NAGHAM KARAJEH

Gaza- On July 17, the Literary Salon of Noon, an intellectual literary female group in Palestine, held its monthly meeting with the motto, “Women in Egyptian History” in the Gaza Strip in order to support a cultural edifice having strong roots for the next generations and consolidate women’s achievements in Palestinian society.

Dr. Mai Nayef, one of the founders of the salon, told us, “We have been talking about women’s pens since the salon was founded in 2002. The topic of our meeting was ‘Women in Egyptian History’ because there are feminists, who are interested in the medieval and modern ages as well as the Pharaonic period. During the meeting, we also talked about female doctors, politicians and women demanding freedom in Egypt. Both Palestinian and Egyptian women share challenges and difficulties. The biggest challenge for Palestinian women is the occupation while the biggest challenge faced by Egyptian women, who want to have education and participate in politics, is social pressure.”

Fathia Sarsour, a writer and researcher and the officer-in-charge of Salon, stated that the main aim of the salon is to reveal the creativity of women and said, “The Literary Salon of Noon holds monthly meetings and we discuss women’s achievements during the meetings. We have made efforts for 21 years in order to develop women’s creativity because we know that women’s creativity plays an important role in building local and global culture.”