Personal Info
- Country of residence: Palestine
Information
Rawda Bishara Atallah (1953 - 2013)
Dr. Rawda Bishara was born in the city of Nazareth, and graduated from the
Baptist School in the city of Nazareth in 1971. She studied at the Dental
Academy in Sofia and graduated in 1979. She is the sister of Dr. Azmi Bishara.
Among its most important achievements:
1- She has translated her vision
since she took over the management and leadership of the Arab Culture
Association in 2000
2- I have completed the scholarship
project through which I have provided hundreds of scholarships to undergraduate
students since 2007
3- The doctor was interested in
publishing what she called “Knowledge of the Homeland through Organization” and
trips to the roots on the anniversary of the Nakba
4- The doctor paid great attention
to language and literature, raising the slogan “My language is my identity”, as
she organized conferences and seminars on the crisis of teaching Arabic
5- The association also set up a
forum for architects and organized conferences and seminars on “Architecture
and Identity” within it.
6- The doctor's endeavors succeeded
in recruiting support and laying the foundations and architectural plan for
establishing the multi-purpose Arab Cultural Center in the city of Haifa.
7- Dr. Rawda played a central role
as a member of the Central Committee and the Political Bureau of the Assembly.
its turn
played dr. Kindergarten Atallah
played a pioneering social, national and cultural role since the early
eighties, as it participated in establishing and establishing the first nursery
for children in the Arab community in the year 1980, and also worked as the
director of the Dental Assistants School from 1985-1992.
The national political role of Dr.
Rawdat Atallah, through her membership in the Central Committee and the
Political Bureau of the National Democratic Assembly. She also held d. Rawda,
during the years 2000-2003 and 2005-2013, held the position of Director of the
Arab Culture Association, during which she implemented dozens of projects aimed
at preserving the national and cultural identity and the Arabic language and
spreading democratic thought.
her life
Dr. Rawda was distinguished by a
strong, charismatic and captivating personality, which influenced all those
around her, including family and comrades in national, civil and cultural work.
A character that is difficult to surround and describe its aspects and
richness. A generous, energetic personality who works and volunteers
tirelessly. The term “time of completion” was not included in her dictionary,
and she continued to work until the end of her days, despite her illness and
suffering from it. She was also a nurturing, loving, supportive and motivating
personality, especially for young people, creators and intellectuals, and a
firm personality in decision-making and organization.
concept of culture
The concept of culture adopted by
Dr. Rawda in her vision was a comprehensive modernist concept that expresses
the material, spiritual, and cognitive cultural heritage of the nation and
people, and contemporary creativity in confronting reality. Language was
considered the axis and center of culture, and it saw music, literature,
architecture, political thought, history, cinema and photography as all
creative and cognitive tools to express human identity and the meaning it gives
to their individual and collective existence. She saw that in the case of the
Palestinians at home, preserving the cultural identity means preserving the
collective existence, because the basis of the Arab identity is the cultural
unit, and its center is the language, and the basis of the Palestinian identity
is the political awareness of the cause and its history and the emotional
belonging to the people and the homeland.
Thought and action
Dr. Rawda was also distinguished for
her ability to translate the intellectual vision that she carried and believed
in through her political activity and institutional work. Her approach was
based on the idea that the process of shaping consciousness is practically a change
of reality, and that refining the individual’s national and national collective
identity, on the basis of human values and knowledge, is a condition for
building a modern society. On this basis, she established her project, and on
it also the convergence of her political thought and work with the cultural
one.
her achievements
Dr. Rawda has translated her vision,
since assuming the management and leadership of the Arab Culture Association in
the year 2000 and through her various responsibilities in the National
Democratic Assembly Party, into practical achievements and cultural,
educational, societal and political projects, putting most of her interest in
the young and young generation, along with the cultural elites of writers,
artists and academics. And researchers.
The various projects initiated by
Dr. Rawda were related to identity and the relationship between it and the
components of culture, and these projects were distinguished by being pioneers
and different from the mainstream. Among the most prominent projects led by the
doctor in recent years was the “Curriculum and Identity” projects, which,
through her research, revealed linguistic distortion and implications in
teaching curricula, and emphasized the importance of gaining cultural
independence.
It has also completed the
scholarship project, through which it has awarded, since 2007, hundreds of
scholarships to university students. It includes volunteer activities and
education on national identity, the historical narrative, and the Arab cultural
heritage. In addition to the youth empowerment project to build conscious young
leaders with critical thinking and the ability to bring about societal change
and confront racism.
The doctor was interested in
publishing what she called “Knowledge of the Homeland” by organizing “Journeys
to the Roots” on the anniversary of the Nakba, publishing a book and the
website “And the Roots Witness” that documents the stolen homeland with maps,
pictures and information, and organizing the summer camp “This is my country”that introduces fifty every year high school students in our country.
Dr. Rawda paid great attention to
language and literature, raising the slogan “My language is my identity”, as
she organized conferences and seminars on the crisis of teaching Arabic, and
courses for teachers and media professionals in the Arabic language, and she
took the initiative to draft and propose a law that imposes the use of the
Arabic language on signs in Arab towns. She also organized the “My Language, My
Identity” cultural and artistic festival in Acre to spread public awareness
about the status of the language and the dangers of Hebrewization. The
association has also been organizing the “Literary Salon” that hosted
Palestinian and Arab writers and creators and highlighted the productions of
the contemporary literary movement. In the last two years, it has organized a
“Good Guys” competition for high school students on Palestinian and Arabic
literature.
The association also set up a forum
for architects and organized conferences, seminars, and a session on
“Architecture and Identity,” which dealt with the issue of architecture in all
its aspects, and included communication with the Arab world through educational
trips to Arab countries such as Egypt and Jordan.
Dr. Rawda Atallah was also
interested in the arts. With music, where she held the “East Nights” band and
choir, with cinema, where she organized the Palestinian Film Festival, with
photography, where she organized the “Flashes” photography competition, and
with handicrafts, which she held to her exhibitions, as well as festivals
commemorating the Nakba.
In recent years, the doctor's
endeavors succeeded in mobilizing support and laying the foundations and
architectural plan for the establishment of the multi-purpose Arab Cultural
Center in the city of Haifa, which she considered her dream and a great
project. To benefit the Palestinian society at home, with its various sects and
affiliations, with its various facilities and national vision.
On the political level, Dr. Rawda
played a central role as a member of the Central Committee and the Political
Bureau of the assembly, and as the director and organizer of the “Identity”summer camps and responsible for the student movement and organizing the
party’s mass festivals. She also managed the electoral campaign in the 2009
parliamentary elections.
Listing the achievements of Dr.
Rawda Atallah requires a huge record in order to fulfill her right, and the
Arab Culture Association has taken upon itself, along with Dr. Rawda's comrades
in the party and her fans, to consolidate her legacy, perpetuate her memory,
and continue on her path. A comprehensive file to commemorate Dr. Rawda, Qadita
website.
political and cultural activity
She became prominent in political
activity during her work in the Central Committee and the Political Bureau of
the National Democratic Assembly Party, and also chaired in 2000-2003 the
administration of the Arab Culture Association, as well as between the years
2005-2013. She was also responsible for the student movement in Gathering for
years.
A library was opened in Haifa in
which it collected books for Arabic publications in the Arab world. The library
contained books on history, sociology, science and literature. Its name was
“Al-Dara”, which was a destination for Arab intellectuals, students and
researchers. It was also interested in encouraging culture and promoting
reading behavior through a competition in reading and poetic recitation, where
High school students gather to recite Arabic and Palestinian poetry and discuss
a book they read with the committee. The educational scholarship for university
students is also linked to reading, reading circles in universities, educational
trips and tours to Palestinian cities and villages, and thus the book has
always been at the fore.
her death
She passed away on December 29,
2013, and her funeral was held on December 30, 2013 in the Greek Orthodox
Church of St. George in Kafr Yasif, and then she was buried in Iqrit cemetery.
source
Achievements and Awards
- Years in active
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