This year’s Women’s Day is themed My Rights, Our Power. The strength of women is reflected among many aspects in the entrepreneurial talent and engagement by which they contribute to the income of their families to care for their children and loved ones and to the prosperity of their communities with the businesses and enterprises they sustain. In this issue, we present to you a few of the many entrepreneurs in Palestine and the conditions under which they operate − some of them thriving, others struggling to make ends meet − but all of them exhibiting sumud, the steadfastness that characterizes Palestinian women (and men) as they live their lives under occupation.
A great big Thank You goes to the sponsors of this issue, the Representative Office of Norway to the Palestinian Authority and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, UNESCO.
You will find articles authored by Signe Marie Breivik, senior adviser at the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation; Safa’ Madi, team leader of Generating Revenue Opportunities for Women and Youth in the West Bank−GROW Project; Anu Virtanen, whose numerous responsibilities include consultancy to the EU-funded Business Start-up Incubators Support (BSIS) program; Waad Alfarajah, a public relations and media officer in the Ministry of Telecom and Information Technology; Rania Elias, director of Yabous Cultural Centre; MIFTAH Palestinian civil society organization; Majdi Habash, communications coordinator for Handmade Palestine; Ghada Takruri, a program manager at MA’AN Development Center; Al-Muntada, an advocacy NGO that aims to combat violence against women; Amani Aruri, whose numerous responsibilities include being advocacy team leader at the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counselling (WCLAC); and last but not least Nesma Naseem, whose numerous responsibilities include working for the international project management unit at Al-Azhar University in Gaza and managing Kanaan Digital Record, a multi-disciplinary project to valorize Palestinian cultural assets.
Throughout this issue, you will find inspirational messages from a random selection of Palestinian entrepreneurs that includes Amal Masri, Doaa’ Wadi, Fatima Ashour, Lana Abu-Hijleh, Madees Khoury, Maysoun Odeh, Mona Taneeb, Nadeen Baboun, Rand Askalan, Razan Madhoon, Reem Abu Jaber, and Rita Asfour and Ronza Asfour.
Our book of the Month is Feast of Ashes: The Life and Art of David Ohannessian, which highlights the beautiful Armenian glazed tiles and pottery, authored by the artist’s granddaughter Sato Moughalian; What’s in Bloom introduces small Palestinian treasures; Reducing Waste recommends ways to reduce food waste; Where to Go introduces the Musa Afandi Interpretation Center, and TWiP Kitchen presents the recipe for a traditional Palestinian salad. Enjoy the listed events.
From the entire team at TWiP, we wish all readers a happy Women’s Day and a Happy Mother’s Day,
Sincerely,