| Summary/Abstract |
A coalition of women from all walks of life was common in women’s activism at the beginning of the twentieth century. The recognition of the importance of the empowerment of women through autonomous, public activity was also shared among the women’s organisations that decided to cooperate in the political arena in Eretz Israel. Their collaboration indicates the importance they attached to the commitment to united action that was based on the acceptance of Zionist principles, on the one hand, and their aspiration to overcome what separated them, on the other. The women’s coalition overcame geographical distance and differences in class or political and social orientation, while challenging the old consensus and the boundaries of exclusion and inclusion prevailing in Zionist society. This article focuses on the collaboration between women’s organisations of labour Zionism and middle-class Zionism of various national affiliations, thus forming a transnational coalition in the build-up to statehood. Their claims, activities and modes of operation in the fields of politics and economics are analysed alongside the results and the effect of their efforts.
|