Activist Eman Safadi promotes women’s rights in Israel’s conservative communities

Representation in media matters, because not only can it shape how people perceive others, but how people perceive themselves, and that’s why the remarkable career of journalist and feminist activist Eman Safadi has been so significant.

Growing up in a close-knit conservative religious minority Druze community in Yanuh in the north of Israel, Safadi said while women were not allowed to pursue many career paths, she always knew what she wanted to be when growing up.

“When I was seven years old, my mom asked what I wanted to be when I grew up and all I can remember now was me praying to be on TV and reading the news, while imitating reporters and anchors,” she said.

“And since then I knew the huge power of that small screen and that was something I wanted to do; nothing else really.”

As one of the first Druze journalists in Israel, Safadi is a voice for women and a transformational power.

She is a true trailblazer, but most importantly she is a representative of the Druze community.

“When I started this journey, I wanted to speak for women, to promote women’s rights and to combine journalism and advocacy,” she noted.

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“And after more than a decade in this industry, as a community we’re starting to see more and more modernisation and because of this we’re seeing a lot of change within the community.”

Safadi was born and raised in a Druze community in an esoteric, monotheistic religion which incorporates elements of all Abrahamic religions and several other philosophies. The Druze live in villages dotted across northern Israel, from the Mediterranean coast across the Galilee Valley and up to the Golan Heights.

In Israel, most Druze are citizens who hold Israeli passports, speak fluent Hebrew and the men do military service.

There are about 140 000 Druze, comprising 2% of the Israeli population, but there are at least 1.5 million Druze worldwide in the US, Canada, Australia, Germany and South America.

There are at least 16 Druze villages in Israel.

“We believe in our separate villages, we can maintain our unique identity and that is why you can never join the Druze community or marry outside the Druze community,” she said.

Religious Druze women not allowed to drive

Safadi said although their religion had equal rights for men and women, there were still a lot of limitations.

“The religious Druze women are not allowed to drive because the spiritual leaders want to protect women from accidents.

“This is why I wanted to strengthen and empower women in my society. This is something I take very seriously and this started with me educating myself first. Because I thought to start with myself as a woman, educate my family and women in my village, that women have to get equal rights.”

Like Gadeer Kamal-Mreeh, who was the first Druze woman to serve in Israel’s parliament and who initiated an effort to amend the Jewish nation state law, Safadi wants to become a representative for women in unique religious and ethnic groups in the Middle East.

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“Because I live in a conservative and patriarchal society, I knew a Druze woman being a journalist or entering politics was not a given,” she said.

“I had concerns that my community would not accept me, because when I was 26 years old the Israel Defence Force chose me to be the first Druze woman in the army, but the community leader refused.

“I didn’t give up because I knew I had to be a role model for women in the community to understand they can do it and that we can support each other.”

A decade ago, Safadi went to a college in Jerusalem and graduated with a degree in journalism and communication studies. She then worked as the Arab affairs correspondent of Israel Army Radio for more than five years.

One resident in Yunah, Hani Mahmoud, said Safadi had made a new path for Druze women and inspired an entire generation of Druze women.

– reitumetsem@citizen.co.za