Judy Norsigian, our neighbor and one of the founders of the Boston Women’s Health Book Collective (publisher of “Our Bodies, Ourselves”) has put us in touch with Dana Weinberg, the Chairperson and founder of Women and Their Bodies, the Israeli equivalent of the BWHBC, who we meet at the YMCA Three Arches Hotel for morning coffee. Dana explains how hundreds of women volunteers, both Jews and Arabs, have come forward to translate and rewrite where appropriate, Our Bodies, Ourselves into both Hebrew and Arabic versions. This is a major undertaking, requiring extensive rewriting to address cultural differences and the effort necessary to bring the project to a successful conclusion is impressive and much, much more complicated than publishing a book back home. Dana shares how both Israeli and Arab professional women have come together to collaborate and we share her sense of excitement about the project. I encourage you strongly to check out their website at http://www.wtb.org.il/ and to contribute to their effort. (Roz and I are signing up to be part of their “Social Shareholders” project)
When I mention that we have heard of several young Israelis who have left Jerusalem because of the dominance of the ultra-orthodox, she shakes her head and points out that Jerusalem is the one place where Jews, Christians and Muslims are forced to interact every day and where barriers have a chance of being broken down.
Talking with Dana is another high point for me since her energy and enthusiasm is infectious. I had been reading Haaretz, the English language newspaper, this morning and getting increasingly depressed about some of the things happening here that never make it to the outside media. I have been here a bit over two weeks, have met many wonderful people with a variety of political viewpoints, and although I understand better the challenges they face both internally and externally, I find myself more conflicted about this country and more doubtful than ever that the policies the current government are pursuing will achieve in the long run the security that everyone desires. The situation here is very complicated and it will take me a long time to process everything I have learned.
After parting from Dana, we catch the #17 bus to the BibleLands Museum (see random musings in final blog) which is a must-see if you are an archeology affficionado like me.
No comments:
Post a Comment