Jewish and Jewish-Palestinian Feminist Organizations in Israel

This newly published report by the Israel office of the Heinrich Boell Foundation is a first of its kind in-depth exploration of the contemporary feminist movement in Israel. The report focuses on Jewish and joint Jewish-Palestinian feminist organizations in Israel and includes two sections. The first section is a thorough mapping of these 46 organizations that documents the activity of each by fixed categories. The other section, translated also into English and Arabic, analyzes the trends and characteristics of the feminist NGO field in Israel, thus contributing substantially to what has been until now insufficient documentation of feminist activism – one of Israel’s leading social change forces.
The report, written by Dorit Abramovitch who is a long time feminist writer, lecturer and campaign coordinator, discusses the successes and as well as the challenges of the feminist movement in Israel to date. Among the topics covered are: a historical review; the tension between providing individual services and public activism; the proliferation of organizations - attesting to a flourishing field of action on the one hand yet often leading to competition for visibility and resources on the other; the formation, impact and sustainability of short and long-term coalitions among organizations; and more.
This volume highlights the gender related concerns that should and are being addressed. Feminist activism encompasses different population groups and is relevant to virtually every realm of life, yet the organizations themselves are not necessarily aware of their peers’ undertakings. The information in the report, which also includes recommendations for the actors in the field, offers a unique and important opportunity for cooperation between organizations and initiatives, thereby leveraging impact. It is hoped that the report will contribute in facilitating policy development to further benefit gender democracy in Israel.

Product details
Date of Publication
February 15, 2010
Number of Pages
106
Licence
All rights reserved
Language of publication
English
Table of contents

Introduction 7
Chapter 1: On the Creation of the Report and its Main Features 11
Chapter 2: Historical Review 17
Times of Establishment of Feminist Organizations in Israel 28
Chapter 3: Activity Areas of Feminist Organizations in Israel 31 
Where are the Lesbian Organizations? 38
Chapter 4: Between Individual Services and Public Activism 43
Increased Professionalization 52
Chapter 5: Long Term Coalitions 63
The Challenges 74
Recommendations 78
Chapter 6: Short Term Coalitions 81
Public Campaign for the Election of a Woman President of Israel 81
Public Campaign for the Removal of Sex Offenders from Government 85
Chapter 7: Coalitions Between Organizations– Between Competition and Partnership 89
Recommendations 95
Summary 99
List of References 105

Files
eng_hb.pdf