Friday, March 8 was International Women’s Day. In honor of this day, the local Jerusalem newspaper, Yediot Yerushalayim, ran an article (in Hebrew), listing the “35 Most Influential Women who Changed Jerusalem in the Past Year.”
“At a certain point I understood that I live in a certain Jerusalem, and I don’t even know what goes on with my neighbors that live in a different Jerusalem. That’s why I founded the 0202 non-profit foundation, which provides access to points of view from East, West and Haredi Jerusalem to each other, in Arabic and Hebrew, through Facebook, guided tours, meetings etc’ – with no specific interpretation of events or biased filtering of facts.
“Just like that, simply by seeing the other side. Incidentally, today we are celebrating our 4th year on air and this year we launched a new program for activities in Arabic and citizenship classes, using current affairs in Jerusalem. The foundation’s staff includes 45 people – Jews, Arabs, Haredi, ex-Haredi and secular – in short, a mini-Jerusalem.
[…] “Jerusalem is the world’s capital of tolerance. There are already many residents who promote tolerance and multi-culturalism in our city. We now need for people from within and from outside the city to see and know about this initiative, so that they can proudly say that there are many cultures and public spheres of common good in Jerusalem. We now need to spread the message for it to be heard above all the city’s rooftops, all over the country, and be seen by all eyes watching Zion.”
The full interview with Michal, and the other 34 women who were chosen, can be found here.
We work with many of the others listed as well. All the women were asked, what’s it like to be a woman in Jerusalem?
Fay Sukenik, with whom we work on a number of issues, including involvement in the Haredi community, said:
“It’s being in the heart of action, in the heart of the conflict. To be in a fertile place of social entrepreneurs and cooperation between sectors. A city with conflicts is a challenging city that enables action and growth. We don’t need to be afraid of it…To live in Jerusalem means to live in a place where anything can happen, if you only believe and work hard toward that goal.”
Efrat Givaty, who works with us on The Little Prince – Cleaning Up Jerusalem Together, said:
To dream and to do the impossible in a city full of possibilities.
Aliza Meir-Epstein, who we work with on the Good Neighbors project in Abu Tor, said:
Jerusalem women have a critical role in designing the city, which directly impacts the face of the entire nation. Jerusalem is a microcosm of the State of Israel. Many of the country’s central issues are concentrated here and receive a louder and more extreme flavor here. It is in our hands to influence the discourse, the approach and to find innovative and creative solutions.
Ariel Markose, with whom we work on the Jerusalem Model, said:
It means to exist with many identities, and each one is a world in and of itself. I think it’s not only among women – to be a Jerusalemite means to have a number of layers. A woman in Jerusalem is a complex thing, because everything in your life is associated with a part of your Jerusalem-ness. Your neighborhood, your religion, your political identity, your work, your volunteering. The very fact that you live in Jerusalem expresses your choices, because no one is in Jerusalem by chance. So to be a woman in Jerusalem is to be very nuanced, which is fascinating and part of the richness I feel in my life in this city.
And there were many more. Here’s a link to the Internet version of the article, in Hebrew.
Article first page
Here’s the Facebook post in Hebrew from the Jerusalem Tolerance Facebook page:
Congratulations to all those listed, and keep up the good work!
