 Northern Israel
 A Druze woman I have worked with
 At the CHN Gathering of Friends at the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem in 2001. With me are Gillian from England, Serifa from Bosnia and two lovely Palestinian men
|
Ibtisam Mahameed
My background
I am a member of the Arab-Palestinian minority in Israel that lost most of its lands and rights in Israel's War of Independence in 1948. My family was from the Palestinian village of Tantura on the Mediterranean coast, which was totally destroyed during the 1948 war. The refugees from Tantura dispersed to Jordan, Syria and the West Bank. Some, like my parents, went to the village of Fureidis in northern Israel, where I now live.
I have five sisters and three brothers, and my husband (who is a housepainter) and I have three children. I am now in my mid-forties. When I grew up, very few girls in Arab villages had schooling opportunities, but my parents were very supportive and I completed high school. Since then I have studied management and educational administration.
As a religious Muslim woman I wear traditional covering. Unfortunately, Israeli society around me associates every religious Muslim with extremism and potential terrorism. My peace activist work requires me to travel alone around Israel (and the world) and spend nights away from home, something which is very unusual in traditional Arab society.
In the beginning, some members of my family found it difficult to accept my association with Jews and my work for Arab-Jewish co-existence. Some of them wouldn't even talk to me but now they support me. My family also pays a social price for my activism. For example, my daughter was the prime candidate for a teaching job in our village, but this was denied her because the village elders felt threatened by my activism on behalf of women in the community.
Given the cultural taboos of a religious Muslim woman doing this work, I am very fortunate that my husband respects and supports my work which often takes me outside our village. He encouraged me to get a degree and he supports me fully - he even helps around the house. We've been together 31 years, since we were 13 (I married when I was 18 years old). It was hard for the rest of my family in the beginning but now they all support me too. If there is a Nobel Peace Prize for men, my husband deserves it. We live in a four-room flat and I use this as my base as I try to make my contribution to peace and understanding in our region.
I ran for the town council of Fureidis in 1996. My agenda was to help both men and women, especially women, to help them get an education and challenge spousal abuse, for example. My supporters were 50/50 men and women. If I get involved in local politics again, it will be from a different place. I will support another woman so that she can succeed. I will be the teacher to teach another woman - I will not run myself. It was hard running for office but it was a great learning experience.