User:Julwish/sandbox-1

Mizrahi Feminism

Mizrahi (Oriental) Jews are descendants of Jews who lived in the Middle East. Another term for Mizrahi is Arab-Jew, although not everyone is in support of this term. The first time the question of women's rights and gender equality was brought up in Israel was in the mid 1970s. Mizrahi feminism first began to be seen by the world in the 1990s. Mizrahi feminism began with ideas about class, ethnicity, and the question of a Palestinian state. Specifically in Israel, which is predominantly dominated by Ashkenazi-European culture, Mizrahi women face an entirely unique set of challenges. Ashkenazi feminism began as a middle-class movement in the 1960s, made up of middle-class women who has just immigrated from Europe. Overtime, however, the elite, liberal Ashkenazi women took over the feminist movement, and used it as a platform to advocate politically. Many Ashkenazi feminist leaders had close ties with Labour Party Members of Knesset, which was troubling, for it allowed for power to be in specific people's hands. Overall, Ashkenazi feminism became something polarizing that did not represent the average Israeli woman. While white women of European descent were supported as women in Ashkenazi feminist movements, Mizrahi women were seen as more "traditional", and therefore less deserving of rights or attention. Inspired by the feminists of colors arising in America, who used feminism to see beyond not just gender, but class and race, the Mizrahi feminism movement began in the 1980s. They fought not just for female rights, but also for an end to classism and racism. They sought to help women of all disenfranchised groups. Many of the first Mizrahi feminists were Zionists, but still critical of the state of Israel. After 10 years of joint feminist conferences in Israel, in 1995 the first Mizrahi feminist conference took place. Currently, most Israeli feminist NGOs are funded by two main organizations: New Israel Fund and Women-to-Women US-Israel. In order to keep this funding, Mizrahi feminism is pretty quiet in the political realm of the situation. The NIF is able to control a lot of what Mizrahi feminists can and cannot do, for they are their primary source of funding. To this day, Mizrahi feminists have not received the attention they deserve. Not as privileged as Ashkenazim, more privileged than Palestinians, they find themselves in the forgotten middle.