Ahoti - for Women in Israel

Ahoti - for Women in Israel is an Israeli feminist social movement rooted in Mizrahi feminism. Its work combines advocacy, community organizing, cultural activity, education and economic empowerment. The movement was established in 2000 by a group of Mizrahi feminist activists who argued that the mainstream feminist agenda in Israel had often been shaped by Ashkenazi, middle- and upper-class, academically oriented women based in central Israel. Ahoti does not reject issues such as equal pay, political representation or access to senior positions, but maintains that these concerns do not describe the full range of challenges facing women in Israel. It places greater emphasis on poverty, class, ethnic marginalization, insecure work, discrimination in public services, neighborhood inequality and the everyday economic pressures experienced by women from lower socio-economic backgrounds. Ahoti’s approach links gender equality with ethnic, class and cultural justice. It seeks to build solidarity among Jewish Mizrahi women, Arab women and other women whose experiences have been marginalized in public debate. Its activities have included participation in social protests, legal and public advocacy, educational programming, publishing, community events and support for women’s economic initiatives. The movement has also worked through coalitions, including the Shutfut partnership of women’s organizations, which brings together advocacy and social-justice groups such as Itach-Maaki Women Lawyers for Social Justice, Adva Center, Ruach Nashit and Kol Ha Isha. The organization’s public work has included support for the 2003 campaign led by Vicki Knafo and single mothers opposing reductions in child allowances. In 2008, Ahoti joined opposition to ethnically segregated schooling in Immanuel. Working with the Tmura Center, it supported legal action on behalf of parents and participated in protests outside the Ministry of Education. In 2014, it established the Mizrahi Feminist Madrasa, an educational framework offering courses and workshops based on Mizrahi feminist thought and social practice. Ahoti has also developed a substantial cultural and publishing dimension. In 2007, it published To My Sister, Mizrahi Feminist Politics, an anthology bringing together essays, speeches, personal accounts, literary writing and poetry on class, identity, memory and political alternatives. In 2012, it published From A to Z: A Dictionary of Peace by Women in Israel, a three-year project involving 60 Jewish Israeli and Arab women from South Tel Aviv, Rahat, Yehud and Kfar Kera. Contributions were translated between Hebrew and Arabic where appropriate, and the publication presented peace through the participants’ own personal and political perspectives. In 2009, Ahoti opened the Ahoti Fair Trade shop. The store was described as the first of its kind in the Middle East and operated in cooperation with 16 social organizations. It provided women with fair-wage employment and sold handicrafts made by more than 200 producers from diverse cultural communities. By creating direct routes to market, the shop was intended to reduce dependence on intermediaries and the promotional costs that can prevent small women-led producers from reaching customers. Ahoti House, located in South Tel Aviv’s Neve Sha'anan neighborhood, functions as the movement’s headquarters and as a cultural and community center. It has hosted an information center, counseling, exhibitions, lectures, workshops and courses. The site is also associated with the annual Black Night festival, organized in contrast to Tel Aviv’s municipal White Night festival. Black Night criticizes the cultural and economic inequalities that participants argue separate the city’s affluent, predominantly Ashkenazi districts from South Tel Aviv neighborhoods, which have long faced poverty, inadequate services, pollution, drug activity and prostitution. The festival has periodically attracted police intervention, notably in 2013. Ahoti’s leadership has included executive director Shula Keshet, former president Ronit Alkabetz, executive committee chair Oshri Hayon and head of projects Carmen Elmakias.

Ahoti – for Women in Israel emerged from debates within Israeli feminism about whose experiences were represented in mainstream advocacy. The movement was formally founded in 2000 by Mizrahi feminist activists including Henriette Dahan Kalev, Vicki Shiran, Neta Amar and Shula Keshet. Its founding perspective held that many established feminist organizations were led primarily by Ashkenazi women from middle- and upper-class backgrounds, often based in central Israel and connected to academic or professional institutions. Ahoti argued that this social location could cause the movement’s public agenda to underrepresent women dealing with poverty, low-paid work, ethnic discrimination, insecure housing, inadequate public services and the demands of everyday survival. The movement developed an explicitly Mizrahi feminist framework. Rather than treating gender as a single, universal category, Ahoti connected women’s experiences to ethnicity, class, geography, language, culture and economic position. It sought to strengthen solidarity among women from communities with limited political and economic power, including Mizrahi Jewish women and Arab women. Its program combined social advocacy with cultural production, education and practical economic initiatives. One of Ahoti’s early public interventions was its support for the 2003 struggle led by Vicki Knafo and single mothers against cuts to child allowances. The campaign reflected Ahoti’s focus on welfare policy and the material conditions of low-income women. In 2008, the movement became involved in the controversy over ethnically segregated schooling in Immanuel. In cooperation with the Tmura Center, it supported legal proceedings on behalf of parents concerning the alleged violation of laws requiring equal use of public facilities. Ahoti also participated in demonstrations outside the Ministry of Education and pursued an appeal to the High Court of Justice. Publishing became another important part of the movement’s work. In 2007, Ahoti issued To My Sister, Mizrahi Feminist Politics, a collection that brought together political essays, speeches, personal testimony, prose and poetry. The volume explored class, identity, memory and possible alternatives in Mizrahi feminist thought. In 2012, the movement published From A to Z: A Dictionary of Peace by Women in Israel. The book resulted from a three-year project involving 60 Jewish Israeli and Arab women from South Tel Aviv, Rahat, Yehud and Kfar Kera. Participants contributed their own reflections on peace, and the material was translated between Hebrew and Arabic where necessary. Ahoti expanded its economic-empowerment work in 2009 by opening the Ahoti Fair Trade shop. It operated with 16 social organizations and sold handicrafts made by more than 200 producers from different cultural communities. The shop employed women on fair-wage terms and helped producers reach consumers without bearing the full costs of intermediaries, advertising and market access. Examples of participating initiatives included Ahta in Kiryat Gat and Women Brewing a Business from Jerusalem. The movement’s headquarters, Ahoti House, was established in the Neve Sha'anan neighborhood of South Tel Aviv. It functions both as an organizational base and as a public cultural and community center. Its activities have included information services, multidisciplinary counseling, art exhibitions, lectures, workshops, courses and other events for local residents and the wider public. Ahoti House also hosts the annual Black Night festival. The event is framed as a response to Tel Aviv’s White Night festival and challenges the idea that the city’s cultural identity is adequately represented by its more affluent, predominantly Ashkenazi areas. Ahoti and allied neighborhood representatives have argued that South Tel Aviv residents bear the social and environmental costs of municipal inequality, including poverty, pollution, drug activity and prostitution, while receiving less cultural recognition and investment. Black Night events have sometimes drawn police intervention, especially in 2013. In 2014, Ahoti founded the Mizrahi Feminist Madrasa, an educational program offering courses and workshops. The movement has also participated in the Shutfut Coalition, a partnership of women’s organizations working on equality, justice, lobbying and advocacy. Its known leadership has included executive director Shula Keshet, president Ronit Alkabetz until her death in 2016, executive committee chair Oshri Hayon and head of projects Carmen Elmakias. Other associated figures have included Smadar Lavie, Flora Sasson, Esther Eillam, Henriette Dahan Kalev and Pnina Motzafi-Haller.

• 2014

  Mizrahi Feminist Madrasa is founded

  [1]Ahoti – for Women in Israelen.wikipedia.org

  Ahoti establishes an educational program of courses and workshops.

• 2012

  Publication of From A to Z

  [1]Ahoti – for Women in Israelen.wikipedia.org

  Ahoti publishes a multilingual peace anthology created by Jewish Israeli and Arab women.

• 2009

  Ahoti Fair Trade shop opens

  [1]Ahoti – for Women in Israelen.wikipedia.org

  The movement launches a retail and economic-empowerment initiative for women producers and social organizations.

• 2007

  Publication of To My Sister

  [1]Ahoti – for Women in Israelen.wikipedia.org

  Ahoti publishes an anthology of Mizrahi feminist writing and political reflection.

• 2003

  Support for single mothers’ welfare campaign

  [1]Ahoti – for Women in Israelen.wikipedia.org

  Ahoti participates in opposition to cuts in child allowances alongside Vicki Knafo and single mothers.

• 2000

  Ahoti is formally founded

  [1]Ahoti – for Women in Israelen.wikipedia.org

  Mizrahi feminist activists establish Ahoti to promote economic, social and cultural justice for women in Israel.

A grassroots, intersectional feminist movement that connects gender equality with Mizrahi identity, class justice, economic empowerment, cultural recognition and neighborhood-level organizing.

• Fair-trade retail and economic empowerment · 2009

  Ahoti Fair Trade shop

  Opened in 2009, the Ahoti Fair Trade shop connects consumers with handicrafts made by more than 200 women producers and social initiatives from across Israel. It was operated with 16 social organizations and sought to provide fair-wage employment and direct market access, reducing producers’ reliance on middlemen and costly advertising. The shop’s merchandise represented multiple cultural communities and included products associated with initiatives such as Ahta in Kiryat Gat and Women Brewing a Business from Jerusalem.

• Publication · 2007

  To My Sister, Mizrahi Feminist Politics

  This 2007 anthology collects essays, speeches, personal stories, prose and poetry related to Mizrahi feminism. Its themes include class, identity, memory and alternatives to dominant political and cultural frameworks.

• Publication and participatory cultural project · 2012

  From A to Z: A Dictionary of Peace by Women in Israel

  Published in 2012 after a three-year project, this work presents Jewish Israeli and Arab women’s personal perspectives on peace. Sixty women from South Tel Aviv, Rahat, Yehud and Kfar Kera contributed prose and poetry, with translation between Hebrew and Arabic where required.

• Education and training · 2014

  Mizrahi Feminist Madrasa

  Founded in 2014, the Mizrahi Feminist Madrasa provides courses and workshops intended to develop knowledge, dialogue and organizing around Mizrahi feminist ideas.

• Community and cultural center

  Ahoti House

  Ahoti House in Neve Sha'anan serves as the movement’s headquarters and as a community-facing venue. Its activities have included information services, counseling, exhibitions, lectures, workshops, courses and cultural events addressing feminism, social justice and local community concerns.

• 2008Immanuel school-segregation campaign

  Israel

  Ahoti joined the Tmura Center in legal advocacy and demonstrations concerning ethnically segregated schooling in Immanuel and alleged unequal use of public facilities.

  Source
• 2003Single mothers’ child-allowance campaign

  Israel

  Ahoti supported Vicki Knafo and single mothers protesting reductions in child stipends, bringing a Mizrahi feminist and low-income women’s perspective to a national welfare debate.

  Source
• Black Night festival

  Tel Aviv, Israel

  Ahoti House hosts an annual festival positioned as a counterpoint to Tel Aviv’s White Night. The event highlights the cultural, economic and environmental inequalities experienced by residents of South Tel Aviv and challenges the privileging of dominant urban cultural narratives.

  Source

• 2014

  Creation of the Mizrahi Feminist MadrasaStrategy

  Background

  Ahoti expanded its movement-building work beyond advocacy and cultural events into structured feminist education.

  Action taken

  It founded an educational program offering courses and workshops focused on Mizrahi feminism.

  Aftermath

  The program added an ongoing educational dimension to Ahoti’s organizing and community work; subsequent enrollment and financial results are not available.

  Source

• 2009

  Launch of the Ahoti Fair Trade shopStrategy

  Background

  Ahoti sought to turn feminist economic advocacy into a practical market-access initiative for women facing economic disadvantage.

  Action taken

  The movement opened a fair-trade retail shop in cooperation with 16 social organizations and stocked products from more than 200 women producers.

  Aftermath

  The shop became one of Ahoti’s principal economic-empowerment and public-facing initiatives; later operating details are not established by the available reference.

  Source

1. 1Ahoti – for Women in Israelen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Ahoti – for Women in Israel official websiteachoti.com