FIRST PERSON
A minority in a minority
ADITI BHADURI
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A conversation with Israeli Arab peace activist Khulood Badawi.
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As a woman from a conservative Arab background, it is not easy to be an activist.
Articulate: Khulood Badawi.
THE recent crisis in the Middle East — like all crises usually do — threw up tales of death, devastation and destruction. But there were also stories of life, resilience and humanity. One name that has come to symbolise the latter is Khulood Badawi. She is the new kid on the peace bloc. With her protests, demonstrations and activism, Khulood is carving a niche for herself as a minority within a minority — an Arab or "Palestinian" citizen of Israeli, and a woman at that.
Predictably, she has been invited to the upcoming seminar on India's Foreign Policy, to be held in Mumbai. I met Khulood earlier — in India during the World Social Forum, and then later in Israel during the Gaza withdrawal. She was already an activist, but perhaps not so well known. Arabs in Israeli affectionately called her "the student leader". Tall and slim, with curly dark hair, she looked more like a model than an activist; articulate and suave she spoke more like a diplomat.
Early days
I was born in Nazareth, one of six sisters and a brother. Nazareth is a small, ancient town in Northern Israel with a predominantly Arab population. My mother is a schoolteacher and my father is a driver. I was 10 when the first Intifadah erupted in the West Bank and Gaza. That has been till now the greatest influence in my life. I was leading a normal life and suddenly I began to hear words like "Palestinian", "Israeli Arab", "conflicts". I saw military shooting, massacres on TV. In school the history of my people — the Palestinian Arabs — was not taught, our identities were hidden. Israel, we were taught, is the only democracy in West Asia. At the same time, the state was occupying another people — the Palestinians.
An Arab in Israel
Arabs are a minority in Israel. Israel defines itself as a Jewish state. So we, the Arabs, are already outsiders. The state always reminds us that it is the only democracy in West Asia. But, as a Jewish state, its democracy is only for the Jews. Arabs cannot buy land in Israel, as Jews are forbidden to sell land to non-Jews. So we can only sell or buy land among the Arabs of Israel who are a minority, but whose population is growing. At the same time the land is not increasing. I see new Russian immigrants coming to Israel and they automatically have more rights than me, those rights denied to me though I have been living in this land since my birth.
I joined the University of Haifa in 1996. There I came across Jewish students and I saw the other side of the Jewish people. Soon I became the member of a Arab Students' Committee and in 1999 became its head. In 2001, I became the first woman to chair the Arab Students' Union all over Israel. In 2000-2002 I worked as the coordinator of The Working Group for Equality in Personal Status Issues. Christian and Muslim Arabs in Israel are guided by their religious laws and we wanted secular laws. In 2001 we managed to change the law so that alimony and child custody cases may be decided in the civil courts. In 2000 the second Intifadah in the West Bank and Gaza began. Arabs inside Israel also faced violence — the police killed 13 Arabs. We became objects of suspicion and hatred for the majority.
Activist phase
I met Nabila Spanioli, a Palestinian peace activist living in Nazareth, who worked with Jewish women peace activists. She invited me to meetings and I was surprised to see many Israeli Jewish peace activists there. It was the other side of Israel that I was meeting and I felt victimised that I had been denied the opportunity of knowing them till now. These were Israelis who believed in my dignity as a person and in my Palestinian identity. We may argue over some things but they see me as an equal, which is also a kind of empowerment for me.
After April 2001 Israeli attacks on the compound of Yasser Arafat — I organised demonstrations against the Israeli Government for which I was expelled from the University. So I became an assistant to an Arab member of Knesset — Isaam Mahoul and I started participating in the activities of the Women In Black (WIB) — an Israeli peace group formed by Jewish women.
With the Israeli peace camp
The WIB visited Gaza and the West Bank and I felt totally at home there. We organised a huge demonstration at Al Ram, the checkpoint through which one enters Ramallah. That touched me deeply. I saw old Jewish women confront armed Israeli soldiers, being beaten by these soldiers. These women were in the firing zone for the sake of Arabs — people who are deemed to be their enemies. They had not limited themselves to demonstrations in safe places like Tel Aviv or Haifa. They are abused, criticised, threatened, called traitors by their own community and yet they continue their work week after week. I found all the inspiration I needed in them.
As a woman from a conservative Arab background, it is not easy to be an activist. As a minority most Arabs in Israel feel that the majority should take the lead and do the work for us. Moreover, many Arabs feel that a woman's place is in the house.
The Women In Black gives me the power to tackle my community. I am often called a traitor by the Arabs for joining this group and for working and cooperating with Jewish women.
But we show the men — both Jewish and Arab — that just the way we women can be good wives, good mothers and good teachers, we can also be good leaders and good activists. Of course, I cannot copy the feminism of the West or the North. I have to have my own vision and my own feminism.
Some Arabs tell me that I am doing good work but at the same time not many of them will allow or encourage their daughters or wives to join me. Part of the reason is that we peace activists in Israel, and especially women peace activists, are unfortunately another minority inside the country. But the very fact that such a minority exists proves that another way is possible and can become a reality.
Challenges ahead
Much has to be done. The peace camp should know that the Alternative voice we raise is very important because it is the only voice that can keep both (Jews and Arabs) people optimistic and believing that both people can live together. The Peace camp should continue to be active against the Occupation and all its impact on the Palestinians and Israelis.
Personally my task and role is to prove to the people I live with (both Jews and Palestinians) in Palestine and Israel that the conflict we are living under can be solved easily by working together.
We need to start by acknowledging and respecting the other's existence. We must never give up, never stop because we know that as soon as the Palestinian problem is solved then all the problems in the middle east will be solved.
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