Well, we didn't win any seats, but we won in other ways

​The Kol Hanashim Women's Party did not, alas, make it into the Knesset, but we certainly made waves. 

With a diverse list of women -- Jewish, Muslim and Christian; from North, Center and South; religious and non-religious, immigrants and veterans; young mothers, single women and grandmothers; able and disabled; straight and LGBT; women of all shapes and sizes -- we succeeded in doing what no other party in Israel has  ever done. We managed to bring together members of all communities and  backgrounds and prove that what unites us is greater than what divides us. Rather than continue to construct Israeli society on the basis of 'right-left' or 'Bibi-Not-Bibi', we came together to demonstrate that there are other social lines in Israeli society. There are those who believe in women's leadership and those who don't. And those with insight and vision realize that there is only one way to the future.

It's true that we got only 2777 votes, very far from what we needed to get into the Knesset. It is also true that we created our party only 87 days before the election and that this was a bit of a pipe dream to think that we could go from unknown to victory in such a short time. It is also true that we faced many cultural, social, and financial challenges -- some of which we anticipated and some of which we did not. More on this to come. 

However, all that said, I think we built a good basis for the future. We are just gettin' warmed up.

I would also add that the fact that many talking heads are currently noticing the absence of women in leadership, that there are articles about it in the mainstream media tells us that we are onto something. 

And an interesting tidbit: We actually received votes in over 1200 towns -- in 800 we received one vote. This tells me that our message got around. And also, that our supporters are people who often stand alone. I have more thoughts about this, about the loneliness of feminists in their communities. For a future blog post. 

Here are a few links to our English language media appearances, so you can learn more about us and what we are trying to do:

A video clip about us in TML News 

The Haaretz podcast about us with Dina Kraft 

Discussion about us in Foreign Policy magazine here and here

Article about us in Haaretz by Dina Kraft

Two blogs about us by Beth Cohen

A podcast about the party with feminist activist Magda Zenon of Cyprus

A clip from a parlour meeting I did in Zichron at Beth Cohen's house

An episode of The Promised Podcast about us

An article about us by Eetta Price Gibson in Plus 61J

An article I wrote in Lilith magazine

And from the campaign trail: here is something I recorded when we were in the Golan Heights  
Something i recorded in Otef Aza with Naama Shaked Levi
A clip after an event in Rishon Letzion 
And a little something I recorded the night of the elections with my friend and colleague Hanan Ablassi

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Stay tuned for more to come