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Women creating peace: A joint social-economic venture of Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs |
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Women creating peace: A
joint social-economic venture of Israeli and Palestinian entrepreneurs
Julia Chaitin, Ph.D.
Israeli project co-director
The Negev Institute for
Strategies of Peace and Development
Joint Ventures for Peace brings together Palestinian and Israeli women
entrepreneurs to work as equal partners and create a unique discourse on peace.
Co-organized and run by The Negev Institute for Strategies of Peace and
Development – NISPED (www.nisped.org.il) in
This project takes a holistic approach to peace and
social-economic development by coupling inter-group dialogue, knowledge and
group cohesiveness with the advance of small and medium business development
and artistic initiatives. Our nearly 40 participants come from diverse
backgrounds and communities. The Palestinian women, Muslims and Christians,
have expertise in embroidery, ceramics, straw weaving, art, beauty and
hairdressing, Christmas gifts, social work, and soap making. The Jewish-Israeli
women are professionals in ceramics, clothes design, art, creative writing,
silver and goldsmith jewellery, graphic art, straw weaving, and the creation of
products from recycled paper.
In our monthly meetings, the women deepen their
understandings of one another by learning about each woman's life experiences,
as impacted by the social-economic context, as well as the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict. In addition, we support the women in business development, focusing
on such topics as pricing, product creation, and the creation of sustainable equal
business partnerships. We also have ongoing one-on-one meetings in both
The latest highlight of Joint Ventures for Peace
was a sale held at the Canadian ambassador's residence in Herzliya on December
4th. This event, which was
attended by hundreds of diplomats, businesswomen, artisans and the public at
large, showcased the joint products, reaching a wide audience of Israelis and
internationals.
As we
end this phase of the project, we are building on the lessons learned during
the first 7 months in order to develop our initiative into a process that will
have a much wider and deeper impact. Therefore, we are aiming to multiply the
number of women entrepreneur-peacemakers, who are committed to making a difference
"on the ground." Our next goals are to recruit an additional cohort
of Palestinian and Israeli women entrepreneurs, and to expand training and needed
support to help the women scale up, further develop their designs and
production, and help provide marketing outlets for their quality products. We will
also work on deepening the existing dialogue among the women and on
disseminating their visions of peace to larger and additional audiences – in
Israel/Palestine and abroad.
Our
next concrete steps include: promoting access to microfinance; developing a
website that will provide the women with a platform to display and market their
products and to share the women’s experiences and visions of peace; expansion
of marketing channels in North America and Europe; and the creation of a joint travelling art exhibit entitled: Cooking for
Peace Guided, in which each woman participant will create a sculpture designed
around a cooking pot.
Joint Ventures for Peace has already touched the lives of the participants and
their families and close friends, as well as the hundreds of people who attended
the event and sale at the Canadian ambassador's home. These Israeli and
Palestinian women refuse to give in to the violence, fear and hatred characteristic
of our region. They are true peacemakers who stand committed to peace and
social justice and reach out to all who wish to join them in this empowering
and necessary journey.
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