American Politicos Teach Middle-Eastern Women How to Campaign

By Abigail Shaha
Nancy Bocskor (left) and Reem Qasem (right) 
As a journalist, Reem Qasem had a unique view of her hometown. Zarqa, Jordan20was in rough shape. There was not always reliable clean water, no safe playgrounds or parks for children, and development in genera l was lacking severely. Women like Reem had few rights. Society was strictly patriarchal, especially in Zarqa where a strong Bedouin tribal influence kept everything in check. 

But Reem didn’t see the situation like that. She saw the need for reform and no one stepping up. So she decided to. But she was going to need help—lots of help. As charismatic and reform-minded as she was, she still lived in an atmosphere that was often hostile to women wanting to get involved. And on top of that, she had never held a public office. How would she organize a campaign? How would she compete when the odds were  so stacked against her?                                                                                           

Fortunately, while Reem couldn’t answer those questions, Nancy Bocskor could. Bocskor works with a nonprofit called The Center for Liberty in the Middle East, CLIME for short, and runs programs for women wanting to enact change in their communities. 

“We’re developing The MENA Online Activism Institute, with an eight-lesson curriculum on how to become an activist paired with personal one-on-one mentoring through the mi racle of web conferencing on Skype,” Bocskor says. “It’s basically, ‘What do you need to do to develop a strategy and a message?’ In America, we’ve been doing things like this since seventh grade, but it’s very different in the Middle East. So=2 0we’re really teaching very basic skills like, What is a leader? How do you give a good speech? How do you develop a message?” 

And Bocskor would know all that. She’s been=2 0in the political consulting business since her first days out of college and now has over 20 years of experience. “I ran my first campaign in 2nd grade when I did second graders for Barry Goldwater,” she says. But now she had a new challenge—how to translate her experience into something that would help women living in a very different environment.

When Reem started attending CLIME training courses taught by Nancy, the two women faced a dilemma unique to the region. “Vote buying is a major challenge over there because so many people are so poor,” Bocskor says. “When you ask someone for their vote, they’ll say, What will you give me? And how do you know if that person has voted the way they said they would? Voters take a little snap shot of their ballot with their phone so they can get what the politician promised th em.” 

But Reem didn’t want to buy votes, nor could she afford to. And Bocskor had never dealt with this=2 0problem in American politics. After talking and brainstorming during the activism course, Reem developed a strategy. “Women are often seen as more ethical leaders,” says Bocskor. “So her core message was, ‘I will not buy your vote, nor will I be bought.’” 

Situations like this are the epitome of what MENA is trying to accomplish: help a woman whose opinion would normally be silenced become a voice for change. Their basic process is to help the woman find an issue she cares about, learn the basic skills she needs to become an activist for that issue, and develop a relationship with a mentor or find a mentor. 

Reem went on to win a seat in Jordan’s Parliament despite strong opposition from traditionalists—and her husband being killed in a freak car accident three days before the election. She is often held up as MENA’s poster child, but the program’s mission is much simpler. 

“The goal is that they take opportunities that open up, or create their own, to affect change in their community,” Bocskor says. “Maybe it’s running for office, maybe it’s a personal goal. We hope to whet their appetite.” 

And parliamentary candidates like Reem aren’t the only ones biting. “I think societies in the Middle East are full of excellent examples of women that could lead reform processes and become great potential leaders,” says Samer Libdeh, senior fellow at=2 0CLIME. “It is important that they get the first training with us or similar programs and make sure they are encouraged to go through this [training] experience.” 

Middle Eastern women face a long journey. In Kuwait, women couldn’t vote until 2006 and in some c ountries it’s still illegal for them to drive—but Bocskor reminds them it’s not impossible to affect the public discourse. “I remind them that women in the U.S. haven’t even been20voting for 100 years,” she says. “There is a path and sometimes it’s long, but here are some things [they] can do to reach out and find followers in [their] community.” 

And while Bocskor and MENA can’t reach every woman, that doesn’t mean they won’t try. “I open doors to people who’ve always had them slammed shut,” Bocskor says. “I’m hoping someday we can have this for anyone who wants to participate.” 

Abigail Shaha is assistant editor at Politics magazine. 

Contact Nancy Bocskor at:  www.NancyBocskor.com