After nearly a decade of
living back in Canada my day to day as a writer and a professional means that I meet
lots (and I mean LOTS) of dynamic and insightful women. Few if any of them wants
to wade into politics even though their voices can, do and should matter. Those
who have seem to get drowned out in the shuffle. Why?
Then I realized it – I am
searching for my Canadian Shula.
Backtrack nearly twenty years
ago when I was a nascent starry-eyed university student foraying into the
Middle East and Israel through the back door when two “Shula’s” came into my
life. A newbie to the world of cultural
divides and politics in Israel I decided to immerse myself in the “other”
culture of the country and started to take Arabic studies out of the halls
of academia and into the streets to learn local dialects. I wanted to learn Arabic with students from
Gaza. There was only one way to do it – under the tutelage of one Shulamit
Katznelson at Ulpan Akiva. A trailblazer
in public health and education she rethought the social values of the
newborn Jewish state and founded an integrative language education system that
recognized that the “other” ie Arab or Palestinian was also part of what makes
Israel “us”. She sat in the second Knesset (Parliament) of Israel and committed
herself to a cultural mosaic of pluralism for Israel that included Jews Muslims
and Christians where every viewpoint had value in shaping the country’s future.
Shula fought for it and got it. Nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1996 she
lectured tirelessly and ran her schools for decades long before the official peace talks and
failed false starts of international brokerage. Her schools educated Druze,
Arabs, Palestinians and Jews from Israel and abroad with satellite sites in
Gaza and as far North as the Druze villages along the Syrian border. We lived, studied and ate together because how could you live side by side if you can’t
break bread? Her priority was to ensure women shattered the language barrier
because their voices and contributions needed to be heard and not marginalized.
She brought Arab, Druze and Palestinian women into her mini utopia at a time
when such things were unheard of. In me she saw the next generation of women
and put me on my way to study full time under her mentorship for nearly two
years.
Shulamit’s guidance landed me
in the office of my other Shula, who sadly left us two weeks ago quietly and
without much of a glance outside of Israel. Shulamit Aloni was the newly
appointed Minister of Education when I stumbled into a chair in front of her in the late summer of 1992. I met with her over the course of several months in
awe, this woman who as one of Israel’s first feminists fought for the
protection of women against domestic violence. This woman who was the key
figure in the formation of Meretz, a party that put peace and social change
first. This woman looked me in the eye and said with absolute clarity – “Never be afraid
to say what you think and to act on it.”
Shula fought her way through
the brutal political sphere of Israeli politics for decades guided by a vision
that both compassion and equality for the “other” was a non-negotiable tenant
for a vibrant society. She met with
Israelis and Palestinians with equal measures of respect and criticism.
Shulamit Aloni was guided by feminist principles and yes, Jewish values. She
felt that women needed to be more involved in politics to be the driving force
for legislation that would change how we shaped our society – from education to
communication, to talking peace and declaring that Israel could not play the
anti- Semitism card to hide its own failures. She passed away last month with her
son commemorating her life’s work as “radical grace”.
Both of them laid out
questions and challenges as to how Israel would define itself not just as a
Jewish state but as a society where there were critical questions regarding its
non-Jewish populations, religion and religious institutions within a democratic
state where “church” was not outrightly separate. They protected the status of women and
children within it from education for integration to educating in diversity. My
Shulas were deeply rooted in the cultural making and shaping of the modern
Israel while tied to their heritage of Jewish values as a landing point for dialogue
and action. Social justice and politics
were a result of a heady combination of feminism, activism and motherhood. Lovers
of people and the diversity of their voices, each had a vision of that the tapestry
of the modern Jewish state would be its inherent strength and not a homogenous
vision centered solely on the Jewish experience.
Where are my Shulas in
Canada? Rabble rousing and outspoken on the issues that really matter? Where
are the voices of innovation and change from the camp in society that both
raises children AND runs business, from mompreneurs to senior executives? Reva Seth
in her work MomShift maps out why these views matter and are important for the
shaping of our modern society. We are the consummate balancers – yet we don’t
yet own it fully in the political sphere. Yes we have different issues and
concerns here in Canada compared to Israel. But how and where are they being tabled? So I ask, why
is the female voice of conviction lost amongst our Canadian women politicians?
Is it because they won’t or because they can’t?
Is it because they are beholden
to party whip measures and caucuses that place their leaders front and centre
rather than ideas from the wealth of leadership within the ranks? In Israel a
party list system means that politicians vie to make their mark for themselves
and their party. Is it the first past the post system that doesn’t let a voice
shine through beyond your general likability and party principles? In Israel
the political media landscape is vociferous, critical and open to airing the
cacophony of voices and views of its 120 members of Knesset because its the
viewpoints of the debate that matters, not an evaluation of one’s auditory
skills, or critiques of beauty and aesthetic or from the blond ambitions who
pursue leadership. And Canadian women
MPs are not the only ones. Appropriately in an op-ed in today’s Guardian, Gaby Hinsliff
asks the question “Who would be a woman in politics?” with female MP’s from Europe to India facing rape
threats, chauvinism, groping and the like.
Canadian women politicians
are good at political housekeeping but have not yet had the opportunity to lead
with statements of vision and change. In the quest for power and the creation
of the party “brand” we have lost the potency of the individual opinions and
ideas that make a party’s pursuits valuable and engaged with the public
conscience. Women in particular have been placed as part of the face of the
party but are essentially voiceless. While the numbers of Canadian women in
politics is indeed rising, it’s not just about positions of power – it’s about
powerful voices with an understanding and clarity of what they want to achieve.
However they aren’t doing it in the House of Commons. Outside they are: Terri-Jean Bedford, Valerie Scott and Amy Lebovitch fighting for sex workers at
the level of the Supreme Court, or as mothers such as Mrs. Edwina Eddy who
fought for three decades to bring in EI legislation for families with
critically ill children.
Memorable statements
shouldn’t be about not “being your baby” or finding a “big girl voice”. We already
have one – but getting it out is a bigger challenge than it should be in 2014.
My Shulas would not have put up with it – neither should we.
