“The eye will always be underneath the eyebrow,” says an ancient Bedouin proverb. Aalia Abu Rabia from the Negev Bedouin village of Darijat interprets it to mean, “Women will always be inferior to men.”
Abu Rabia is one of the 24 strong and educated Bedouin women who are trying to change this opinion. She and her colleagues completed a six-month program last December that aims to provide women with both business management and public administration skills. The program is run by the Association of Community Centers and the Interior Ministry. More specifically, this course aims to train women to become members of executive boards in both the private and public sectors.