Feminism and Multiculturalism: Two Common Foundations for a Vision and a Practice of Transformative Social Activities and Education in Israel

Abstract

The last few years have witnessed the development of a new direction in theoretical feminist thinking which focuses on the quality of the link between feminism and multiculturalism. The discussion of the subject includes several main approaches. The premise of one of these approaches is that the two ideologies share many aspects, especially in their analysis of both social oppression in our world and the transformational goals motivating the two ideologies. In the current paper we follow a radical-socialist definition of multiculturalism which the main aim of that ideology is endeavoring to empower discriminated minorities (whether ethnic, cultural, and racial minorities) and to eliminate gender discrimination. In addition we follow the radical and cultural definitions of feminism. In the base of those definitions we claim that there is a very strong bond between feminism and multiculturalism. This conclusion is very significant when discussing transformative education designed to advance weakened populations. The current paper focuses on a demonstration of several cases of feminist and multicultural practices in the Israeli fields of social activities and education. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]

Headnote

Abstract

The last few years have witnessed the development of a new direction in theoretical feminist thinking which focuses on the quality of the link between feminism and multiculturalism. The discussion of the subject includes several main approaches. The premise of one of these approaches is that the two ideologies share many aspects, especially in their analysis of both social oppression in our world and the transformational goals motivating the two ideologies.

In the current paper we follow a radical-socialist definition of multiculturalism which the main aim of that ideology is endeavoring to empower discriminated minorities (whether ethnic, cultural, and racial minorities) and to eliminate gender discrimination. In addition we follow the radical and cultural definitions of feminism. In the base of those definitions we claim that there is a very strong bond between feminism and multiculturalism. This conclusion is very significant when discussing transformative education designed to advance weakened populations.

The current paper focuses on a demonstration of several cases of feminist and multicultural practices in the Israeli fields of social activities and education.

Keywords: radical-socialist multiculturalism, Transformative education, Israeli oriental Jewish and Arab feminists

Introduction

Israeli society comprises many different social, ethnic, religious and national groups living side by side; in other words, it may be defined as a multicultural society. However, since its inception about sixty years ago, the State of Israel has never had a multicultural ideology, that is to say that on the practical level the state authorities have never related positively and in a dignified manner to cultural heterogeneousness, not making any effort to encourage a dignified inter-group dialogue through education and other means (Reingold, 2007). Not only don't the authorities encourage an inter-group dialogue, but some of the cultural groups which construct the Israeli society are in favor of cultural isolationism. In some cases they use the rhetoric of the particularistic multicultural school of minds in order to justify their isolationism.

Discussing the educational implementation of that cultural preference, some of the groups, such as the Orthodox Jewish population maintain a separate school system. Moreover, they object to any idea of introducing a core curriculum in their schools, and try to prevent "a potential impact of external cultures on their children" (Tamir, 1999, 89). Turning back from education to a feminist criticism of traditionalist cultural groups, we have to bear in mind that some parts of the Orthodox Jewish population and the Muslim society advocate non-egalitarian concepts, especially with regard to women's rights, in spite of the efforts of the state, which has attempted to modify some of the more extreme traditional practices of these communities by legislative means (e.g. polygamy among Muslims).

In this context there arises a need to discuss the link between multicultural ideology, desiring to allow cultural groups to preserve their traditions, and feminist ideology, aspiring to advance the idea of equality between the genders; the question is whether advocating multiculturalism would mean supporting the conservative approach of societies that hold women in a subservient status to that of men. Since the two ideologies are transformative, that is they both strive for a significant social change, it is imperative that in our analysis we examine the educational aspects of both of them as education is the main tool for promoting transformational ideologies.

In the last decade, the issue of the relationship between feminist theory and ideology, with their accompanying pedagogy, and multicultural educational approaches and ideologies has begun to gain momentum in the feminist discourse (For example: Gur- Zeev, 2005; Enslin, 2001; Ore, 2000). The momentum has begun to carry over into multicultural thinking as well, and lately this discourse has begun to penetrate Israeli educational and social thinking.

The discourse concerning the connection between the multicultural and the feminist paradigms is far from smooth; it is rather controversial and has been characterized by polemics among the proponents of three main approaches, which will be presented below. Advocated mainly by liberal feminist thinkers, the first approach claims that feminism and multiculturalism are contradictory, and there is a strained relationship between them. The most prominent thinker to support this claim was Susan Moller Okin. In 1997 she published an article entitled "Is multiculturalism bad for women?" Moller Okin's work was translated into Hebrew and was published in a feminist journal ("Noga"). Hence, it became a significant part of the Israeli discourse about feminism and multiculturalism.

In contrast to Moller-Okin and colleagues, some circles hold that feminism and multiculturalism are both contradictory and complementary at the same time. Heavily influenced by Afro-American feminists, the exponent of this view is prominent Israeli feminist Henriette Dahan- Kalev, one of the leaders of "oriental feminism" ('oriental' here is used for Israelis of Middle Eastern origin), who has written extensively about the unique repression suffered by oriental women in Israel and the silence concerning this problem in the local feminist discourse (Dahan- Kalev, 1999, 2005, etc.). She expresses the common ground shared by the premises of feminist and multicultural ideology. However, like Moller-Okin, she also claims that multiculturalism enables the perpetuation of the repression of women by chauvinist non-liberal minority groups under the guise of protecting their cultural heritage (Dahan- Kalev, 2004).

In addition to Dahan-Caleb, two of the leading researchers of multiculturalism and multicultural education in Israel, Yosi Yona and Yehuda Shenhav (2005), have asserted that "there is a connection" between multiculturalism and feminism, but not always" (ibid. 171). In their discussion about theoretical discourse traditions dealing with variety and multicultural societies, they also write about the feminist tradition. They present the historical development of the feminist dialectic describing various feminist currents, including the liberal, the socialist, the radical, the cultural and the post-modern trends. Following Moller-Okin's thinking, they assert that the feminist discourse negates multiculturalism since it "bestows legitimacy upon patriarchal and traditional cultures repressing women, systematically exploiting and discriminating against them" (ibid. 104). However, they also assert that feminism is in harmony with multiculturalism when dealing with "the liberating potential of liberal feminism for women subjected to rigid patriarchal authority' (ibid. 171). They also believe that in promoting multicultural ideology, a coalition of women and men could advance the feminist cause.

In their interesting article surveying the various feminist schools, Donna Martin, Linda Lucek and Silvia Fuentes express a similar position regarding the common ground and the divergences of the two ideologies, adding a similar survey of the multicultural schools of thought. This survey focuses on the feminist approach to the use of teaching technologies (e.g. e-learning).

The proponents of the third approach in the polemic assert that multiculturalism and feminism offer similar arguments to explain why women suffer from discrimination and injustice, presenting similar solutions for creating equality between the genders. They claim that women are actually a political and cultural minority group (like ethnic and racial groups) that elite of men has been repressing for many years (Abu-Bakker, 2002). Feminists of the radical and the cultural schools and multicultural theoreticians believe that the cultural heritage of the female group, similarly to the cultural heritage of other repressed cultural groups, deserve to be treated with dignity in the school curriculum and in the academic world. The upgrading of the various cultural groups in the educational systems will constitute a preliminary step in the rehabilitation of the public image and the self-image of the members of these groups, and is a necessary condition for truly achieving equal opportunity. This happens to be the main thesis of Lisa Fiol-Matta and Miriam Chamberlain's book (1994) too, and is essentially the thesis of the feminist school known as "Afro-American feminism".

In addition to feminist oriental women like Dana-Kalev, there are also Arab feminist women in Israel who have expressed similar ideas, out of similar discrimination. One of these women is Haula Abu Bakker (2002, 2007), who has written about the common struggle of minority cultural groups and women in the country. Abu Bakker claims that the division of the population into sectors leading to discrimination of minorities afflicts not only our society in general, but the Israeli-Palestinian society as well (men against women, Bedouins against Arabs in the North, etc.). The distinctions between the various schools of feminist thinking are familiar to the readers of this periodical, so they will not be discussed in this article since its authors are reckoned in the third school of thinking already described above; the authors here endeavor to present the meaning of pedagogical cooperation between the multicultural approach and the feminist approach.

Supporting the idea that feminism and multiculturalism arose from different contexts, but also share some common background (the struggle against mono-cultural repression), we will observe first of all that although Moller-Okin believes that feminism and multiculturalism (in one of its meanings) are contradictory, when looking at alternative definitions of multiculturalism, the two ideologies can certainly be reconciled. We will then present researcher Ido Landau's discussion of feminism and multiculturalism, who warns of the parallel difficulties and dangers to which the two ideologies are liable to lead. Mentioning the researcher's gender is significant for understanding his argumentation about the issues.

Having presented the discussion of the problems shared by both ideologies, we will review Peter McLaren's thesis, which holds that socialist feminist multiculturalism is the optimal and the only multicultural ideology that can suitably deal with the problems of societies pretending to be democratic.

However, in this article we will focus on demonstrating some successful educational efforts of feminist and multicultural pedagogues in Israel, hoping it will strengthen our claim that feminist and multicultural educators in Israel should work hand in hand toward a common goal.

"Is multiculturalism bad for women?"

Moller-Okin opens her article "Reflections on feminism and multiculturalism" (1998) with definitions and clarifications. She states that "the terms 'feminism' and 'multiculturalism' are complex and controversial concepts" (ibid, 9). She defines feminism as follows: "the belief that women should not be discriminated against because of their gender; recognition of their human dignity? and similarly to the rights enjoyed by men, the recognition of a woman's right to enjoy the opportunity to have a satisfying life in accordance with her free and deliberate choice" (ibid.)

Multiculturalism is discussed in the article in its "social, economic and political" context (ibid, 10). Moller-Okin emphasizes that what usually goes under the name of culture, which includes history, literature, philosophy, etc. "largely ignores various groups such as women, members of non-white racial groups, homosexuals ?or ethnic and religious groups" (ibid.). She states that "there is tension between feminism and multiculturalism" (ibid. 11), but immediately qualifies this statement adding that "multiculturalism also contains aspects that do not contradict feminist ideology and goals" (ibid.). Actually, her intention in this article is less pretentious than one might expect; at most, she expresses "doubts about the opinions of those who hold that there cannot be any conflict between the goals of feminism and multiculturalism" (ibid.), claiming that "it is highly probable that there will be a conflict between feminist demands and fulfillment of rights of cultural minorities" (ibid.)

Moller-Okin opposes the multicultural trend of encouraging minorities to adhere to their cultural traditions. She also opposes the liberal multicultural claim that legitimates various cultural groups retaining their cultural heritage, assuming that the individual needs "his own private culture" in order to develop self-esteem and independent thinking in order to choose for himself a suitable way of life (ibid.).

In her view, because of the aforementioned assumptions members of cultural groups that are essentially traditional and patriarchic are allowed to continue with their blatant chauvinistic behavior including humiliation and disparagement of women. Moller-Okin emphatically asserts that there are no grounds in liberal thinking for giving liberal rights to a cultural group if the group is not liberal. The group's traditional views and the contents of their culture should be checked first, especially in the private lives of the individuals - family life, which has not been given enough attention so far. She gives the example of "traditional discrimination inside the family" (ibid. 20) within the Ultra- Orthodox community of Israel, among Muslim immigrants in the United States, etc. From this point of view, multiculturalism is bad and harmful for women (Moller-Okin, 1997).

However, all that has been stated by Moller-Okin so far does not stand in contradiction to the rightful claim of multiculturalism that exclusion from textbooks of cultural material concerning minority groups must cease. In fact, since multiculturalism is a product of western, democratic and liberal culture, undoubtedly most adherents of multiculturalism are not likely to tolerate repression of women for the sake of cultural relativism, but as exponents of the democratic principle of protecting essential human liberties, they will prefer to partially limit the fulfillment of traditions for the sake of protecting women's rights.

Moller-Okin discusses the difficulties engendered by multiculturalism regarding the feminist struggle, and discusses the tension existing between the two dialectics. Ido Landau, on the other hand, states that there is a close similarity between the two ideological concepts, even when speaking about the dangers and difficulties facing these ideologies.

Feminism and multiculturalism - the similarity of dangers and difficulties

Landau (2003) says he "was prevented twice so far, once in North America and once in Israel, from teaching or tutoring a course in feminist philosophy" (ibid. 99) just because he is a man. His personal experience led him to discuss the parallelism that exists between the problems facing the feminist and the multicultural struggles. He claims that the main difficulty is posed by their deviation from their original ideological plan of action. In spite of the many deviations, this difficulty can be overcome. Accordingly, he calls for "effort to reduce the difficulties" (ibid. 94). First of all, Landau claims, the representatives and the spokesmen of ethnic minorities and multicultural thinkers, which also include feminist thinkers, pretend to represent the general will of the groups they represent, but in many cases "they ignore the differences among the groups" (ibid.). As an example, Landau mentions the complaints of Israeli oriental feminists such as Henriette Dahan- Kalev against the Israeli-European feminists, but he is not sure that Dahan- Kalev and colleagues really represent all oriental women or even all the oriental feminists in the country. An additional problem with the two traditional dialectics is that sometimes "members of a group tend to deny or ignore problematic characteristics of their group or society, explaining problematical and immoral behavior of the group as only marginal or as a justified reaction to evil perpetrated against them by others" (ibid, 95).

An additional problem Landau points out is the tendency of supporters of multiculturalism and feminism to exaggerate the evil behavior of individuals of other groups, even describing it as typical of the whole group they criticize. Landau warns against the danger of exponents of multiculturalism and feminism becoming overconservative in the future, leading to adherence to traditional opinions and customs of the cultural group without checking them in depth.

Similarly, Moller-Okin believes members of traditional ethnic minority groups have the same tendency.

While Landau discusses the dangers stemming from multicultural and feminist activities, Peter McLaren claims that a combination of the two movements is the only true remedy for the social difficulties and the repressive treatment of allegedly democratic societies.

Socialist and feminist multiculturalism

McLaren is among the more important thinkers in the field of critical pedagogy, belonging to the school of "liberating education" founded by Paolo Friere. In an article written in 1995, he claimed that the Euro-American elite ruling America (by controlling the awareness of the American population) continues to claim that America is governed by a democratic regime by appropriating multicultural ideology. He criticizes three different trends of multicultural ideology. He terms the first one 'conservative multiculturalism,' or 'cooperative multiculturalism.' He believes that its advocates consciously serve Eurocentric ideology, that is to say they are attempting to preserve the present racist and sexist social order and social discourse, fighting the goals of multiculturalism while pretending to concur with them.

McLaren accuses, too, the advocates of the second trend, 'liberal multiculturalism,' of serving Eurocentric ideology, but of doing so subconsciously; this approach, which claims that there is natural equality and identity among the various ethnic groups comprising American society (i.e. there are universal values in American society), might inhibit change in the present social order and its conceptual system.

McLaren takes issue also with the third trend, 'the multiculturalism of the liberal left,' claiming that, after all is said and done, this trend only helps preserve the present social order and the hegemony of the white race. This occurs because the present hegemony advocates the binary view of reality (i.e. black/white, good/bad, etc.). This outlook characterizes the system of western thought and language, helping create and preserve its social, cultural and hierarchic structure with its discrimination and repression.

Based on 'the politics of giving meaning' and 'the politics of multiculturalism,' McLaren's critical multicultural theory sets entirely different goals and practices. His main goal is the complete overhaul and radical transformation of the present social order, and the creation of a just democratic society in practice, not just in theory, by changing the way we think, changing our language and most importantly our pedagogy. McLaren also terms this critical multicultural approach as 'multiculturalism of struggle' (McLaren, 1992, 42), claiming it is founded in feminist critical pedagogy. The main responsibility for waging the struggle rests with teachers and other "cultural workers." These agents of change must go far beyond the concept of binary (dichotomist) diversity. They must lead in developing a new language (not literally), a new world of concepts, and new educational and cultural practices. In this new world of concepts and language, the various cultures constituting alternative values in the culture variant (and also in other conceptual variants) will not be presented as contradictory (although not as equal, similar, or consecutive), but as different and legitimate traditions of knowledge and ways of thinking coexisting side by side. Clearly, in the new just society that will emerge feminist and multicultural goals of equality for all and social solidarity will be fulfilled entirely.

In a later article (1997), McLaren again discusses revolutionary critical multiculturalism asserting that it is an important ideology in the struggle against capitalism, an impediment to the emergence of true and just democracy. The true democracy for which we must struggle is "socialist feminist democracy" according to McLaren (1997, 279); actually, "revolutionary multiculturalism is socialist-feminist multiculturalism" (ibid. 287).

Whether McLaren's struggle and vision are feasible or utopian, they testify to the fact that the main aspirations of feminism and multiculturalism are identical.

Sonia Nieto, a language literature and culture professor at the University of Massachusetts, claims that critical pedagogy and multicultural ideology "are mirror images of each other they work together as forms of resistance to dominant modes of schooling" (Nieto, 1999, 317), because "good education integrates theory with reflection and action, which is what Paolo Friere defines as praxis (p. 313). Nieto claims that the main problem of mono-cultural (ethnocentric) curricula is that they provide the students' only one point of view of the world which hides the tensions and the conflicts, but in order to become active citizens in a democratic society, the students must understand the complexity of the world and its many points of view.

Nieto's assertions about the bond existing between critical and multicultural pedagogy are correct also regarding the quality of the bond existing between feminist and multicultural pedagogy. It must be clarified that the bond is not only theoretical, but is also educationally practical. In the United States, members of the two ideological schools have cooperated in educational activities. For example, feminists have been the leaders in the multicultural struggle in American academic institutions (Reingold, 2000, 2004). Following, we will demonstrate that in Israel, as well, there are practical outcome and social activities that are initiated and supported by the ideologies of feminism and multiculturalism.

Feminists and multiculturalists go together in the praxis of social activities and education

Checking the ideals and the practical activities of "My Sister" (achoti) - an association of Oriental feminists - shows that feminism and multiculturalism are intertwined. Founded in 1999 by female social activists in conjunction with feminists this movement works for strengthening and enlightening Israeli women, and for the advancement of social, economic and cultural justice. In their book: To My Sister (2007) they express their status, their right to remember the repression they suffered and still bear, and offer an alternative, all from an Oriental feminist perspective. All the writers describe working in education from inside their own private world, and how it connects to the wider circle of daily life. In addition to this organization, there are others, such as "Trumah," the legal center for the prevention of discrimination in all forms and shapes, whose goal is to extend legal help in court to the country's weaker but forcibly silenced populations, such as Orientals, Arabs, Ethiopians and women who are systematically humiliated by the ruling apparatus due to fundamental identity components (factors) like gender, ethnicity or nationality. The "Trumah" center was founded with the understanding that the law has a crucial role to play in shaping the economic, political and cultural boundaries of a society as well as in bringing about social change.

The variety of feminist organization in Israel who combines between the feminist ideology and multicultural goals is huge. There are Arabic-women feminist organizations such as "Kayan", "Women against violence", or the lesbian Arabic-women feminist organization: "Asawat". There are religious feminist women organizations such as "Kolech", or the lesbian religious-women feminist organization: "Bat Kol". All together there are fifteen deferent non-profit organizations which are not dedicated only to promoting feminist goals but also to the aims of a discriminated cultural group in the Israeli society.

Some of the activities of the leading feminists in Israel, originating in the Oriental community, are the central activities of "the Oriental democratic rainbow" - an extraparliamentary political movement. The members of this association are mostly fighting for redressing social injustice concerning the issue of land ownership in the country, but they are also focusing on educational activities through the multicultural particular educational framework called "Kedma." The connection between the two areas covered by the association is elucidated by Ohayion (2006). Ohayion, a former teacher in one of the Kedma schools, and a feminist activist, states that the educational vision of the Kedma organization regarding their educational system is both feminist and multicultural. The context of the new discussion about the Kedma schools was the newest governmental educational policy declaration, known as Dovrat report3 (2005). The Dovrat committee pretense to represent an educational ideal, but actually the report concerns only the organizational and structural aspects of the educational system of the country. Ohayion claims that not only does Dovrat's discourse ignore the aspects regarding gender and the politics of gender in the teaching profession, but its very rhetoric is patriarchic, reinforcing rigid patriarchic and hierarchic structures that are nondemocratic and anti-cooperative.

Ohayion offers a feminist and multicultural educational vision. This includes a change in the status of teachers as women, changing the way we think to become critical and multicultural, a curriculum that exposes students to various narratives of the various religions, and to the various nationalities and ethnic groups in our society and outside our society. This proposal suggests eliminating the dichotomy between East and West; it also includes the gender discourse in the history, literature, arts, social studies and Jewish studies curricula. It includes the feminist narrative and the feminist interpretations of the various historical periods and of the various cultures. Such a curriculum will provide cultural balance by presenting a long chain of cultural heroes in traditional and modern Oriental history and literature, while exposing the students to as many cultures as possible. This kind of teaching will of course have implications for the self-image of the students and better motivation to learn. Although, Ohayion's vision of multiculturalfeminist schools and curriculums was new for some, that vision served as the theoretical basis for the educational praxis in the Tel-Aviv Kedma School which was established at 1994 and closed at 1999 after a bitter debate with mono-cultural politicians (Halevi, 2008).

Ohayion's vision is not the only one that one can find in the Israeli discourse about the pre-academic education, but we can't reveal yet any practical fruit besides the Tel-Aviv Kedma School. However, we can identify some multicultural-feminist educational praxis in the Israeli academy. This is for example the case in a teacher education college in southern Israel named- "Achva". The college can characterize, both, as a very diverse in its students' population and as multicultural in its educational and public sphere policy.

One of its most interesting components is "the gender study institute". The aims of the institute are researching issues of gender and promoting gender studies at schools and academy. However, examining the institute activities reveals that feminism and multiculturalism are combined. Since, approximately third of the students' population of the college are Israeli Palestinians, mainly Bedouins from the Negev (the southern part of Israel), one of the aims of the college is empowering that underprivileged national group in the Israeli society. The gender study institute tries to help in fulfilling that aspiration by deigning courses and workshops which deals with multiculturalism and feminism (Gilad, 2007). The premise is that empowering the future teachers in the Bedouin sector will lead them to become agents of change and cultural workers (Freire, 1998; Giroux, 1992), in their society. Since, most of those students (future teachers) are female, and since those Bedouin female are discriminated in the Israeli society, according their national and gender affiliation, there is a need for multicultural and feminist teacher education.

The instructors of such courses and workshops are lecturers in the college who are members of the gender study institute. During the last two academic years such educational frameworks have been instructed, once by a Bedouin female, once by a Bedouin male and once by a Jewish male (Gilad, 2007).

Another example for the assimilation of the concept of the coordination between the goals of the feminist ideology and multiculturalism can be found in the curriculum of NCJW Women and Gender Studies Program at Tel-Aviv University. The curriculum is focused on the "issues of the status and the roles of women and other national, ethnical, religious, recial, socio-economical and sexual minorities, and their representations in the culture" (Tel-Aviv University, 2008). A large part of the courses reflects cultural or multicultural feminist's attitudes. This case for example in Feminist Philosophy: Women's Thoughts: "The basic premise of feminist philosophy is that feminist struggle for equality requires re-evaluation of the basic structures of Western thought" (Tel-Aviv University, 2008).

Concluding discussion

The definition of the term 'multiculturalism' as an ideology acknowledging the right of every cultural group to fully retain their cultural heritage creates an enormous conflict between multiculturalism and the goals of feminism since unsupervised and unlimited preservation of traditions and cultural values enables patriarchal and chauvinistic cultures to maintain their repression of women unabated.

However, such a definition of multiculturalism, adopted by Moller-Okin and several other feminists, is not at all a widely accepted definition of the term, as Moller- Okin admits herself. Since the most important goal of multiculturalism is to liberate members of cultural minority groups (ethnic, gender, religious and others) from cultural, political and social repression (women are after all not only a gender, but also a cultural group) by granting a respectable status to their heritage in the school curriculum and national canon, the feminist ideal is in complete harmony with multiculturalism.

The two discourse traditions of the two movements developed during two different eras - feminism has been around for decades, if not already a century. While multiculturalism developed only during the last third of the 20th century. However, from the very beginning of the multicultural struggle, it was fully intertwined with the feminist cause. Although some of the feminists continue to assert that equality for women should be granted on an individual basis, and women should not be defined as a cultural minority group striving for collective rights, ignoring the importance of cultural production by women together with the struggle against stereotyped perceptions, discrimination and repression of the "other" undoubtedly serve women both as individuals and collectively.

The similarity of the development of the theories and the struggles of both feminism and multiculturalism is so great that Ido Landau identified similar problems characterizing the activities of two schools, such as ignoring or showing a forgiving attitude toward injustices committed by the cultural group to which the theoreticians belong, while exaggerating descriptions of injustices committed by single individuals of another cultural group, defining them as typical acts of the rival cultural group.

Radical multicultural theoretician Peter McLaren believes the two movements are essentially identical. He asserts that a successful multicultural struggle for a true democratic foundation (socialist-feminist) is contingent upon the obliteration of the binary perception of good vs. bad, and ours vs. theirs. This kind of perception is the basis of ethnocentric approaches and repression of "others."

The multicultural theoreticians' view holding that the approaches of the two movements are identical goes back to the inception of the multicultural movement. At the initial stage, the multicultural theoreticians discussed (debated) the necessity to consistently and diligently advance women and women's culture as a part of the cultural advancement of minority cultures in general. The debate did not involve the issue of the connection between feminism and multiculturalism. The commonality of the goals between the two movements was not only theoretical, but had practical implications: The establishment of various organizations with an affinity to multiculturalism, propelled by Israeli women, and the educational discourse and practice which follows both feminist and multicultural goals, testifies to the premise that feminism and multiculturalism are closely bound together.

Although initially the two movements acted independently from each other, there is no question that they can march forward shoulder to shoulder.

Footnote

3 http://www.tufi.org.uk/11176b%20-%20English%20Dovrat-ITU%20Standpoints.pdf

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