The Arab Women’s Solidarity Association International (AWSA) was founded in Egypt in 1982 by Nawal El Saadawi in order to promote Arab women’s active participation in social, economic, cultural, and political life. It was established by a group of 120 women who agreed that the struggle for the liberation of Arab people and freedom from economic, cultural and media domination cannot be separated from the liberation of Arab women. By 1985, AWSA International had 3,000 members and was granted consultative status with the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations as an Arab non-governmental organization (UN ECOSCO).

In North America, several AWSA chapters have existed. The two most active have been AWSA, Seattle and AWSA San Francisco. AWSA, Seattle’s first event was a benefit for the victims of the Hebron massacre (1994). Afterwards, AWSA members in Seattle organized numerous lectures and readings and developed coalition building projects with like-minded women groups such as a bridge-building event with African American women. AWSA’s Seattle chapter published a newsletter and organized a delegation of Arab women for the International Conference on Population and Development in Cairo (1994) and the International Conference on Women in Beijing (1995). In San Francisco, AWSA members have held events such as benefits for women victims of war, a protest against the racist portrayal of Arab women in Israeli arts, a workshop on racist media images of Arab women and men, and empowerment-based events for Arab women and their communities. AWSA SF has also co-sponsored an annual, ongoing Arab Film Festival and has published a paper entitled, “The Forgotton’ism: An Arab American Women’s Perspective on Zionism, Racism, and Sexism” that serves as a training guide for activists.