This year, on International Women’s Day, we write our words within an exceptional reality.

A reality interrupted by the sound of sirens, overshadowed by a senseless war that casts its weight over our daily lives, our communities, and the future of the entire region.

In such circumstances, we cannot speak about International Women’s Day in the usual celebratory language. Instead, we must read this day from another perspective: a perspective of resilience, responsibility, and perseverance despite all conditions.

Women in our society today stand on the front lines in confronting the complex challenges our community is facing.

They are the mothers trying to protect their children from fear and anxiety during wartime. They are the working women who continue their jobs despite economic and social pressures. And they are the leaders and activists who ensure that our community’s voice remains present in the public sphere and in political and human rights discussions.

Yet war is not the only challenge we face.

Arab society in Israel has been living for years under the weight of a dangerous rise in violence and organized crime, which is claiming the lives of our sons and daughters and creating a constant sense of fear and insecurity.

Women therefore find themselves at the heart of a harsh equation:
between war from the outside and violence eroding society from within.

At the same time, women in our community cannot be discussed only through the lens of suffering.

Over the past decades, Palestinian women in Israel have achieved significant progress in education, employment, and community leadership. According to available data, Arab female students today constitute around 60 percent of all Arab students in universities and academic colleges.

In undergraduate programs, Arab female students represent approximately 58–60 percent of all Arab students.
In master’s programs, the percentage rises to about 63 percent.
At the doctoral level, Arab women make up roughly 50 percent of Arab PhD students.

Participation of Arab women in the labor market has also gradually increased in recent years. Today, the employment rate of Arab women stands at about 43 percent, despite ongoing economic gaps and structural discrimination that continue to limit their opportunities in many fields.

In local political life, the participation of Arab women in local authorities has also begun to rise gradually. Following the most recent local elections, the number of Arab women serving as members of local councils reached 23 — an important development compared to previous decades when women’s presence in decision-making positions was almost absent.

Yet these achievements, despite their importance, are not enough.

The real challenge today is to transform these educated and active women into a force capable of influencing decision-making and shaping the policies that affect the lives of our communities.

At the Mossawa Center, we clearly recognize this challenge and work to address it by supporting women’s leadership, strengthening women’s participation in local authorities, and building active women’s networks capable of creating influence.

Through expanding The Aspiring Women’s Network, and through our work with women members of local authorities and activists in civil society, we see how individual initiatives can grow into a collective force capable of creating meaningful change.

When women work together and share knowledge, experience, and support, they become a political and social force that cannot be ignored.

Our message on International Women’s Day is not only a message of appreciation for women. It is also a clear political message:

A just and democratic society cannot be built without the full participation of women in public life and without their meaningful presence in decision-making positions.

The challenges we face today — from wars, to violence and crime, to structural discrimination — require broader perspectives and wiser, more responsible voices in leading societies toward a more just and peaceful future.

Perhaps what most distinguishes the women of our community today is this deep determination to continue:

to continue working, initiating, and protecting society despite fear, exhaustion, and daily pressures.

This determination is not merely a reaction to a difficult reality. It is an expression of a deep belief that the future of our community is worth struggling for — through work, organization, partnership-building, and daily perseverance.

On International Women’s Day this year, we say clearly:

Women in our society are not only part of the story.

They are a central part of our ability to remain resilient,
our ability to create change,
and our ability to build a more just and dignified future for everyone.

Despite the war.
Despite the fear.
Despite all the challenges.

Women continue.

And with them, hope continues.