The course was made possible through a collaboration between “Bees for Peace,” MAAN, and Sindyanna of Galilee Fair Trade Association. From May to June, the women were trained in biodynamic beekeeping, a sustainable approach that allows for beekeeping in harmony with nature, avoiding chemicals, sugar, antibiotics, and toxic substances. Honey collection is done in harmony with the bees, ensuring that their food sources are not depleted.
Yossi Oud, the founder of “Bees for Peace” who led the course, will continue to visit the new beekeepers and help them solve problems. A group of women chosen from the graduates will accompany Oud over the coming year to become mentors and instructors themselves, ensuring that the knowledge stays within the community and opening the door for more women to join.
“The most important task is to persevere and continue beekeeping after the course,” said Oud at the ceremony. “The women of ‘Bees for Peace’ keep bees without sugar, and lo and behold, their hives are full of honey!” Oud added, “If we learned not to fear a stinging insect but to cooperate with it, we turned the sting into sweetness. This principle is also important for humans. The world presents us with complex issues, but the ability to change our approach, and to maintain our health and that of nature, is our great challenge.”
Wafa Tayara, course coordinator and project manager of “Women and Work” at MAAN, explained the driving force of the organization: “We began the mission of integrating Arab women into the workforce 19 years ago when the percentage of working Arab women did not exceed 20%. Those who worked did so in the informal labor market, without pay slips, social rights, and subject to the whims of ‘the contractor’ who transported them to work. I know this because I was one of those women. Over the years, we have revolutionized women’s employment, and today women know how to demand their rights. We did not stop there; we also worked on training and empowering women. Here in Baqa al-Gharbiya, we have a special group of leading women. We have addressed various issues in society and the environment. We have trained over 30 women in hydroponic agriculture, and now 17 new beekeepers have joined the ‘Bees for Peace’ family.”
Hadas Lahav, CEO of Sindyanna, congratulated the attendees and said: “In the shocking reality we live in today, the natural tendency is to retreat and stop believing that things can be different. The fact that we succeed in meeting, creating something new, thinking about the environment, and learning from the bees how to work together—that is the answer to extremism and hatred. We will not allow dangerous forces, whether Hamas, Hezbollah, or Ben-Gvir’s gangs, to dictate our agenda and pull us backward. We are creating solidarity, concern for the future, for the younger generation, for nature, and for the environment. This is the agenda we believe in and act upon.”
On behalf of the graduates several women took the floor: Khiria Abu Zuheir, an environmentalist working with in the local council of Jatt; Nijmeh Kabaha, an educator and environmental specialist from the village of Bartaa; and Michel Ann, a therapist and social activist from the neighboring town of Kharish. They shared how beekeeping has changed their lives, providing calm and even healing. They all expressed hope that the project will inspire Arab and Jewish women to collaborate for a better future, “just as bees work together in brotherhood and harmony.”
