficult process.
– In addition, women should be encouraged to be in positions of power and become role models for others.
Norah Moturi – Kenya
Here in Kenya, women are ranked lowest in society, but in the big picture, women have always been leaders and always worked with people and helped them and cared for the families during war.
– In Kenya, many women in rural areas do not have the opportunity to lead. The social structure ensures that women will not have access to education and economic resources. In addition, there are not enough resources to, for example, build schools for women or encourage them to meet and talk about violence against women and ways to overcome it.
Here Are Some Quotes from the Organizers of the Event:
Alexis Alexander, the discussion moderator
– I want to emphasis the important statement that was made earlier about the lack of a role model, because neither of us can think of a leading woman who was not described as aggressive, bossy or bitchy.
– I want to point out that we at the US Embassy are invested in women’s empowerment.
Jackie Ogegais
– It’s important for me to say that women were always leaders, but the social and political structures made sure that they would not participate in politics. In Kenya, women have “time poverty” so they really do not have time to engage in politics
-I cannot even begin to understand people who vote for Trump, but I also hear what people say about Hillary Clinton. This is misogyny. They say she is a weak old woman, she is being belittled, underestimated and not taken seriously.
– I am very excited by this conversation today and I think that we have created here a group of young and old women who support each other. We need to maintain the momentum and make sure that groups like these will operate across generations, cultures and races. The problems we face as women are similar regardless of location, culture and race.
Prof. Esther Herzog
The “Shin” Movement for equal representation of women founded the “Girls’ Parliament” which has been active since 2010. We work with various organizations and local authorities. The most important issue for us is the encounter between Arab and Jewish girls.
Rachel Levy-Hertz
I believe that if there were more women leaders, we will have a much less violent and aggressive society.
Andrea Blanch
I want to point out that we thought of a project that would connect girls from Israel, the US and Kenya, and this is a start. One day these girls will meet face to face.