Following her marriage, Wafa Bwirat, 34, from the village Fureidis moved to the small village of Bwirat, nearby. She graduated high school with honors, and wanted to continue studying but had to contribute to the family’s household. In 2008 she worked at a large packing house through a subcontractor, who would skim off a substantial percent of her salary.
Union women of Power to the Workers and MAAN, as
Throughout the difficult period of Covid-19, the Women’s Empowerment group in Baqa al-Gharbia has continued its activities, led by its moderator, Hana Taufik. During the first lockdown, which lasted from mid-March to the end of May, Taufik held shorter meetings than usual through video links three times a week. Since June, ordinary meetings have resumed in the office or outdoors.
During the pandemic WAC-MAAN has taken many steps to support
The Coronavirus crisis has created a difficult challenge for the WAC-MAAN women’s sector, which organizes Arab women in Israel – especially women with low education levels – helping them to integrate within the labour market. Prior to the crisis, the rate of participation of Arab women in labour market in Israel was 35%, compared to 85% among Jewish women. The vast majority work in jobs such as services, agriculture and cleaning. Many are part time, wages are low, and employment rights are partial.
June 2020 QUARTER Written by Noa Dagoni & Erez Wagner.
April 2020 Newsletter April 2020 Newsletter #fightcovid-19 #defendworkersrights WAC MAAN
There was excitement all around. On July 23, 2018, 35 Arab women were handed their geriatric-care qualification certificates by the Academic School for Nursing at The Hillel Yaffe Medical Centre in Israel. The women had previously been unemployed or worked as cleaners or in agriculture. The training involved 72 hours of theory and 48 hours of practice. At the graduation ceremony, the women were joined by Dr Meyrav Ben-Natan, manager of the School for Nursing; Tamar Vechter, manager of the School’s enrichment programme; Ayat Cabhah of the staff; Muraad Amash, chair of Jisr A-Zarka council; Rasam Jubran, head of the village’s welfare committee; Silvia Zayed, public health nurse in Jisr; Wafa Tiara, manager of the women and work project at WAC-MAAN union; Amani Kadan of WAC-MAAN staff; and Michal Schwartz, women’s forum coordinator at WAC-MAAN.
<The deal reached by Israeli farmers with the Ministers of
