WOMEN´S TENT - GATHERING OF JEWISH AND ARABIC WOMEN IN THE DESERT


It is a sunny Sunday morning in a little desert town near Beer Sheva, southern Israel. A Gymnasium slowly fills – not only with the beduin-style carpets and mattresses, but with Jewish and Beduin women of of all ages. More and more people come till a crowd of about 200 women – including a few westerners – gathers.

The opening starts with a friendship circle and then people are divided into groups, to get to know each other. Everything happens bilingual - Arabic and Jewish. After the first “rounds” there is a break.

 
Photo: "What can I expect from this meeting?" Young Beduin waiting to inscribe herself for the Women´s Tent gathering near Beer Sheba.


Outside of the Gymnasium I sit down in a built up beduin tent, expecting nothing. Slowly more and more young beduin women come closer. They are dressed with a veil and all are covered from top to toe, but in a very fashionable beautiful way. Most of them look stunning.

I begin to ask them questions in English. At first I get no answer. They are shy. But slowly a discussion begins. “What is your age?”… Most of them are between 16 and 20. I learn that in their tradition girls get married when they are 20-21 years old. The parents chose the husband.
“What are your dreams?”… “I want to become a doctor”… “I want to be a teacher”… “I want to study”… These are mostly the answers.
“And what do your parents say?” … It depends on the Family roots and traditions. 2 girls say, their family would allow them to study… the rest of the girls say, they are not allowed to study. I ask them if they know a woman who ever studied. “Yes, one… but she left university after one year. Then she married.” … My heart cramps, when I hear that… I come from the opposite side of the medal… I sometimes feel overwhelmed by the possibility of choice… And now I sit together with young women… that face a very different reality.
“Have dreams. And make your dreams come true. If you have a strong mind, your dreams will come true”… That is my personal message for them. And their eyes begin to shine….
“Read books of people that are and idol for you… talk to people that you admire… and find out how they accomplished their goals…”… Some of the girls come to me “oh, I want to travel”… “Do you think I can become a doctor?”… The break is over.

 
Photo: Under the tent. Israeli - Arabic exchange of ideas.


Lunch time. Tasty beduin food is served. And then comes the fun part. Everybody begins to dance, to clap… Laughter fills the air… People are happy. The ice is broken.

 
Photo: Celebrating life as a woman. Israeli woman experiencing the charm of dancing with a veil ... "what great fun " think the Arabs.


... Then the second round of group work in circles start. This time we learn from each other through the sharing of traditions practiced in the particular society or family. A Jewish secular young women says “I love how my family celebrates birthdays. My birthday is the most special to me. At 4 AM my parents get up. I wake up but pretend I still sleep. They prepare everything for my. That day, I am the queen. I get everything I want. My father is a Chef and he cooks what I like. We do special things. On my birthday I always stayed at home. I never went to school, to the army or university on that day…I love this family tradition”… An 18 year old beduin girl said “Family…The most important Tradition for Jewish and Beduins is to build a family. I come from a big family. And I love it. When I grow up, I want to be like my mom. I love her. I would die for her. I would really die for her.” This simple message really touched me deeply. She talked with such a love and respect about her family and especially her mother. And I felt… Yes, we can learn so much from one another…

Suddenly half of the girls get up. They have to leave. Family tradition. They have to be back home at a certain time. The last pictures are taken. And then they disappear. Slowly the meeting comes to an end.
Fazit: the gathering was very enriching for both sides. People of different traditional and educational backgrounds with different beliefs met… and shared…and enriched each other. I believe a continuation of this kind of meetings will play an important role on several levels. It seems that this kind of meetings help one anther to:

• understand myself and my own culture and roots, to understand who I am
• understand the other and his cultural and religious backgrounds
• meet each other in a peaceful welcoming way
• to apply enriching aspects of “the art of living” from the other side to my own life (for instance what I liked: beduins say their living room has to be very big, so they can always welcome visitors… they have a very big tradition of welcoming others to their home)

READ SOME WORDS FROM THE WONDERFUL COORDINATORS OF THE EVENT:
The "Women's Peace Tent in the Desert" which took place on the 18th of June, 2006 was a heart gathering of Arab and Jewish women with the intention to create a safe and respectful meeting of the heart. A place in which women could learn about the customs of the different traditions and households, empower each other as women in intimate talk, collective prayer and ceremonies, and celebration! The gathering was the collaboration of Women's Peace Tent in the desert with Bedouin and Jewish organizations of social change: Association for Improvement of Woman's Status, Laqia; Bustan Lasalaam; Beer Sheba Municipality- Women's rights department; the cultural center of the village Hura.

THE AIM of "The Women's Peace Tent" is to hold such events in different parts of this holy land as often as possible.

If anyone feels inspired to SUPPORT the Women's Tent (which is in grave need for support)or to hold a similar peace event in a different region please use the following contacts:
email: womentent@gmail.com
phone: (00972)-54-6373010 - Hilia, the "Women's Peace Tent in the desert"-Coordinator

In the End I want to thank warmheartedly all the persons involved in organizing, coordinating, participating, and helping, only through that the Gathering became what it was... a real beautiful meeting of women from different cultural and religious backgrounds... Special thanks to Hilia, the Coordinator of the Women´s Tent, who worked unceasingly for more then 2 months to make this event happen. I personally also invite you to feel inspired to contact her and support her... she put not only her valuable time in organizing but also over 1500 shekel from her own pocket into realizing the event (even if she is not rich herself!)...

May these kind of gatherings also continue to happen and enrich more and more people for different walks of life.

PLEASE NOTE: Pictures of the colorful event - especially beautiful and expressive beduin - portraits can be ordered via my blog: www.contributions-and-more.blogspot.com THANKS.