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The Poetry of Women’s Resilience: International Women’s Day 2022

4 Apr, 2022 | Latest

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We celebrated International Women’s Day with Emily Zinkin, Liz Arif-Fear and the Alliance of Jewish Women and Their Organisations.

“Another world is not only possible,

she is on her way.

On a quiet day,

I can hear her breathing.”

Arundhati Roy

As part of our programming for International Women’s Day ’22, we gathered online with writers Liz Arif-Fear and Emily Zinkin to read the poetry of women’s resilience. We imagined a gender equal world, free of discrimination and stereotyping. A world where women, no matter where they are born, feel free to go after the things they believe in. In this new world, difference is valued and celebrated.

Over the course of the evening we heard the poetry that brings this new world forth; the poetry of women’s collective strength in the many faces of adversity. Through words, we stood together in our power. Our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this event possible.

Workshop facilitators: Emily Zinkin; Elizabeth Arif-Fear

Emily Zinkin is a resident of Moishe House London – Clapham, where she builds a vibrant Jewish community for and with young adults. She is also a graduate Human Rights Fellow of René Cassin. Her writing has appeared in many publications including The Phase, The Free Association, Femsplain and Lip Magazine. She has also previously been a writer and editor for The F Word.

Elizabeth Arif-Fear is a young British Muslim and award-winning activist and writer, passionate about protecting human rights, promoting peace and strengthening intercultural/interfaith cohesion. She is Founder and Director of Voice of Salam. In 2019 Elizabeth became a published poet with the release of her debut poetry collection “What If It Were You?: A Collection of Human Rights Poetry” which focuses on several key human rights themes, including the rights of women and girls (including FGM and child marriage), LGBT+ rights and refugee rights. The book was submitted for the 2019 People’s Book Prize (fiction).

If you would like to be involved in the women’s rights campaign, please email Rachel at rachel.vogler@renecassin.org

Re-imagining resilience: Celebrating women through poetry image

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Today, 10th December, is International Human Rights Day – the 76th anniversary of the signing the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in 1948. 

 

 

The Declaration was a reaction to the horrors of the Holocaust. So, for Jews, today has a particuar significance. 

Although rooted in response to atrocity, the Declaration was forward-looking and optimistic. It spoke for the majority of people who knew a better world was possible. The fact that it’s co-author , the French-Jewish lawyer Monsieur Rene Cassin, could draft such a hopeful document so soon after 26 members of his family were murdered by the Nazis is a testament to his humanity and the power of human rights in general. 

Today, as the organisation that works in Cassin’s name, we are determined to ensure his Declaration’s vision of human rights for all is fully realised. Central to that work is a focus on so called ‘socio-economic rights’ – rights to everyday essentials like food, housing and health. This vision was best articulated in Article 25 of the Declaration: 

‘Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control’.

Bolstering these rights would ensure everybody has access to the foundations on which to build a dignified, prosperous and meaningful life. They have been neglected for too long.

 

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