Updates from PKI
Project Kesher has been investing in Israel for 12 years now, training and supporting Russian-speaking women in Israel on their journey as activists and leaders in their communities. PKI is at the forefront of educating Russian-speaking immigrants across the country on issues of religion and state, women's status, and immigrant rights in Israel - all critical to making them part of Israeli civil society. Russian-speaking immigrants represent a large community in Israel that is very neglected but has the potential to be a huge voter base. PKI works in partnership with the New Israel Fund, National Council for Jewish Women, Israel Hofsheet, Masa, the Jewish Agency, Israel's Rape Crisis Centers, several municipalities, the Reform and Masorti Jewish movements, Limmud FSU, Moreshtenu, 1.5 Generation, and the Russian-speaking Women's Network in Israel.
PKI recently participated in series of events to mark 20 years since Resolution 1325 was adopted by the United Nations Security Council on equal women's representation in decision making processes and on government responsibility to protect women from violence. Additionally, PKI was one of many Israeli feminist organizations to take part in the series of events organized by Itach Maaki: Women Lawers for Civil Justice. Rabbi Olya Weinstein represented PKI at a panel by Itach Maaki in Russian about women in Israeli politics, journalism, and history alongside former MK Ksenia Svetlova, psychologist Ella Berchansky, and others. PKI was featured on Channel 9 in Israel and in the media about this panel conversation and the importance of the implementation of Resolution 1325.
A few weeks ago, the JCC Manhattan Israel Forum hosted UAE Ambassador to the UN, H.E. Lana Nusseibeh for a rare public conversation with Israel Policy Forum’s Michael Koplow. The event was both informational and inspirational, as it featured Nusseibeh, a young Arab woman with great passion and hope for peace and diplomacy. The Ambassador's thoughtful, measured, and inspirational answers gave a glimpse into a relationship that could be the foundation for future peaceful coalitions. Knowing that most Russian-speakers cannot imagine that it is possible to find any common ground in Middle East peace, the Project Kesher US and Israeli teams requested permission to translate the interview into Russian, add subtitles to the video recording of the interview and make it available in Russian, not only for Israelis but for the global Project Kesher network of Jewish leaders.
PKI has also underwritten the creation of Russian subtitles for the award-winning film, The Women's Balcony. We are envisioning a series of conversations about what it means to be a Jewish community, pluralism in Israel, and healthy family dynamics. PK will make the film available to the larger Russian community and if the first program is a success, we can imagine scaling this project to share films (never before translated into Russian) several times a year.