The KAS - IWN Co-Existence Project is designed to take its participants through different stages of understanding that will result in empowerment and leadership. Beginning with self-awareness, and followed by a practical stage that will lead to self examination and understanding one’s personal identity, national identity and gender feminist identity. The women are also encouraged to examine the meaning of each of the above in their own personal terms. From participating in the various workshops, the participants will create their own space for personal examination and be given the opportunity to develop dialogue and understanding with her teammates.

The process allows Arab and Jewish women to examine their similarities and differences, deal with aspects of individual identity and social identity and link these experiences to the societies they come from. Finally, the women are encouraged to initiate joint activities, thus putting to practice the understanding they have gained throughout the program in fact practicing co-existence.

In this spirit, a unique leadership workshop, organized by IWN and KAS, recently opened in Nazareth with approximately 20 women participants, half Jewish and half Arab.

In an interview to YNET, Nurit Tsur, General Director of IWN, stressed the importance of this workshop in encouraging Arab and Jewish women to work together and participate in projects for the good of the community as well as for the advancement of women: “Our goal is to increase the representation of women who are involved in local and national politics. Women stand for more than 50% of the population but their representation in leading positions is minimal, setting the place of Israel at a very low level, after states such as Sudan and Pakistan for the representation of women in politics.

This workshop will concentrate on community leadership and I am full of hope that from here will also emerge leadership at the national level. Barack Obama also started as a community leader and today he is the president of the United States!”