Nabila Espanioly (, ) is a Palestinian-Israeli

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

social work Social work is an academic discipline and practice-based profession concerned with meeting the basic needs of individuals, families, groups, communities, and society as a whole to enhance their individual and collective well-being. Social wo ...

er,

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideology, ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social gender equality, equality of the sexes. Feminism holds the position that modern soci ...

, and

peace activist A peace movement is a social movement which seeks to achieve ideals such as the ending of a particular war (or wars) or minimizing inter-human violence in a particular place or situation. They are often linked to the goal of achieving world p ...

. She is the

founder Founder or Founders may refer to: Places *Founders Park, a stadium in South Carolina, formerly known as Carolina Stadium * Founders Park, a waterside park in Islamorada, Florida Arts, entertainment, and media * Founders (''Star Trek''), the ali ...

and director of the Al-Tufula Center in

Nazareth Nazareth is the largest Cities in Israel, city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. In its population was . Known as "the Arab capital of Israel", Nazareth serves as a cultural, political, religious, economic and ...

Early life and education

Espanioly grew up in a

communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

family in

. She attended a local school. She joined the Nazareth branch of the Movement of Democratic Women in Israel. Her family is

Palestinian Christian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

and has lived in Nazareth since the

16th century The 16th century began with the Julian calendar, Julian year 1501 (represented by the Roman numerals MDI) and ended with either the Julian or the Gregorian calendar, Gregorian year 1600 (MDC), depending on the reckoning used (the Gregorian calend ...

; a neighborhood in Nazareth is named for them. Espanioly became active in politics and joined

Hadash Hadash is a left-wing to far-left political coalition in Israel formed by the Israeli Communist Party and other leftist groups. History The party was formed on 15 March 1977 when the Rakah and Non-Partisans parliamentary group changed its ...

around the time she applied to the

University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...

to study

. Espanioly says she was initially rejected from the university. Asking why, she says one office said her marks were not high enough and another said she wasn't

fluent Fluency (also called volubility and eloquency) refers to continuity, smoothness, rate, and effort in speech production. It is also used to characterize language production, language ability or language proficiency. In speech language pathology ...

enough in

Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...

or English. She argued with them and was eventually accepted. Espanioly received a

B.A. A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...

in Social Work from the University of Haifa, and an

M.A. A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...

Psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

from the

University of Bamberg The University of Bamberg () in Bamberg, Germany, specializes in the humanities, cultural studies, social sciences, economics, and applied computer science. Campus The university is partly housed in historical buildings in Bamberg's Old Town. ...

Political activism

In 1975, Espanioly attended the first Nazareth General Assembly as a student representative. After Israel appropriated land around

Sakhnin Sakhnin (; or ''Sikhnin'') is a city in Israel's Northern District. It is located in the Lower Galilee, about east of Acre. Sakhnin was declared a city in 1995. In its population was , mostly Muslim with a sizable Christian minority. Geogra ...

, Espanioly felt it was an existential threat for Palestinians in Israel and joined a strike proposed by

Tawfiq Ziad Tawfiq Ziad (; ; 7 May 1929 – 5 July 1994), also romanized Tawfik Zayyad or Tawfeeq Ziad, was a Palestinian-Arab politician, poet, and activist who served in Israel's Knesset. He is best known for his advocacy on behalf of Palestinian citize ...

. It was the first Palestinian general strike since 1936. In the morning a group stood on street corners and asked people not to go to work, handing flowers to those who agreed. 95 percent of businesses in Nazareth closed for the day. Israel declared a curfew, sparking protests in which six Palestinians were killed. Espanioly later described this as "a defining moment" in her life, when Palestinians began "behaving as a national minority" rather than multiple disparate groups. Espanioly became active in the Israeli

women’s movement The feminist movement, also known as the women's movement, refers to a series of social movements and political campaigns for radical and liberal reforms on women's issues created by inequality between men and women. Such issues are women's l ...

during the

First Intifada The First Intifada (), also known as the First Palestinian Intifada, was a sustained series of Nonviolent resistance, non-violent protests, acts of civil disobedience, Riot, riots, and Terrorism, terrorist attacks carried out by Palestinians ...

. As a member of the Haifa Feminist Center and a well-known Palestinian-Israeli feminist, she appeared regularly on Israeli national news programs. She advocated for the formation of groups for Palestinian women within larger Israeli women's organizations, notably supporting the concept at Israeli feminist conferences in 1994 and 1995, while also emphasizing her view that

women A woman is an adult female human. Before adulthood, a female child or adolescent is referred to as a girl. Typically, women are of the female sex and inherit a pair of X chromosomes, one from each parent, and women with functional u ...

are "united by

heir Inheritance is the practice of receiving private property, titles, debts, entitlements, privileges, rights, and obligations upon the death of an individual. The rules of inheritance differ among societies and have changed over time. Offi ...

oppression." After the 2008-2009 Gaza War, Espanioly participated in

protest A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration, or remonstrance) is a public act of objection, disapproval or dissent against political advantage. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooperation in which numerous people cooperate ...

s led by the Israeli Communist Party and by

pacifists Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, and worked with local women's cells of the Party to organize

humanitarian aid Humanitarian aid is material and Humanitarian Logistics, logistic assistance, usually in the short-term, to people in need. Among the people in need are the homelessness, homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Th ...

for the

Palestinians Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenou ...

in the

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

. Espanioly ran an unsuccessful campaign for the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

as a member of

in 2013. She was also involved in the founding of the

Mossawa Center The Mossawa Center was established in 1997 as a civil society organization to promote equality for Arab citizens of Israel, Arab citizens in Israel. In Arabic, "mossawa" means "equality". The organization works to promote the social, economic, cult ...

, which later presented her an award for her activism.

Al-Tufula Center

Espanioly is the

and director of the Al-Tufula Center in Nazareth, which works to support

early childhood education Early childhood education (ECE), also known as nursery education, is a branch of Education sciences, education theory that relates to the teaching of children (formally and informally) from birth up to the age of eight. Traditionally, this is ...

for

Palestinian Palestinians () are an Arab ethnonational group native to the Levantine region of Palestine. *: "Palestine was part of the first wave of conquest following Muhammad's death in 632 CE; Jerusalem fell to the Caliph Umar in 638. The indigenous p ...

families. She founded the Center in the late 1980s.

References

Bibliography

* * *

External links

Al-Tufula Center
{{DEFAULTSORT:Espanioly, Nabila 1950s births Clinical psychologists Israeli social workers Hadash politicians University of Haifa alumni University of Bamberg alumni Living people Palestinian communists Israeli communists Palestinian feminists Israeli feminists Palestinian women activists Israeli women activists Israeli Arab Christians Palestinian Christians People from Nazareth Palestinian anti-war activists