The 96th session of Women Parliament was held on November 10th, 2017 at Shefa-’Amr, in the presence of Shefa-’Amr mayor Amin Anabtawi, Sakhnin mayor and head of Arab municipality committee Mazin G’Nayem, Dalyiat al-Karmel’s head of local council Rafik Halabi, coordinator of Women Parliament Prof. Esther Hertzog and more distinguished people.
The session was focused on Arab women’s representation for the upcoming municipal elections in collaboration with the Shefa-’Amr mayor’s gender advisor, Badiaa Chnefes, and with the chairwoman of the gender advisors’ association, Anat Livnat.
Prof. Esther Hertzog, founder and coordinator of Women Parliament: “The session deals with the representation, or lack thereof, of Arab women in Israel. Representation rates of Arab women in Israel’s municipalities has been sparse since its establishment. However, this fact has been intentionally obscured by data picking, so that Arab women’s representation doesn’t ‘spoil’ the image of improvement in women’s representation in Israel. The objective of the meeting is to demand both women and men take action to change the current state of things: to publically present all women’s representatives and their percentage out of all representatives, and to legislate the integration of women as candidates and elected officials for both Jewish and Arab municipal authorities in Israel.”
Anat Livnat, chairwoman of the gender advisors association: “Promoting women into decision making positions is affected, among other things, by the fact that men are holding onto their seats, and by the fact we – as women – need to fight for change and be determined in our attempts to get into these positions.”
How do we break through the political glass ceiling in Arab municipal authorities?
Amin Anabtawi, mayor of Shefa-’Amr: “We need a fundamental change in our society and we need to remove many barriers. Women must be everywhere and have influence. A capable woman needs to be where she deserves to be according to her skills and not her gender. Both men and women need to fulfill their potential of promoting change in society. The main barrier is gender discrimination. When a woman says she wants to be mayor, she is told it is not her place. I oppose women’s parties. We must focus on affiliation and commitment to society and avoid feminine terms. Women’s commitment should be to social action and not feminine action. A political party must not be sectorial, religious or feminine, but rather include all of society’s diversity. I hope all of Shefa-’Amr’s parties will include capable worthy women who would promote change, and not women who are included as a token.”
Rafik Halabi, head of Daliyat al-Karmel local council: “I arrived at my job out of a personal sense of commitment. When I consulted my family, there were objections, from my wife to my youngest son. Women who want to run are facing barriers which are the result of the patriarchal way of thought leading to political and familiar pressure against them. However, there is change and progress and there are women leaders, and today’s youth have an already different view. Some of my responsibility as head of local council is to go against those who harm our society. When a respectable man in our town, who has a lot of Facebook followers, had said being head of council was not a woman’s job, I responded, and I expressed my objection to it. I want to conclude with a quote from the Mafia world to encourage women to act – When you have to shoot, shoot. Don’t talk.”
Mrada Hassun – Social activist, running for the Daliyat al-Karmel council elections in 2018: “When women do volunteer work they get applause but when they want to get into politics, they get the side-eye. When I decided to run for head of council, after many years of social activity in general and women’s rights activism particularly, my family – my husband included – told me it was ‘very nice, and it is important we have a family representative’, but they weren’t sure they wanted it to be me. They pressured me to stay home, but I approached Kayan organization and got the support and encouragement I needed from them and from Knesset member Aida Touma-Sliman. My final decision for which I have my family’s support is to run for member of council this time, and for head of council in the next elections. During this term I want to set an example for my children as a mother who is committed to change and is fighting for it, so I intend to set up my own party and lead it forward.”
Haifa Abdi – Sanitation and licensing manager and gender advisor in Deir al-Asad, running for council elections in 2018: “I applied as a candidate out of my accumulated knowledge and experience, but my religion and my life as a mother in a traditional society have made it difficult for me. My children, seeing me being criticized on Facebook, told me it damaged their honor and asked me to drop out. It is easy to talk about family honor when in fact, every candidate, male or female, gets criticized and it is not personal. This is the attitude I choose to help me deal with these difficulties.”
Mazin G’Nayem, Sakhnin mayor and head of Arab municipality committee: “I will support and encourage any female candidate for council membership, and even for council head. I will support her because I know a woman running for office encounters much pressure and some quit and drop out. I used to manage a soccer team for thirteen years and people trusted me, so I got to serve as mayor. I don’t know what women are waiting for, they should go into the public sphere. They must not be deterred by politics being messy or corrupted; I always say whoever has clean hands can be the one to make a difference. If women are afraid to get their hands ‘dirty’, they contribute to the preservation of corrupted people taking advantage of the public.”
Barwen Azab Mahamid – Education consultant, running for the Kafr Qara’s council elections in 2018: “As a social activist, I have gone through various struggles being the only woman there. I come from a small family and I have a lot of courage to stand up and say I want to manage the local council. No one can argue against my skills because I am qualified and very suited for the job. I know it is going to be a clan struggle and people will come after me for being of a small family, but I will not give up because you cannot make a difference without women in key positions. When people ask me why I need to get my hands dirty in politics, I say politics is not dirty, it is a way to promote change.”
The session continued with a lecture given by Nabila Espanioly, director of Al-Tufula Center and a feminist political activist, who addressed gender issues in the Arab society and its influence on women’s representation in Arab councils. She called for women to get into any sphere of action and explained women will not be influential as long as they are excluded from the political sphere. The patriarchal perception separates women from each other and leads them to go against one another, but women should support each other and encourage those who initiate and promote change and progress.”