A number of friends of Al-Liqa’ academicians, clergy and educators attended a lecture which was delivered by Dr. Amal Jadou titled “The Role of Women in Dialogue”. The moderator of the panel was Dr. Geries S. Khoury.
Dr. Khoury in his introductory remarks emphasized the important role which the Palestinian women played and still playing in our social and political life and we have to encourage women to be active participant in the social, political, religious, educational and economical life and both ,men and women, have to work together in building pluralistic and democratic society.
Dr. Khoury mentioned also that Dr. Amal is one of al-Liqa friends and that she worked for some years in Al-Liqa and we are proud of her and of the social and political role which she plays in these days on national and international level .
In her presentation, Dr. Jadou spoke about the role of Palestinian women in dialogue whether it be political, national or religious. She emphasized the need for a stronger participation of women especially in the political spheres. Women represent half the population and decisions taken at the political level impact them; thus they need to be at the table to determine their future. At the level of religious dialogue women need to be more present and involved since nowadays, fundamental groups are attempting to control societies by a discourse that focuses on issues that relate to women, sexuality and the family, and where women voices are not heard. Palestinian women have done a good job in their lobbying towards equality and they were able to achieve the quota system in political elections; however much more needs to be done in terms of empowering women and recruiting them to enter politics and to be involved in religious dialogue. Dr. Amal said that women could play important role in interfaith dialogue and in a life together since she spends more time with her children and we shouldn’t forget her primary role in education.
Following the two lectures a question and answer session took place in a quiet and frank manner.
