New Skills, Changing Status: The Bedouin Women’s Voice Reflected in the Lakiya Weaving Project, Negev

Finding a project to support Bedouin women and help them regain social status at a time when their society in general was sinking further into a second-class, or even third- or fourth-class, status of the ethnically marginalized was going to be a challenge. However, a group of middle-aged women in the village of Laqiya knew where they wanted to start. They wanted to build on the traditions and skills that they continued to cherish as proof of their productivity and worth. They wanted to earn money and have a voice. It was from here that the “Lakiya—Negev Weaving Project” started. This is a personal account of the development of the weaving project.