"Do not attempt to do a thing unless you are sure of yourself; but do not relinquish it simply because someone else is not sure of you" Stewart E. White

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Advocacy, Outreach and Education Project The need for the Advocacy, Outreach and Education Project lies in the fact that the issue of sexuality and, of course, sexual orientation is tabooed; it is not dealt with, recognized or even discussed openly in the Palestinian Society. This sensitive issue is intentionally oppressed and ignored. Even when it is being recognized, it is discussed in a derogative manner and is treated as a shameful deviation emphasized in “closets” and oppression of women's sexuality. For instance, any search of the Arabic language for adequate terminology to address the LGBTQI issues leads to a vacuum. Thus, the empowering political/ideological awareness and self affirmation gained by a vital public discourse is not available for many Palestinian gay women. Only one woman in Aswat is fully out of the closet. It is crucial to pave the way to other Palestinian gay women (and men) and make the community aware of and tolerant to these issues. Especially since most of the educators and service providers lack the tools and information to deal with questions relating to sexuality and homosexuality when it is brought up. This social construct named the "closet" prevents most Palestinian gay women from sharing their feelings, retrieving information or knowing about the existence of information about their "deviation", receiving help and support, developing a positive gender and sexual identity, relating to other LGBTQI women, and even consider living their sexuality. Most of the Arabic (and Jewish) public does not recognize, nor emphasize the connection between gender-related inequality and oppression such as violence against women and women's sexuality. Most of the Arab service providers, civil society and social change movements fail to see the link between rape, incest and patriarchal conscious domination and their effect on women's sexuality. Most of the women's organizations in the Arab society do not deal with women's sexuality, let alone lesbianism or gender blending, for fear of risking their legitimacy and their possibility to negotiate Arab women's status with the "male stream". Whereas different Jewish LGBTQI organizations are running advocacy and education programs in the Jewish community, none are performed in the Arab community. Until the formation of Aswat, Palestinian gay women - who are Israeli citizens and are fluent in Hebrew - sought information, political activity and ideological relevance within the Jewish LGBTQI community. However, the cultural context of the Jewish LGBTQI struggle was and still is "colorless", ignoring cultural differences, nationality and race and does not relate to the structure and imperatives of the Arab culture. The only project targeted to Palestinians LGBTQI is implemented by the Jerusalem Open House; unfortunately, the participants are mainly gay men. This 'color blindness' of the Jewish LGBTQI community in Israel is another target of Aswat's advocacy program. The reality of ongoing occupation and discrimination against Palestinian citizens of Israel and the increasing manifestations of violence and racism in the Israeli society have left no impact on the Jewish LGBTQI struggle. Many of the 70 members of the Palgay Forum, especially those located in the West Bank and Gaza Strip need to deal with curfews,  closures, sieges, checkpoints and other restrictions on their freedom of travel on a daily basis. In addition to the problems mentioned above, which affect Palestinian gay women more than Palestinian gay men, the existing considerations of physical, geographical and political wars are relevant to Palestinian LGBTQI without considerations of gender. We at ASWAT recognize the possibilities and power of cooperating with Jewish social change movements, especially gay rights groups and organizations in order to introduce multi- national/cultural layers to this struggle.  Aims To combat distortion of information, censorship, stereotypes and ignorance created by social taboos regarding women's sexuality and lesbianism by promoting alternative, resisting discourse. To develop cultural sensitive workshops and lectures in Arabic. To reach out to other Palestinian gay women struggling with closet, shame, undisclosed feelings and identities. To advocate our values and vision to interested groups and individuals such as educators, service providers, the media, community leaders and NGOs within the Palestinian community, to stimulate public debate regarding gender and sexuality and to provide references and address for those who need further support and information. To promote the visibility of Aswat and increase the presence of women's sexuality and lesbianism in the Arabic language and culture. To reach out to the Jewish community and contribute our unique gender and national experiential knowledge to the growing feminist/gay multicultural discourse, the minority perspectives towards LGBTQI and the human rights struggle. To form alliances with other international human rights/LGBTQI/feminist organization and especially with other Arab groups all over the world and cooperate in promoting our struggle on an international level. Activities In 2004-2005, the project implemented the following activities: Lectures and Workshops Aswat has developed a series of empowerment workshops on women’s sexuality, sexual identification and gender for the Palestinian community. During the reported period, Aswat held 30 workshops. The workshops, developed for the first time in Arabic rather then translated or adapted from Hebrew or English, aimed to raise awareness regarding homosexuality and lesbianism in relation to and in the light of gender oppression and national oppression. In addition, lectures were given in academic conferences, for interested NGOs and groups and in high schools.          Activities of note include:        - Meeting with International Solidarity Movement and Women against Violence         - Lecture at Salon Mazal, Tel Aviv and Haifa        - Participation in panel of activist women at Haifa University        - Participation in panel 'In Different Voice' about rebellious women movements at           the Law School Haifa University        - Lecture at the Arab Intellectual Center        - Lecture at the Lesbian and Gay Association        - Workshops at the Activism Festival        - Presentation at the Conference SexAcher(Another Sex), Queer Studies at          Tel Aviv University        - Speech about Aswat and occupation at the Gay Pride events in Jerusalem.   International Exposure Aswat gained international exposure by participating in conferences, panels and group meetings in the U.S., Canada, Spain, Germany and Bulgaria.          Of note:        - Lecture at the Berlin Lesbian Archive         - Lecture at Mills College, SF         - Lecture at the Social Work Department of the University of Toronto        - Workshop for the staff of Association of Women In Development (AWID)         - Lecture at the Law School of University of Toronto        - Lecture at the University of Guelph         - Lecture at Smith College, North Hampton        - Meeting with Assal-Arab Lesbians, NY         - Meeting with GLAS - Gay and Lesbian Arab Society        - Lecture at Vassar University         - Lecture at Princeton University   Educational Project for Service Providers Who work with youth. This activity's target group consists of teachers, counselors, youth group leaders, community centers workers and many others.         The aims of the activity were: To increase sensitivity and awareness regarding gay and lesbian youth. To deal with stereotypes regarding women's sexuality and sexual identity and present a  feminist perspectives to those issues. To stimulate an internal community debate regarding those silenced issues. To develop tools and strategies applicable with youth regarding women, gay and lesbian sexuality and gender issues. During the reported period 40 workshops were held and attended by approximately 300 participants. In addition, the workshop facilitators have disseminated further reading information papers about Aswat and further reading materials on lesbianism, formation of sexual orientation, effects of closet and queer approaches to sexuality in Arabic, English an Hebrew such as: "Re-Orienting Desire - The Gay International and the Arab World" by Joseph Massad, and "Compulsory Heterosexuality" by Adrienne Rich.   Media Outreaching So far, Aswat has given over 15 interviews in the international and local Media agencies (TV, Radio stations and Newspapers) both in Arabic, English and Hebrew.              Activities of note include:         - Interview for the Alternative Information Center magazine         - Interview in the Multi-Kulti Radio-Germany         - Interview for Lesbian and Gay Radio         - Participation in TV panel at Channel 2         - Interview in Radio Ashams-Nazareth         - Interview for the Berlin Blue Radio         - Interview with Alfatiha, Gay Muslim Newsletter, SF         - Interview for the Duke University Magazine by Karen Krahulik         - Phone interview with Brad Taylor from NYC Radio station         - Phone interview with a San Francisco local radio station         - Phone interview with Gay Radio X-tra in Canada.   In 2006, Aswat broadened this project to include Educational and Awareness Raising Workshops. This is a remarkable improvement for two reasons: on the one hand, the issues of women’s sexuality and lesbianism are explored from a feminist and Palestinian perspective; on the other hand, they are entirely planned and implemented by Arab women and conducted in Arabic. For us, this is an important leap because in this way Palestinian gay women can relate to their own needs and express their most intimate feelings, with a familiar terminology that relates to their cultural backgrounds. We can now successfully organize and conduct our own workshops, having the freedom and flexibility to answer the very needs of Palestinian gay women and educate the public about the importance of those needs and freedoms. During the first half of 2006 we delivered 4 lectures and 20 workshops for service providers in Israel and the Palestinian Territories. The project also includes media outreach at the local, national and international level, as the media has become increasingly interested in Aswat's ground-breaking work. Through these workshops Aswat: Outreached to 300 service providers all over the country and in the Palestinian Territories. Expanded its activity to target a wider variety of audiences in many Arab localities. Created alliances with organizations in the local community, raising awareness and creating public debate on women's sexuality and the connections between gender, sexuality and nationalism through media interviews and lectures to academics, NGOs and the general public. Such partnerships allow Aswat to play a key role in coordinating, planning and implementing workshops, hence, expanding its influence in changing the discourse on gay women rights. Began to run an independent Workshop Program, managed by Aswat's General Coordinator, which earns Aswat experience, expertise and recognition in the Palestinian society. The Project achieved international recognition as Aswat's coordinator conducted a series of lectures in public gatherings targeting LGBTQ organizations and other audiences in the US and Europe.