Rula and Sima, Jerusalem Center for Women (Palestine) and more art by Amanda Fawadleh

Both Rula and Sima are originally from cities that suffer greatly from the Israeli Occupation, which played a significant role in their emigration stories. In fact, Sima and Rula have many things in common, the two of them were born in Jerusalem. However, Sima is originally from Gaza. Both of them got married and left Palestine with their husbands. Moreover, both Sima and Rula are extremely ambitious self-made women, who studied and worked abroad. And finally, the two women always wanted to return to their homeland; Rula now lives in Palestine, whereas Sima is working towards becoming a licensed landscape architect in Canada, hoping one day to return to Palestine and utilize her experience towards building a free Palestine.