Ibdaa Cultural Center
About Ibdaa's Women's Committee
The Ibdaa Women's Committee (IWC) was formed in 2000 to foster women's participation in Ibdaa's activities and in the Palestinian refugee community. The IWC has since become one of Ibdaa's most active and productive programs. Run by women for women, IWC focuses on social, economic, political, and cultural development and empowerment.
Since Palestinians were uprooted from village life in 1948, the women have had to take on new and challenging roles in the family while the men searched for jobs outside the home. Palestinian women have to confront the continuous Israeli violence and repression, collapsing economy, and reinforced gender norms and discrimination within our society. They experience direct violence at checkpoints, in the streets of the camp, or in their homes, and many women have also lost husbands, siblings and children to Israeli bullets or jails. In the current climate, women have been forced to undertake many burdensome roles, among them income generators, educators, homemakers, and caretakers of children, the elderly, and the injured. As a result, many women find themselves under increasingly difficult and oppressive circumstances with fewer opportunities to struggle for change.
The IWC successfully organizes activities for women within our society's constraints while also pushing our community to accept women's rights, equality, and freedom. There are currently 100 active members of IWC who design and participate in programs and projects for women in the camp. They organize the Women's Tatriz Cooperative, the kindergarten and nursery, workshops and forums on health and human rights, computer courses, an annual summer camp for young women, mental health services for women and mothers, and special social events for women. Since its inception, Ibdaa and the IWC have made a tremendous impact on the Dheisheh community. Starting with the inclusion of girls in the dance troupe, Dheisheh women and girls have made more space for themselves: the sports program has opened its doors to girls and women, other kindergartens have followed Ibdaa's lead and integrated boys and girls, and several young women are independently studying abroad and participating in cultural exchanges in foreign countries.
Young Women's Summer Camp
Young women from the IWC organize an annual Young Women's Renaissance Camp. The camp brings together tens of girls from every area of the West Bank for a week of intensive human rights education, leadership capacity building, and creative expression. The camp is working to create a network of dynamic women leaders who are inspired and encouraged to initiate change in their communities.
Education and Lecture Series
The IWC organizes lectures and workshops on human rights, civil society, first aid, women's health, and other topics. The IWC also coordinates cultural exchanges. We sent two delegations of women to Sweden, arranged video conferences with women's groups from around the world, and hosted several women's delegations in Dheisheh. Through these exchanges, we are able to learn about different societies and social structures and share our own stories and visions for the future.