In addition to reflecting the beauty and harshness of the desert, Bedouin women are remarkable for their resilience, strength, and deep sense of solidarity. They are also curious and cultivate the value of hospitality. Sister Cecilia Sierra tells us how she came to know them.
They are curious. On one occasion we visited a Bedouin village with a couple of pilgrims. We immediately fell in love with it. It was a demonstration of hospitality. They immediately offered us tea and coffee.
We asked them some questions about customs and traditions. With captivating smiles, the Bedouin women calmly answered even the most difficult like marriage and children. It was an intense and profound encounter.
We looked at their hand-embroidered clothes that reflect art and beauty. Their embroidery smells of sheep. One of them tells us that at first, the women of one of the villages were reluctant to embroider peace in Hebrew.
They had no problem embroidering the word in Arabic and English, but not in Hebrew. However, through conversation among themselves, they realized that embroidering the word in a language that for them represents domination made them somehow weavers of peace.
They weave while holding children in their arms, with the little ones crying, fighting, playing and sleeping around them. They milk sheep and goats and produce cheese, butter and bread every day. Imbued with this smell of their daily life, the embroideries are even more representative.
A few months ago, one of the embroideries was delivered to the Pope. Curiously, the embroidery was not washed, it retained the smell of the sheep, impregnated with sweat, children’s tears and the marks of the calloused and industrious hands of the Bedouin women.
Polygamy was once very common among the Bedouins. Today it has decreased and it is said that only 20-30% of Bedouin men practice polygamy. In a village we visited, two women had the same husband. They always come together to the embroidery course. Their relationship is cordial and friendly. They share the care of the children, the herding and the preparation of food, but each has her own house where they sleep and rest.
They help and support each other. One of them has a sick child and has to spend weeks in the hospital. The husband’s wife takes care of her partner’s children, prepares food and gets them ready for school. In the Bedouin society, Islamic law requires the husband to treat all wives equally in terms of housing, clothing and leisure time.
In the arid vastness of the desert and vulnerable to the political situation of the region, these women maintain their identity, their beauty and their resilience. A month or a few years are not enough to know the ancient cultures of the Bedouin communities.
The future of the Bedouin is uncertain, but also full of hope, strength and a strong sense of community and identity. Their dreams of a more dignified life reflect the universal desire to improve their own quality of life and that of their children. They are aspirations that, despite the constraints, reveal that the hope for a better life is universal.
Despite the volatile situation in the region, with their resilience, strength and strong sense of community and identity, these women have the power to contribute to a more just and peaceful society for themselves and for the new generations.
