Welcome to Israel, or as many people call it, the Holy Land.
But Israel is a land of many things.
It is a land of diverse geographical regions.
It is a land of beauty.
It is a land of war.
It is a land of rich culture and history.
But maybe most importantly, it is a land of religion.
Israel is inhabited by many different religious groups.
The Jews, Muslims, Christians, and Druze.
For centuries, these distinct groups of people have lived together, both peacefully and violently,
but nevertheless together in a country no bigger than the size of New Jersey.
Many unwarranted stereotypes have been attached to these people, sometimes based on religion
and heritage.
Israel is a country that many people assume is backwards.
But is it really?
One way to find out is by asking a particular group of people who are frequently stereotyped,
the women.
But first, it may be important to get a feel for what other people outside of the country
think in regards to how women in Israel are treated in today's world.
I mean, I just hear that they don't have as many rights, and I can know which region I'm
speaking on.
I can imagine that they don't really have any rights, and I'm sure there's no freedom
of speech or anything like that, so I'm sure that women are better off here, definitely.
I know they're treated like they have to be quiet and not speak out their opinions, and
I guess be really conservative and hide their bodies and stuff like that.
It seems like, you know, they're not really allowed to be people.
I know that there's a lot of fighting there surrounding religion.
Okay.
So.
Um, certainly not how they're treated here.
They have to stay covered, right?
Yeah.
I know that.
So let's get some facts straight.
The Jews make up 75.6 percent of the Israeli population, a clear majority.
Muslims consist of 16.9 percent.
Christians are a small 2 percent, and Druze make up just 1.7 percent of the Israeli population.
Although Israel is a small country, it would be very difficult to meet with women from
every city.
So instead, let's take a look inside one particular area that is full of mixed villages,
including Jews and Arabs of all faiths.
Welcome to Western Galilee.
First things first, we should knock out the stereotype that all women must be covered
up in headcloths and long skirts.
Sure, some of them are, but others feel perfectly fine with revealing their bodies as much as
any other American would.
The first group of women we meet along this journey are the Jews.
Both conservative and liberal, these women have much to say on how they are treated.
To be a religious Jew means living according to halacha, halacha being the world of law,
of basically defining the way in which you do things, and really regards everything we
do in our lives from saying a blessing before eating something to how we conduct business,
to everything.
So I consider myself a religious person who follows that halacha.
I'm not at all a religious person.
I mean, I do not follow religious rules.
This does not mean that I do not believe in God, but I do not follow the Jewish...
I do not follow any rules that come from the Jewish administration of religion.
And I'm quite a religious Jewish person.
I'm not very religious, but I'll light candles on Friday nights and I firmly believe in God,
etc., etc.
On the one hand, on the other hand, I believe in one God.
So I mean, I say that I'm Jewish, but it doesn't really matter.
I believe in the same God that he believes in.
I believe in one God.
Well, I was born in Denmark with a very Zionist conscious family.
My grandfather was the head of the Danish Jewish community.
My father was vice president.
My mother was the first woman in the Knesset of the community.
Not at all religious, I would say more or less that I grew up without religion.
What many people outside of Israel don't know is that most Jews, some say close to 90%,
are secular and non-religious.
Many of these Israeli citizens do not consider their country to be religious.
Islam is not just a religion, it's a people, and it's a people with a land.
I'm quite sure that the way I know America, America is much, much more religious than
Israel, for sure.
This is my experience.
The way I see Americans from the year that I spent there, almost everybody in America
has something to do with the church or with the synagogue.
It's just your way of life, and over here it's completely different, like most of the
people that I know never go to a synagogue, and there's almost nothing in our life that
has anything to do with religion.
The next group of women are the Muslims.
Some are very strict, while others are much more modern in their practices.
She has to do a call into her religion, and she has to pray, and she has to go to a
direct Yoga group, and I can see that they have a little problem in themselves anymore.
This way of life is so interesting, which is exciting.
Pretty much, particularly in Karaite.
But in the future, I will have to be...
...to be a part of the head, in Jalabiya.
That's what you need, but I'm not doing it.
We grew up...
...for four times, I didn't hear from my mother and father,
and they said, you have to be a part of the head, or a part of the head.
Four times. We lived like Jews.
Everyone is a part of what they want.
I believe in God and I pray.
But it's not difficult for me.
It's difficult for me to be a part of Jalabiya.
I'm a sheikh, I want to be part of it.
But I don't know when, and how.
But God willing.
I also learned not to understand myself in terms of...
...in terms of my life choices.
I do hear more about education.
Education is a wonderful family.
I don't do things that help them out of their own problems.
Also, because I try not to be a part of my education.
The people I live with are important to my family, my friends...
...the village, my whole family.
So I try to create my own freedom.
But I don't want to be a part of them, to be a part of my community.
Christian women do not necessarily define themselves...
...as being religious or non-religious.
They say they are simply Christian.
As I say, there isn't a religious Christian and non-religious Christian.
At least in the whole world, if you're Christian, you're Christian.
You go to church on Sundays, they teach you how to pray.
But it depends on how you choose to live your Christian life.
You choose to be more close to your community...
...and have all the rules and do all the things everyone else does.
Or you choose to be more close to your community.
It's not a tight one. You're not pressured to do things.
I like it. I like religion.
I like the religious way of life in a Christian.
I like it very much.
I think religion is a very important part of my life.
I think religion lets you have answers for all these questions...
...and live with them in a certain way.
And not be confused with all this way of life.
I choose religion.
Drew's society is not one that many people know about...
...because they belong to a secret religion.
It is a secret, but Drew's society is a very beautiful society.
What do you want to say about Drew's community?
By beautiful, I mean everything that includes...
...inside any society, from behavior to norms and rules.
Now I want to explain a few sentences in English...
...and then I want to tell you more about the Drew's community in Hebrew.
The Drew's community...
...we have a secret religion.
And we believe in reincarnation.
And we believe every person who is born as a Drew's...
...he stays as a Drew's...
...and we cannot accept anybody to come to the Drew's community.
Each of these women come from different backgrounds...
...that both defy and conform to modern stereotypes.
But with their different viewpoints...
...how do they define themselves and each other in the world today?
It's a country where you're looked at as what religion and ethnicity you're from.
This is the first thing that everyone who doesn't know you...
...who wants to make a co-intense will ask...
...and this is how you're first defined.
In Israel, the religion is a critical issue with the Jewish or Muslim.
Racism in Israel is based on Jewish or Muslim.
I think in Israel, in general, we all suffer from not knowing that much about the other.
Let's say I'm trying to make a co-intense...
...and I'm constantly thinking about whether to go to the Kenyan or something else.
Because I'm a religious person, I'm important.
That's what makes me so important.
If I had been a religious person before, I wouldn't have been.
But after that, it would start to become more difficult.
So what are we going to talk about today with the Jewish or Jewish people?
Because in every community there are many people.
And this is not a single issue that is related to Judaism or Christianity or Islam.
I'm a Muslim and there are many people who don't know me.
I'm not related to Islam at all.
Clearly, there are stereotypes against women and religion...
...not just from other countries, but within Israel itself.
But really, it depends on the individual...
...as to whether or not they see religion as a good or bad thing for society.
As a result, even though people may share the same religion...
...each individual has a different opinion on whether religion brings happiness and freedom or not.
First, take a look at the Jewish perspective.
I think there are stereotypes to probably everybody who are not true.
Certainly to Jewish women and certainly to religious Jewish women, let's say for sure.
That a lot of things are perceived as things that hold women down or hold women back.
Most of the time, I don't see it that way.
The Jewish way of treating the religious Jewish way of treating women is just...
...I do not accept it and I do not want it to be accepted in Israel.
A Jewish woman, I think from the religious point of view...
...you've got a very big place of respect for the mother in the home.
For the mother in the home, she's the mother, she's the queen of the home.
The husband, the mfarnese and whatever...
...but the mother is like, from her children and her husband, she's the queen.
The religion does discriminate.
I remember my two older boys, Bar Mitzvah, really offended me.
It was like, I'm the mother of the Bar Mitzvah boy...
...and I'm not allowed to come in where the whole thing is.
I sometimes don't like to call it limitations. There are defining moments.
Sometimes those things are defined differently than they are for men.
They do not care very much to show that we are one.
They want us to be separate.
Most of the time, I don't see it that way.
And I do not like this at all.
I'm more or less anti-religious because it's being forced upon people here.
I don't mind people being religious to whatever degree they want to do it.
As long as they leave me to do it to my degree, and that's not the case.
The Muslim community has been criticized all over the world for many reasons.
Most people believe religious Muslim women are not happy...
...because they feel these women are not given the same rights as men.
But is that how all Muslims, both religious and secular, see it?
It's clear that there are religious acts that they want to do.
And there are these acts that they want to do.
There is a religious act of self-pity.
It's against the law, against the law, against the law of life, and not against the law of choice.
Anyone can decide what they want to do.
If I want to be religious, I choose this law of life.
It will make me wear it, wear it, when to do it, when to do it.
And I feel it's something that will make me feel my own freedom.
A Muslim woman, first of all, her husband, can take four wives.
And she's just one of them, and she has no say in the matter whatsoever.
Second of all, she's just an object of... She's a slave.
In everything, from the beginning...
...even if she's a child, she has rights, and she has all sorts of things to do.
She has to do it, even with the law of the law, we have to do it.
The law of the person that comes with the law of the law, by the law of law...
...that's the law of the law, and she has to keep her true self.
Everything is fine.
And this is something that says that we don't love the law of the law of the law.
Islam is the one that starts to love the law of the law.
It has all sorts of things to do with life.
It has all sorts of rights to be heard. And it's more than a law of the law.
He doesn't believe that there will be a big world, and that there will be peace, and everything that happens in life.
It's a mess.
There is a soul in the soul.
Within the Christian faith, religion still sets borders on how people live their lives.
However, some see this in a negative way while others see the benefits.
Most of the times, but it's not fair to say that it's all, most of the times,
religions just limit your life in a non-positive way.
The open way of modern life, everything is open, everything.
You have to have some borders on how to feel, and I see religion even contribute for the good
to have some borders in your life.
I did see the limitation that other women are facing and decided that I will not even face them,
because I will just do what I want, and whenever I want it, career-wise, and everything else.
Maybe in my personality, I like to have borders, not everything is open or everything is a key mess.
I see it as a border, a good way, not in a bad way.
Every religion has its own limitations and the points of view on how women and everyone else
also should live.
Inside the secretive Druze society, women are not given the same opportunities as men,
but many Druze women have very positive outlooks on the future of their culture
and realize that education is key to the development of women.
Being a girl is itself a limit.
It limits you from anything that is outside the society.
It's not like the Druze boys in society.
On the basis of the Druze religion, the Druze women have much more rights than the Druze men in society.
But the Druze society is a patriarchal society.
Therefore, the Druze men and the men in the Druze community want to bring their rights to society.
A woman needs to stand behind a man.
A woman needs to follow her man.
But when it comes to society, it needs to show, no, a woman stands behind me and I decide for the whole thing.
The more the Druze village is far from Jewish societies, they are much more behind.
They have their own perspective.
Men is the first, women is the second one.
I can be mother, wife, part of the family and academic women, career women and success also there.
And don't forget that I'm a Druze woman.
Education is the main key.
I can say also that the main weapon for those girls to show themselves, to show that they are girls,
but they are also members, very important members in society.
There is no way to determine whether one viewpoint is better than the other.
Religious and non-religious people alike must learn to accept the other's lifestyle and become more open-minded.
Being Jewish gives people an advantage in the workplace over the Arabs.
That's the way racism works in Israel.
I think Jewish women have more opportunities than Arab women still.
Muslim or Druze or Christian people find it very, very, very difficult to find a job in Israel.
As an Arab woman, I'd see some limitation in workplaces, in way of life.
I feel that there are issues that I have to deal with in these issues.
These issues are written in the context of my education, in the context of the country,
and in the context of the country as an Arab woman.
I think there are people in the world like the Bedouins or some Arab women,
the less fortunate ones, that will live their life feeling sorry for themselves.
And quite rightly so, with the chip on their shoulder that they were given a bad deal.
Everyone has their own opinion on religion.
Many women are happy with their lives, while others are not.
And maybe that's the real question. Are these women happy?
Yeah, I would say I'm happy. I am.
I think so. I think so if I think of the woman around me.
You know, in my other work environment or friends or whatever, in general.
I don't think you can make a generalization like that.
There are women who accept it.
Are there people who are unhappy, always?
I would say I know a lot of happy people.
There are people who are happy. For example, I am happy.
I am happy.
I am very happy and very happy. I have tried many ways,
but this is the way that I am happy and very happy.
I am trying to be happy. I don't feel that I am happy.
When you come to know, you don't know what to think about.
That's it. You come to the top, to the bottom.
That's it. You are happy and happy. You are happy in life.
I should go to the place I am now.
I think that this is a good example of a spiritual freedom
that attracts me, that attracts me in my life, in my life,
in my society, in my country.
I think that this is a human being in some place.
I'm happy.
I'm happy.
Thank God.
I think the Christian women feel lucky.
Some are and some aren't. Some are having more harder time.
I think they are. I think where they are today, they are happy.
No one is 100% happy, but yeah, generally I'm not a sad person, yes.
You can't make it like a general saying, say, Druze women are happy.
People, Druze women, in general, are very happy and proud of their lives.
In any case, they are also receiving rights.
Where I come from, women are happy and they can depend on themselves.
They are free to go out for education, for work.
But the village I got married to is a village where women still need to stay at home.
They are not allowed to do some things, so you can't say all women are happy.
Religion aside, being a woman in Israel can be very challenging.
Even in today's society, there is no equality between men and women.
But there is hope for a future.
In America, there is no equality yet.
And the same goes to Israel too.
Women have to fight really for each and every very small step that we do.
Yes, there are some things I can't achieve, but is it because I'm in this country?
Maybe, yeah, probably even.
Israel is very much a man's world, you know, very military orientated.
Men do not live up their superior positions very easily.
No matter how much we want it to be a Western country, this is still the Middle East.
And a lot of the things, I mean, discrimination against women are much less in Israel
than in the neighboring countries.
But if you compare to the other countries that I lived in, Denmark, Switzerland, United States,
well, we're lacking behind.
A woman in the workplace are not treated equally? Absolutely not.
You can maybe get half the salary of a man doing the same job?
They are fellows. We work together.
They see if they are working. It's only for men.
And they see women like us or something.
They say, oh, it's not a woman's job.
It's a long process, but women are not anywhere near equal right now, as far as I can see.
But it is getting better.
Either that or I'm getting more used to it, I don't know.
Looking past stereotypes, disagreements and problems,
Israel is still a home for all of these people, a place where family and history unite.
Israel would be my home. That would be the only place in the world where I could say,
I belong there. I've got every right in the world to be there.
I think Israel is a very special country because Israel is one of the countries that believe in warming.
It is a beautiful country. Israel is a beautiful country.
It's 100% modern, growing, prosperous even country.
What I believe that in Israel, we have a good life.
I go home to Denmark every summer, and then I come home again when I come back here.
And a lot of people ask me why I stay here. And my answer is usually, well, my life is in Israel.
And there are lots of things I don't like, but when I take it as a whole, this is where I want to live.
The dream about Israel is fading. It's not what it used to be.
And people were much more optimistic. It was like, you know, we're building something, we're making something, we're getting there.
Now the mood is different. It's like, we've done everything we could and we're still not getting there.
Maybe we'll never get there. It's sad to see the difference in people's attitudes.
Now everybody says, okay, I live in Israel because that's where I was born, that's where I live.
Not because we're building something that's going to succeed.
I really don't know if I would have come to Israel if I had to make the decision now.
There are so many things to learn by opening one's mind to another culture.
Maybe Israel isn't as backwards as outsiders seem to think it is.
It is a country full of life, religion and promise.
Religion has its difficulties. Being a woman has its difficulties.
But woman to woman, no matter the differences, the future for them shines brightly in Israel.
I just think that, well, the woman I see around me and that I'm aware of, I've got a lot of respect for them
and I think that they're very creative and wonderful.
I really respect how they succeeded. It's not easy. I see how hard for them to succeed.
And being in a society where I think there's a high level of people caring about each other.
I want to have a society which is just and which cares for the children and for the weaker members.
Hello, I'm here. I'm a Jewish girl, but I can do what any other girl in other society can do.
Every woman should believe that she can do it and also she can be the first, not just the second.
And it's begun to believe in ourselves, to believe that I can do it.
I grew up with two brothers and we were very close.
I mean, two and a half years between my two brothers and I'm in the middle.
And I remember wanting to be a boy like them when we grew up, because it was so much easier.
I don't want to be a boy anymore, but I still think it's in many ways easier to be a man than a woman,
but it's much more interesting to be a woman.
And so it's been so much easier to be a man.
Thank you.
