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Women’s Life under Occupation By Bassem Eid* Women’s
voices all over the world are still not
heard. Therefore the position of Palestinian women during the “Independent Intifada”
plays a difficult role in the midst of this situation, where their lives and
that of their loved ones are constantly at risk. The struggle of Palestinian
women and their involvement in the Palestinian uprising is dedicated to the
quest of justice and equality for their people. Palestinian women seek to
achieve respect of the Palestinian rights and to secure a dignified life for
themselves and their children. Since
the premeditated visit of the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to the
Al-Haram Al-Sharif compound in Women
hold a special position in Palestinian society as the backbone of the family.
They play a central role in the Palestinian society at the social,
educational, and economic levels. They are very involved in teaching their
children, taking care of the home, as well as many other fields, where women
hold jobs or assist with farming and other family owned businesses. However,
the suffering of the Palestinian women is part of the suffering of the whole society, their pivotal role in the society indicates that
such suffering has an enormous impact on all aspects of life. The latest
events have placed an enormous burden and undue psychological pressure on
Palestinian women. And the current Israeli aggressions, which harmed the life
of the entire Palestinian society, increased the agony and grief of these
women. More alarming is the fact that closures have
caused the death of innocent Palestinian women. An example is the case of the
53-year-old Nada Sa’ad Srouji, who died of a heart attack when occupation
troops were threatening her with their guns to stop her from crossing the
military checkpoint in Taybeh. Furthermore, as over 70% of the Palestinian
Population lives in rural areas, movement restriction prevented Palestinians
who require medical treatment from reaching the health care services. Thus,
sick or injured Palestinian women, like ten years old Such
Israeli policies are considered a gross violation of the International law
that stipulates for providing medical services in conflict situations.
Articles 16 and 17 of the Fourth Geneva Convention state that: ‘The
wounded and sick, as well as the infirm and expectant mothers shall be the
object of particular protection and respect’ and ‘The parties to the conflict
shall endeavor to conclude local agreements for the removal from besieged and
encircled areas, of wounded, sick, infirm and aged person, children and
maternity cases, and for the passage of the ministers of all religions,
medical personnel and medical equipment on their way to such areas.’ Furthermore,
many Palestinian mothers and grandmothers have not seen their children and
grand children for months or years, as the Israeli barriers prevent movement
and traveling between Palestinian controlled areas. They not only lost their
loved ones, but also all their belongings, including house, furniture,
jewelry which constitute the traditional family’s saving and land properties. The
working women, often generating important financial income for their
households, are unable to secure such income. Palestinian women suffer
particularly as their children, husbands, fathers, friends and other family
members are being killed or injured continuously. Not only death has a strong
impact on their emotional well-being, but also the consequent absence of the
breadwinner or the injury and physical disability of the head of the family
has dramatic economic consequences on thousands of households. For these
destitute families, women are compelled to find work, while the economic
situation does not offer employment possibilities. Meanwhile, if they find
work, women still carry the burden of the household, providing for husband
and children and often, taking care of older members of the family. Most of
the time, women do not get financial help or other kinds of support to
compensate their losses. To sustain their families, widows who are left
without means to survive, rely on their eldest children, who are forced to
abandon their education and are obliged to work long hours in unhealthy
conditions to provide the daily bread for the family. The importance of
Women in the Development of Peace The
1993 Oslo Accords, the Arab-Israeli peace process sponsored by the United
States, shifted the force of the Intifada from the grassroots, where it
started, to the higher-level leadership and led to creation of the
Palestinian National Authority. Since then, a number of Palestinian women
groups have expressed their grievances concerning the authority’s
shortcomings, including those in the drafts of the basic law of 1997 on
women’s issues. These groups and organizations aimed at raising the sympathy
of the public with the women’s involvement in public life and to discourage
traditional concepts and customary roles in Palestinian society. One way to
achieve these goals was to get involved politically in the developments of
the peace process. However,
women’s efforts for participation were not backed by the existing political
factions that regarded women’s right as a secondary issue on the political
agenda. A prominent example was the formation of male directed Palestinian
negotiations as well as the exclusion of women from the technical committees
of the peace negotiations. Consequently, prominent and independent women
formed their own women technical committees in order to increase women’s
participation and involvement in the peace process. This opened a debate on
women’s political involvement in parties, which was conducted by the Women’s
Affaires Technical Committee, an alliance of women made up of political women
committees and professional women centers, as well as some independent women.
Women pleaded for a renewed definition of political participation that should
cover women activities in the official political institution as well as in
societal organizations and private family sphere. The project to form a Women
Council was presented to President Arafat in 1995. The authorities did not
approve the project but an equivalent structure of women committees was
formed in different ministries. Additionally, a coordinating committee was
set up, but its role towards independent women’s organizations is not clear
yet. Combined
with their social struggle, Palestinian women’s stake in the national
liberation struggle is still very significant. Ever since the beginning of
the peace process in 1993, which in seven years has failed to achieve a just
solution for the Palestinians, the Israeli Occupation Forces have arrested
and tortured many Palestinians women prisoners. Today, five women political
prisoners still remain under solitary confinement and their families are
forbidden from visiting them, which adds to their torture and sense of
isolation, and deteriorates their psychological situation. With the start of
the Al-Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, the Palestinian women were propelled
into a new form of struggle. On many occasions women participated in peaceful
marches aiming at pressuring the Israeli military. In response, Israeli
military forces have used rubber-coated bullets, tear gas and sound-bombs as
well as live ammunition, causing serious injuries amongst the peaceful women
demonstrators. Women have furthermore become the targets of Israeli gunfire
which, so far, caused the death of more than thirty women. But, while they
mourn their children, husbands, brothers and relatives, Palestinian women
refuse to give up their right to life and perpetuate their struggle for a
better future for their children in an independent *
Bassem Eid is the founder and the director of the Palestinian Human Rights
Monitoring Group (PHRMG) http:///www.phrmg.org |