feminism

Sapir Sluzker Amran and Carmen Elmakiyes Amos, 2023. (Shiraz Grinbaum)

Why this Mizrahi feminist movement is disbanding — but not disappearing

Shovrot Kirot aimed to bring together marginalized communities in Israel to build a new political force. But facing funding shortfalls and internal divisions after Oct. 7, its leaders have been forced to rethink their strategy.

By Nathalie Rozanes February 28, 2025

Israelis gather in Jerusalem's Independence Park in front of the U.S. Embassy to mourn those killed in Gaza and to call for a ceasefire and an end to the cycle of violence, December 22, 2023. (Aryeh Leib)

Women’s liberation mustn’t stop at either side of the Gaza fence

Feminist principles compel us to stand with both the Palestinian women being slaughtered in Gaza and the Israeli women testifying about sexual violence.

By Samah Salaime December 22, 2023

Baladna youth activists. (Maria Zreiq)

The Palestinian group building power through youth

Baladna head Nidaa Nassar explains how the Haifa-based NGO is raising a generation of Palestinians to overcome their fragmentation and erasure.

By Vera Sajrawi June 21, 2023

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Mustafa Hammad, Farkha's mayor, on the farm by his house, January 10, 2023. (Ahmad Al-Bazz)

The Palestinian ecovillage putting grassroots democracy into action

In the West Bank community of Farkha, a young communist leadership is championing feminism, sustainability, and care for elders.

By Fatima AbdulKarim January 10, 2023

Shatzi Weisberger at a pro-Palestine demonstration in New York, June 26, 2022. (Gili Getz)

‘Love in organizing’: A tribute to a queer Jew for Palestine

Shatzi Weisberger died at 92 after a lifetime of organizing for LGBTQ, Black, and Palestinian liberation. Her memory will fuel us in the struggles ahead.

By Theo Rehm January 5, 2023

Activists from the Shovrot Kirot movement stand in front of the ruins of the Givat Amal neighborhood in north Tel Aviv, and the luxury apartment blocks built in its place, April 11, 2022. (Oren Ziv)

The Mizrahi feminists shaking up Israel’s human rights scene

A new movement is bringing a fresh model to the struggle for the rights of Israeli society’s most invisible and marginalized groups. Can it succeed?

By Ben Reiff April 12, 2022

The Women’s March on New York, January 21, 2017. (Gili Getz)

Zionism split the women’s movement in the ’70s. Will it do the same to BLM?

From second-wave feminism in the 1970s and '80s to the BLM movement today, liberal American Jews have long struggled to shield their Zionism from their universal values.

By Dikla Taylor-Sheinman September 10, 2020

An Arab woman casts her vote at a polling station in the city of Lyd on October 22, 2013. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash90)

Arab women made history in Israel’s local elections. Here’s how they did it

A record-breaking 26 Palestinian women were elected to office in Israel’s local elections. Despite the unprecedented numbers, there is still a long way to go. Arab women made history in the last round of local elections in Israel held in late October. A total of 26 Arab women were elected across the country, including the first Druze and first Bedouin woman,…

By Samah Salaime November 26, 2018

When a Palestinian, Muslim woman went on Israeli Big Brother

Shams, a hijab-wearing, Palestinian woman went on the Israeli reality TV show to teach Jewish Israelis about her humanity. She was naive to think she’d succeed, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t support her. It’s hard with these Palestinians everywhere, even on Big Brother. I admit and confess, I know next to nothing about the…

By Samah Salaime May 30, 2018

What is certain is that social norms in the Arab community are constantly changing, mainly thanks to the tens of thousands of Arab women who do not give up on themselves. (Nati Shohat / Flash90)

The quiet feminist revolution in Arab society in Israel

Despite the hardships, Arab women are making gains in the Israeli legal establishment, local politics, academia, and even in the Islamic Movement. I watched as Hollywood stars collectively came out of the feminist closet during the Academy Awards this week. They spoke with pride about the recent #MeToo campaign, and demanded more respect and more…

By Samah Salaime March 8, 2018

Justice minister Ayelet Shaked Gives a statement to the media Justice minister Ayelet Shaked gives a statement to the media at the Knesset on February 26, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Setting the struggle against gender-based violence back 30 years

A proposed bill to increase the sentences for Arab men who kill women ‘on the basis of family honor’ is not a step forward for feminism, but a step back. The Justice Ministry recently presented a bill to the Knesset’s Constitution, Law, and Justice committee that would define murder on the basis of “family honor”…

By Samah Salaime March 2, 2018

Minister of Interior Affairs Aryeh Deri visits at Interior Ministry office (Misrad Hapnim) in Petah Tikva, July 26, 2016. Photo by Yaakov Cohen/Flash90

‘There’s no such thing as a feminist name-change’

When I reverted my surname back to my maiden name, apparently the Interior Ministry decided I was getting divorced. How do you prove that you’re not getting divorced? My own personal brush with Kafka. I went to the Interior Ministry office in Beit Shemesh to get a passport issued for my adolescent son last week.…

By Samah Salaime January 2, 2018

Local Call editor Orly Noy accepts the Dror Prize from former Supreme Court Justice Dalia Dorner, Tel Aviv, December 1, 2017. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

‘Local Call’ wins award for social change

Local Call wins NIS 25,000 for its persistent coverage of the joint feminist struggle between Arab and Jewish women against gender violence. By +972 Magazine Hebrew-language site Local Call won the Dror Prize for social change, along with a NIS 25,000 cash prize, on Friday, for spotlighting the joint struggle between Jewish and Arab women…

By +972 Magazine December 1, 2017