On the occasion of this year’s International Women’s Day (March 8th), Mossawa circulateda list consisting ofthe names of dozens of Palestinian women pioneers who are activists in their local communities as well as in the political and academic sectors, to the Arab Media in Israel. Mossawa encouraged the media to interview some of these successful women activists to help spread the stories of success Arab women have had in various fields.
In a statement, the Director of the Mossawa Center, Jafar Farah, noted that “the celebration of this year's International Women's Day gains even more importancein the light of the increasing violence and marginalization of Palestinian women in Israel.”
The coordinator of the Culture Project at the Mossawa Center who also serves as a member of the Haifa City Council, Areen Abdi, stated: “We must emphasize that the struggle to change the reality of our society cannot be achieved, without addressing and working for an improvement in the reality of Arab women” and that therefore ”The Mossawa Center calls for a stronger representation of women in parliament and local authorities” (currently, only two of 17 Arab MK’s are women)
Most of the countries in Western Europe and North America ignore International Women’s day and don’t recognise it as an official, national holiday. Mossawa demands the international community to make the day an official holiday in more countries to strengthen the empowerment of gender equality.
We are proud to be able contribute to the promotion of women rights and hope that there will be many more successful events that promote the empowerment of Arab women for next year's celebration of International Women's day.
