‘Maybe there is room for both of us?’
Published in The Australian Jewish News
September 12, 2019
When Shada Edress Mansour reflects on her childhood memories, she speaks with a warmth that mirrors the October days she and her family would visit the olive grove. There, they would pluck the plump purple fruits from the tree before sitting in the shade of its swaying boughs. They shared breakfast as a family, together with the other families from Taybe, an Arab city in central Israel.
“It was a very warm and happy childhood,” recalls Shada, now 32.
“In my culture, your connection is not only to your immediate family – but your uncles, aunts and cousins. We meet once or twice a week and have dinners together, about 60 of us.
“It was very special, always having a lot of people and a lot of friends around me,” she smiles.
But when Shada entered the world beyond Taybe, her confidence morphed into meekness.