Celebrating, Empowering Women

A letter from Kate Taber serving in Israel-Palestine

March 2015

Dear friends and family,

March 8 was this year’s International Women’s Day. I have misgivings about such holidays. Here in Israel-Palestine, as everywhere, women are integral to every aspect of life in this society. Here, women run companies. Women create products.  Women support families. Women manage households. Women grow crops. Women go to school. Women teach. Women work for the government. Women are in government. In light of this, and in light of millennia of patriarchy here and elsewhere, it seems problematic to pick one day to celebrate women. Isn’t every day women’s day? And will a day of celebration do anything to offset the oppressive systems that govern so much of women’s lives?

A local mission partner once told me that for her, advocacy regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories was a women’s rights issue. She said that women are disproportionately affected by conflict and too often sidelined from political decision-making. This is very true for Israel-Palestine. There are also countless local women working on behalf of women—for peace, wholeness, justice, and hope. My celebration of International Women’s Day was an exploration of this work. I hope to continue it all year.

Islam teaches us how to make the dough for savory pastries like sbinikh

I had the opportunity recently to participate in a cooking class with the Noor Women’s Empowerment Group (WEG) of Aida Refugee Camp. We learned how to make sfiha, manaqeesh, sabanikh (all topped or stuffed savory pastries), Arabic salad, and basbussa (a coconut cake). The class was led by Islam, who told us she was born, raised, and married in Aida camp. Her family comes from the village of Beit Natif, west of Hebron. She has never seen the remains of her family’s home village, however, because now it is inside Israel, where she is not allowed to go. Islam has six children; her eldest son Mohammad has cerebral palsy and epilepsy.

Noor WEG began in 2010, when 14 women from Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem got together to problem-solve. Each woman has disabled children or sole responsibility for their family’s livelihood. Life in a refugee camp is difficult for all children and all families, but disabilities make life that much more financially and psychologically challenging. The camp has basically no resources for such families. So these 14 women started the Noor Women’s Empowerment Group, based in Aida Camp. A frequent visitor here, U.S. Presbyterian Sandi Hoover, volunteers regularly with the women, helping with their English and supporting the planning of their project. She also facilitated their receipt of a grant from the Israel-Palestine Mission Network of the PC(USA).

The women of Aida Refugee Camp who created Noor Women’s Empowerment Group

Aida Refugee Camp was established by the United Nations in 1950, in the wake of the war that established the state of Israel and left approximately 750,000 Palestinians displaced. The UN created camps around what is now the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem, as well as in other countries. The 2,000 Palestinians who were moved into the camp came from 17 destroyed villages from the western Hebron and western Jerusalem areas. Today the camp has over 5,000 residents while the area has hardly increased at all (from 0.66 acres to 0.71 acres). The camp is overcrowded and under-resourced. Some sources say the unemployment rate is nearing 70 percent.

Noor WEG’s first challenge was to find a way to pay for diapers. Many of the women’s children need diapers long-term, and the cost was exorbitant. The solution? Pool their money, buy in bulk from a factory in Hebron that makes diapers for hospitals, and divide the diapers among them. The families were able to save a lot of money this way.

With this success, the women determined that working together could make all of their lives a little easier, and it could help their children and families thrive. They decided they must come up with income-generating projects whose profits could be used on behalf of their children. Thus the idea of cooking classes and home stays was born. The classes, and more recently the home stays, have been very popular among tourists and internationals who live in the area.  The classes include an introduction to the women, the project, a complete menu of recipes, a lunch with which to enjoy them, and a tour of the camp. The women have also published two editions of a cookbook of recipes they’ve taught in the classes.

Islam told us she thinks people are uncomfortable around children with disabilities, and too often their parents are shy about having them out of the house. She proudly told us that, thanks be to God, the profit from their project has allowed them to take all of their children with disabilities on a small trip every year, along with other children. The money also goes toward school fees, presents for holidays, medicine, or whatever the children need. But most of all, she said the project has given the women in the camp a sense of empowerment and encourages them to be creative, take initiative, and together improve their lives and the lives of their children.

The obstacles that the women of Noor WEG face are many and great: the military occupation, the patriarchal nature of their society, their status as refugees, the quality of life in a refugee camp, and the special needs of their children, to name a few. Yet these women are taking charge of their lives in ways that benefit their entire community. I invite you to learn more about them, support them, and visit them (website: https://noorweg.wordpress.com).

As I look back this month on one full year in service as a Presbyterian World Mission mission co-worker in Israel-Palestine, I feel humbled and incredibly grateful for this opportunity. It is an opportunity that you have provided and made sustainable and productive through your prayers, encouragement, visits, financial support, and interest in this ministry and this special place. I hope your involvement continues.

May you and yours enjoy a blessed Easter and the coming of spring! I hope to see you soon in the States or here in Israel-Palestine. Keep an eye out in my e-mail newsletter for announcements of trips, including one I’m leading here in November. You can sign up for my e-mail newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/Q9kgr.

Peace,
Kate

The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 344