CRI听力:Efforts to Enhance Understanding Empower Israeli Women

"Let's widen the circle, we gonna dance…"

At Kibbutz Evron in northern Israel, Yoney Skiba, an Ethiopian Israeli woman, is teaching a group of visitors to enjoy Ethiopian music and dance in a Gojo, a typical Ethiopian cottage which offers a taste of Ethiopian culture, history and food.

Skiba immigrated from Ethiopia to Israel when she was 8 years old.

She built the cottage 11 years ago, working only from the memories of her childhood, adorning it with colorful pots, photos and musical instruments from Ethiopia.

"Each person comes from their roots, their culture, and wherever they go in the world, they'll take that with them. In Israel we need more connections between people who come from many different lands and cultures. It's the right thing for me to share the culture, the colors and the stories of Ethiopian Jews."

Despite cultural struggles, many Ethiopian Jews have managed to integrate into Israeli society.

Yoney Skiba has managed to make a living by helping herself, and others, make the transition.

Visitors to her Gojo include those who want to learn about Ethiopia before travelling there, as well as people who are interested in Ethiopian Jewish culture.

"I don't want to leave to the government to do their job, for me, from the grassroots, I'm going to make the change. And the project empowers me as a woman. If you dream about something, you can make it happen."

While Skiba plots her course, another woman in northern Israel, Sima Oren, brings Jewish and Arab women together in her "Basket-weaving for Peace" initiative in the Old City of Akko.

"My dream is to connect Jewish and Arab women together by weaving. It is our belief that together with our unique aspects of culture and religion we can create peace, like the basket, the weaving together of different materials can make something whole."

Currently there are around 10 women working in the project, including local Arabs and new Jewish immigrants.

The baskets they make are sold as souvenirs in Akko.

"We empower each other. Most of the women are either old or not going out because of the tradition, so they can make their living with something they love to do."

Oren says she believes her project can help make peace between Jews and Arabs, as well as help new immigrants start their new lives.

She points to a recent Russian immigrant, an elderly lady, who is now working with her and studying Hebrew at the same time.

"She thanked me for the opportunity to study the language, to see the country. When I took her with me to workshops, for example with Arab kids, they don't speak Russian, I don't speak Russian, and I don't speak Arabic, but we are all together weaving the baskets with love. If there is love, we can speak with no words. When they do it, they are in such a place of being satisfied and enjoyed. At that moment we are all really one, so it's really amazing."

While officially a Jewish state, Israel is home to people originally from various countries around the world, meaning that regardless of their religious faith, the cultural differences add to a truly varied, but unique society.

For CRI, I'm Luo Bin.