"You ask me to speak. How shall I speak when I have been taught silence since birth? I have been taught silence in my parents' house, in my own house; I have taught silence to my daughter. I have forgotten the sound of my voice. I have forgotten I have a voice." Sylvia Margia
Women in the Center is a center created by graduates of our past programs and some of our staff in the Arab city of Nazareth. The center is designed to train encourage, inspire Arab and Jewish women to work for women’s empowerment and rights, the reduction of prejudice, the healing of emotional wounds and peace. In addition to the workshops led by our facilitators there has been a steady flow of visiting teachers from Israel and abroad who offer workshops dealing with issues pertaining to our mission. The center is led by an Arab and a Jewish woman who use the Beyond Words approach to work together and achieve our common goals.
The unique structure of the city of Nazareth (the largest Arab city in Israel) and sister city Upper Nazareth mirrors on a smaller scale some of the issues that cause divisiveness and conflict among the Arabs and Jews in Israel and Palestine religious conflicts, land disputes, oppression, discrimination, inequality in the division of resources and responsibilities causing prejudice, fear, anger and sometimes violence.
At the same time this unique setting presents an amazing opportunity to create a new reality. The same place as described in the Bible where Jesus began spreading his message of brotherhood/ sisterhood and peace over 2000 years ago can now serve as a model for justice, reconciliation and peace that can reverberate and spread throughout Israel. For this reason we have chosen Nazareth as the place to create a centre where Arab and Jewish women can work together for empowerment of women and peace building. Currently no such centre exists in Israel.
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