Siham Chalabi
Posted on | March 9, 2009 | No Comments
Facilitator at Daliat El-Carmel Community Center
The Druze are conservative people who believe in one god. There are religious Druze and secular Druze. One of our principles is that wherever we are, in whatever country, we have to be loyal to that country. We are concerned not only with our own interests but with the interests of the country. We do everything “Israeli,” everything. We have people in senior positions and regular jobs in the government. Our children serve in the army. We are Arab Druze, but we have a good life with the Jews. We love our country.
As a leader of Druze women, what changes have you seen?
After 20 years, women feel they are the moving force in our village of Dalyat El-Carmel. The situation was really bad. Women didn’t have education, only four or five had high school diplomas. So I recruited some women and each week we would host a lecture or discussion. When the community center director asked, “Why don’t you have your activities at the center?” the whole village began to talk of what we could do. There was an explosion of activity. Women became involved in politics, and they began acting on behalf of their husbands and brothers. Today, for every man enrolled in school there are four women. We have a woman lawyer and woman engineer on the council, and women as departmental directors. We started a revolution.
The center offers courses for women, men, and teenagers. In my job, I begin with women who cannot read or write and extend to women completing their high school diplomas. We have courses in cosmetology, hairdressing, jewelry-making—and workshops for teachers and career officers in the military, courses for which they get credit.
My ultimate goal is to spark a revolution within women. Every woman should love herself and care for her own needs first. People who lack things in themselves cannot give to others, so every woman should study if she lacks education. Then, by forming groups of women who can speak and listen to each other, we can get things going for women. I love women very much. Wherever they are, I hope they do things for each other, for peace, and for their children.
Can a women’s revolution bring peace?
If we don’t work toward peace, it won’t come about. I’m an Arab, and I hated other Arabs. It was a lack of acquaintance—we never had a chance to meet. We were brought up to think Muslim Arabs were off limits to us. Then, suddenly, we had meetings with a few women every month from the surrounding villages, and I felt what it was like to sit with a Muslim woman.
One gathering grew to about 300 women and suddenly the Druze women and the Arab women began to argue. We were in shock, we didn’t know what to do. It was then I began working for peace at the local level. I hope one day we have an independent Palestinian state as neighbors and we can visit each other.
What makes you happy?
My children doing well in school, spending Saturdays at home, talking to my brothers and sisters, succeeding in a project, or organizing a successful even, and when a woman from the community comes to me and tells me what she needs—an English course or an opportunity to get her high school diploma—and being able to help her.
What is courage?
Courage means doing something that no one has done before. Standing up to strong and powerful people and defending what is yours is courage. Never giving up is courage.
Chalabi, a Druze Arab, facilitates Women’s Programs and Adult Education for the Community Center in Daliat El-Carmel. Beginning her activism 20 years ago, she brought the women of her conservative society together for empowerment programs. Soon they were invited into the Community Center. Today, the women outnumber the men four to one in obtaining high school diplomas and are represented on the local council by professionals.
