RHR Attorney Quamar Mishirqi-Assad: Powerful Voice in Israeli Society
12 April 2014
Rabbi Nava Hefetz presents us with the profile of a groundbreaking woman in Israeli society: Attorney Quamar Mishirqi-Assad, Head of Rabbis for Human Rights Legal Department in the Occupied Territories.
By Rabbi Nava Hefetz
On Thursday evening Machaneh Yehuda market is crowded as Jerusalemites busily finish their shopping before Shabbat. A few meters from the market, in the Nachlaot neighborhood, some 30 young people gather in the living room of the home of two young people who decided they wanted to change reality. They’ve opened a kind of Moishe House that has earned the name Al Fiqra. The aim of this project is to bring together young Jews and Palestinians. The house is located on Gezer Street and many exciting events take place in the living room. There are Arabic classes aimed at different levels, shared meals and different Israeli and Palestinian figures are invited to every meeting with the goal of meeting the “other.” Here people do not meet to engage in political solutions; they meet to learn each other’s cultures.
An Evening with Attorney Quamar Mishirqi-Assad: Director of RHR’s Legal Department in the Occupied Territories
On Gezer Street, far from the bustling crowds of the market, a dinner is being held with Attorney Quamar Mishirqi-Assad, a groundbreaking leader in Israeli society. Attorney Quamar is the Director of the Legal Department at Rabbis for Human Rights. At Al-Fiqra, Quamar expounds an intelligent, level-headed and incisive discourse. Quamar is most certainly a pioneering women in her daily work; she doesn’t give up, not on her Palestinian identity and not on her rights as a citizen of Israel. Quamar exposes the young people to the harsh reality in the South Hebron Hills, from the constant harassment of Palestinian farmers by Jewish settlers, and on to the issues concerning land theft, water and electricity access, freedom of movement, and planning and construction in villages.
in full: http://rhr.org.il/eng/2014/04/rhr-attorney-quamar-mishirqi-assad-a-groundbreaking-voice-in-israeli-society/