United
Nations International Conference of Civil Society in Support of
Israeli-Palestinian Peace- Brussels 30-31 August 2007
What
empowerment means in the Palestinian context:
Palestinian women can be described as a citizen of a second
degree despite of significant developments in their
participation in public life and national struggle. Yet, they
suffer from disempowering relations both at home and in the
society. Sizeable marginalization, exclusion and discrimination
faced by women has persisted for ages.
Palestinian women's situation can be described as exceptional
because of dual discrimination resulting from occupation and
patriarchy, which both have multifaceted consequent impacts on
women's rights. They exacerbate existing deteriorated social,
economic and political situations, and form the main obstacle
for achieving sustainable development in the OPT.
Undoubtedly, the most important factor in explaining the lack of
progress made in promoting Palestinian women’s social, economic
and political rights, is the events of 1948 and 1967 which
constituted the most important factor in undermining the status
of Palestinian women. Women have been adversely affected by the
Nakba (i.e. catastrophe), which had ended in uprooting hundreds
of thousands of Palestinians from their original villages and
towns who took refugee in a number of countries across the
world. The Israeli military occupation and annexation of the
West Bank including East Jerusalem and Gaza Strip (forming 22%
of Historic Palestine) had aggravated the situations and did
more injustices to the Palestinian women by inflicting further
forced displacement and eviction on hundreds of thousands of
people.
“…civilians, particularly women and
children, account for the vast majority of those adversely
affected by armed conflict, including as refugees and internally
displaced persons, and increasingly are targeted by combatants
and armed elements."²
The Palestinian society is governed by
patriarchal and conservative long standing customary laws and
stereotypes about division of labor and women’s inability to
compete with men especially in politics and political sphere.
Women are still regarded as a private and public property in the
Palestinian mentality. As such, women’s exclusion from decision
making and political processes particularly peace negotiations
persists. Women suffer from a legal dilemma; though the Basic
Law (quasi constitution) contains many articles fair to women,
yet it contains some discriminatory laws relating to women’s
civil rights, such as the Draft Law No. 1 (1994) on nationality,
founded on the decrees of the unified Palestinian nationality of
1925 and 1954, and the Jordanian Nationality Code No. 6 of 1954.
These laws deny women the right to obtain nationality for
themselves and their children.³
Moreover,
the Basic Law does not deal with personal status laws (family
issues) and leave them to Shari’a law, which is the Islamic
legal system governing marriage, divorce, child custody and
support, visitation rights, honor killings, and inheritance.
Both the Basic Law and Shari'a Law do not fully take account of
human rights standards and guiding principles, and relevant UN
covenants and resolutions particularly 1325, which stresses the
importance of women's role in priority setting and their equal
participation in decision making at all levels and in the
conflict resolution and peacemaking processes.
Obstacles to
achieve women’s empowerment:
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insecurity and lack of human security caused by Israeli
occupation:
For 59 years, Israel has followed an indiscriminate and
disproportionate oppressive policy against all Palestinian
sectors and age groups through dispossession and displacement of
people, land expropriation, fragmentation and dissolution,
ghettos establishment, splitting families, isolating villages
and population gatherings, erection of the Apartheid wall and
all types of permanent and flying
checkpoints, earth barriers, roadblocks, trenches, and road
gates to restrict people’s and traffic movement, imposing
tight siege regimes particularly on Gaza Strip, imprisonment and
arrest, home demolitions, massive killings and excessive use of
power, invasions and incursions, and others. On a daily basis,
nearly every single Palestinian has experienced the bitterness
and humiliation of the occupation on his/ her way to school,
work, university, hospital, farm and market.
More than half of the Palestinian people (52.5%) have to cross
military check points and borders daily
One of five people lives beside the wall and 87.2% are adversely
affected by the wall.
A total of 4269 non- combatant Palestinians were murdered during
the period 2000- 2006 according to the Israeli Center for Human
Rights “B’Tselem”. 351 women got killed during the same period.
68 women gave birth at Israeli check points,
4 of them died because of lack of medical assistance after
delivery and 34 other cases of abortion were witnessed at check
points during the years 2000- June 2007.
Moreover, 882 children were killed during the same period
according to the recent report of Save the Children.
Another example, Israel killed 78 Palestinian civilians in Gaza
in one month (July 2006) among them were 20 females and 36
minors.
One of the blatant violations of human rights and grave
injustices exercised by Israel is forced eviction resulting from
home demolitions and the erection of the wall. During the second
Intifada (2000-2006) 24,769 Palestinian houses were totally
erased and 52,211 houses were partially demolished.
The agriculture sector and rural people have had the lion share
of the Israeli occupation measures and various plans. 10% of the
Palestinian land was confiscated for the purpose of establishing
Jewish settlements and road networks. 3.5 million trees have
been uprooted since 1967. During the second Intifada, Israel
leveled and destroyed more than 76,000 dunums of various crops
and 1000 km of water and irrigation networks.
The construction of the wall in the West
Bank including occupied East Jerusalem has resulted in the
destruction of the agriculture sector and so undermining
Palestinians’ food security; more than 247,291 dunums of farmed
land were leveled,
135 villages and people’s gatherings of nearly 373,000 people
were isolated. 10% of the West Bank land and 28.5% of the Jordan
Valley is isolated behind the wall. Israel controls 90% of the
water resources available for both Palestinians and Israelis
depriving 220 Palestinian villages and gatherings from fresh
water. Another example, the Palestinian’s share of water is
fifth of the share of his/her Israeli counterpart while he/she
pays five times more than what the Israeli individual does.
During the past 40 years of Israeli occupation almost 800,000
Palestinian experienced detention and arrest. Presently, there
are nearly 11,000 political prisoners among them are 116 women
including 12 female minors.
The Israeli policies and violations of
Palestinians’ human rights and of the UN relevant resolutions,
conventions and international law have resulted in (1) high
rocketing rates of poverty and unemployment, (2) feminizing
poverty, (3) the rise of violence and crimes, and (4) mental
syndromes and social disorder.
Statistics showed that 2.4 million
Palestinians live in poverty, i.e. 7 of 10 families and two
third of Palestinian children live in poverty 40,000 minors are
forced to work according to Save the Children.
There has been a sharp decrease in individual's yearly income
during the past few years. At the time, the Jewish individual
earns US$ 22,000 annually; his/her Palestinian counterpart earns
only US$ 1400. According to a recent survey, an overwhelming
majority of 79.8% are concerned about the subsistence of their
family due to the suspension of financial and economic aid by US
and Europe in 2006.
Another report indicated that 49% of the Palestinian suffered
from food insecurity in 2006 compared to 36% in 2005.
As
it is well known, women experience occupation and armed conflict
differently from men and even more rural women suffer from
occupation in a harsher way compared with their urban
counterparts. They are more vulnerable to poverty, patriarchy
and conservatism. The per cent of families supported by women
has increased from 7 to 18 during the past years. Women have to
assume more burdens resulting from poverty and closures. They
have to find alternative and coping strategies to ensure
subsistence living for their families because they are
considered to be primary care givers to children who constitute
53% of the Palestinian population. It is true to say that women
who are victims of poverty are the ones who lead the fight
against poverty. Thus, they are taken away from the fight for
their inclusion in the decision-making and political progression
which does not have any primacy when general situations worsen
and the concern over human security is predominant.
Israel’s prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territories
have maintained patriarchy with all its manifestations of men/
women power relations, indigenous legal framework (system),
depoliticizing women’s organizations, de-linking between the
feminist and national struggle, social, economic and security
vulnerability, poverty and unemployment, exploitation, increased
domestic violence, women’s withdrawal from political struggle,
and others.
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Internal insecurity caused by rise of
violence and factional fighting in the Palestinian society:
While women are the direct victims of the
Israeli occupation, they are also indirectly affected by the
consequences of the Israeli occupation in boosting chaos and
violence among the Palestinian people. Women are under constant
fear for the safety of their children who are under their
custody. This causes more tension and stress to women.
No doubt, the Israeli continuing violence
against Palestinian males has inflicted more domestic violence
on women by their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons. The
humiliation and dehumanization faced by a Palestinian male at
Israeli check points or during raids of Palestinian houses and
villages challenges his manhood and image. Palestinian men
frequently feel powerless toward Israeli soldiers and the only
possible reaction by them is directed toward vulnerable family
members; children and women.
The
Israeli occupation authorities have encouraged split and
violation of human rights and basic freedoms, corruption and
preferential treatment in the Palestinian arena. Israeli
continuing attempts to undermine the Palestinian national
Authority and its affiliated executive, legislative and
judiciary branches have had a direct impact on the security and
human rights situation in the OPT. Militarization of the
Palestinian society, anarchy and the suspension of the work of
the attorney general and the official police force pose a
serious threat to law and order and to peaceful conditions of
the civilian population particularly women and children. The
latter were victims of random shootings by Palestinian gunmen
during exchange of fire between militias, factions and clans.
Even peaceful demonstrations protesting against military chaos
and calling for the deployment of civilian police were attacked
and ended in a number of civilian causalities. During the
military take over of the Gaza Strip by Hamas militia last June,
tens of women and minors got killed and wounded. Many women and
children witnessed the assassination of their dears before their
eyes.
On the other hand, there has been an
increase in the number of crimes committed against women for
“tarnishing family honor”. Since the beginning of year 2007, 30
women and female minors have been killed in Gaza Strip and 13
others were killed in the West Bank.
-
Patriarchal structures and
conservative society:
Women’s access to and control over
economic and social resources is very limited and restricted.
They suffer from persistent restrains that inhibit their
progression in paid labor and senior positions in the executive,
legislative and judiciary branches as well as in political
parties, civil society organizations and businesses.
Men enjoy a monopoly of economic, social
and political resources. They monopolize governance; women’s
representation in leaderships in the private and public sectors
is beyond what is hoped for although they have doubled their
power in the 2006 legislative elections (5.9% in 1996 to 12.8%
in 2006), and increased their representation in local councils
up to 20%.
Women
constitute only 7.4% of the PNA ambassadors, 11.2% of judges,
12.1% of general attorneys, 2.8% of deputy minister assistants,
and 1.3% of general directors of the civil service.
Furthermore, they constitute 11% of medical doctors, 16.9% of
advocates, 24.4% of the students’ councils and 8.4% of trade
unions’ membership.
Gender gaps exist in NGOs; inequality between men and women
persists in all levels of administration and organizational
processes including recruitment, job content, salary,
occupational development, and promotion and progression.
In spite of a slight rise in the women’s
participation in the paid labor during the first quarter of the
year 2007 which stood at 15.2% of the labor force, women’s
participation in the labor force in the OPT is the lowest in the
world. This is due to (1) the general economic crisis and weak
development process in the OPT, (2) division of labor based on
gender, (3) deprivation of capacity building and training, and
(4) Israel's occupation.
On the other hand, women's movements and
organizations failed to reach a progressive platform which would
offer an alternative vision and strategies for Palestinian
Israeli conflict resolution and peace building. Many of women
leaders and activists contributed to the promotion and
reinforcement of patriarchy by emulating patriarchal behavior,
values and concepts. In fact, women's organizations have upheld
hierarchy based on age, class, clan and political affiliation.
Their vision, agendas and programs have been decidedly connected
to the agendas of affiliated political parties which are
overwhelmingly governed by male leaderships. Even some cases of
women's organizations which claimed to be independent from
factional affiliation, failed to promote an alternative
organizational culture based on bottom- up approach in decision
making and democratic processes. Elite, urban and fortunate
women remained the powerful leaders of these organizations
monopolizing the organizations' resources and the decision
making. Whereas, grassroots and marginalized women particularly
rural women continued to suffer from exclusion and segregation.
In the currently going on dispute between the two dominant
factions "Fatah and Hamas" women's organizations as well as the
rest of the civil society organizations failed to express a
straightforward clear cut position condemning both sides to the
dispute. Some of them took side of either Fatah or Hamas.
To
help eliminating gender gaps in all walks of life, and increase
women’s participation in conflict resolution and peace building,
the following guiding principles and recommendations should be
stressed:
-
Women's empowerment is an important
goal in itself and essential condition for the achievement
of Palestinian national independence and peace building in
the region. As a rule, women are against war, militarism,
and violence. Being victims of oppression and injustices,
they are for a just and unbiased world. They can ensure a
broader strategy of human security and human rights based
development, away from male superpowers which concentrate
power and decision in the hands of few leaders and
trans-national agencies. In order for the Palestinian people
to emerge from the Israeli/Palestinian prolonged conflict,
equal contributions of men and women are required.
Therefore, women's participation in the peace negotiations
is a must as it can influence to a large extent the outcomes
of these negotiations. It is true to say that the exclusion
of women from the peace process and the lack of a gender
perspective in the peace negotiations do not ensure the
results that are hoped for.
Israel/Palestinian peace can only be
achieved and ensured with the (1) full respect of Palestinian
human rights and fundamental freedoms, including the right to
self determination endorsed and upheld by the international law
and the UN constituency, (2) respect for Palestinian sovereignty
and territorial integrity, (4) prevention of violence, (5) and
commitment to justice, pluralism, tolerance, and gender
equality.
Peace can only be built and sustained
after Israeli occupation comes to an end and a just solution to
the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict is reached. Yet, women have to
take upon themselves the fight for peace. They need to encourage
a dynamic and positive process of dialogue and mutual
understanding and cooperation. They need to elaborate
appropriate strategies and conditions for achieving peace.
Empowerment of women is best achieved in a matrix of political
independence, freedom from occupation and violence, and freedom
from want and poverty. Unless Israel stops its disempowering
policies against Palestinian women and ends all its actions
which are inconsistent with the international and humanitarian
laws, Palestinian women will remain defenseless and exposed to
exclusion, segregation and marginalization.
-
Full inclusion of human rights standards with Palestinian
domestic laws particularly Shai'a law with focus on
CEDAW, the International Covenant on Civil Rights and
Political Rights, the International Convention on Economic
and Social Rights, the International Convention on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination, and most particularly
the Fourth Geneva Convention.
Palestinian women still have to embark on a long and uneven way
to attain equal rights and opportunities. Huge gender gaps in
the legal system and culture persist. These gaps must be
adequately addressed by women's organizations, human rights
advocates and political constituencies. They have to unite
efforts to lobby the Palestinian Legislative Council (PLC) and
the Palestinian National Authority for laws that are fair to
women, and to provide protection to women against domestic
violence and the so called honor crimes. Efforts should be
united to establish a broader strategy for gender mainstreaming,
which should be incorporated in all Palestinian institutions
particularly security/police forces, law courts, PLC, Cabinet of
Ministers, various ministries, and civil society organizations.
-
Facilitating women's access to and control over resources:
Although women have now better opportunities in politics and
paid work, yet they confront many on ground obstacles; (1)
weak programs that support them, and (2) exclusion of
women’s priorities from the agenda of formal and informal
organizations and grassroots movements. Although women enjoy
a better educational, economic and political engagement, yet
it did not favorably affect their access to and control of
resources. Decision-making and priority-setting processes
remain male dominated. As such, women's concerns, needs and
interests are either completely ignored or not adequately
addressed by policy makers.
The
imposed restriction on women’s mobility and traveling between
villages and cities resulting from the imposition of military
check points, blockades and road blocks which cut off and
fragment Palestinian territories, and the huge on road risks
they face by soldiers and/or settlers, women are discouraged to
leave their over protective community. This thing limits women’s
freedoms and deprives them of access to resources and wider
space where they can develop their own abilities and reinforce
their status in the Palestinian society.
-
Adopting a revitalizing and democratic women's platform
to counter
the state of factional split and political polarization,
which the Palestinian arena suffers from as a result of the
various direct interests of external political powers in the
Middle East. The acute divisions in the Palestinian and Arab
communities have encouraged splits among people based on
religion, ethnicity, and religious denominations. Out of the
fact that women are more tolerant, peaceful and do not have
self-invested agendas, they can rise above factional
conflicts and build another alternative of democracy and
tolerance building that can serve as a model for emulation.
-
More
international interaction with focus on Europe:
The
international community particularly civil society can play
a decisive role in monitoring and enforcing human rights
application in the OPT. During the past few years, the
Middle East witnessed huge injustices and aggression caused
by the U.S. hegemony, which could not be maintained without
the support of some European governments. Not only has
Europe failed to stop the awful crimes against the
Palestinians, Iraqis and Lebanese, but instead found grounds
to justify its boycott of the occupied people in the OPT,
and deploy troops to back the American military occupation
in Iraq.
U.S. and Zionist
aggression is growing in Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, and Somalia
and in every corner of the world. This has generated
instability, chaos and human insecurity and put the region on
the edge of the precipice.
The
international community must not tolerate the U.S. and Israel's
strategy of creating a new irreversible geopolitical reality in
this region, which aims to divide, undermine and control the
destiny of the peoples of this region. The European governments
must detach themselves from the U.S. colonialist platform which
best serves Israel.
Out of the
ethical responsibility and obligation of high contractors to the
Forth Geneva Convention, the international community
particularly the European Union, governments and civil society
must not give Israel a moral standing anymore. They do not need
any more proof to stand up against war crimes committed against
the Palestinian people!!! What is being committed against the
Palestinian people is a clear proof that Zionism equates
Anti-Semitism!
The
international community and civil society must indulge in a more
active role in searching for a peace settlement to the
Israeli/Palestinian conflict on the ground of all relevant UN
resolutions most especially 181,194, 242, and 338.
A real
pressure must be exerted on Israel to end its continuing
occupation and the associated apartheid system "…the end of
apartheid stands as one of the crowing accomplishments of the
last century, but we would not have succeeded without the help
of international pressure.".
-
Calling for punitive measures
against Israel: It is time to put an immense pressure to
end Israel's cruel and bloody occupation and to adopt a new
line of thinking and culture of resistance against
continuing occupation. Our means should be very powerful and
effective. The surest way for peace to happen is to cease
all aid and support to Israel, and to stop dealing with the
Israeli occupation through boycott, divestment and
sanctions. Ordinary people and
consumers may participate in
the process of isolating Israel by refusing to purchase any
of her products or services.
Unless Israel is politically and economically is isolated,
nothing can pressure her to end her occupation and abide by
the International legitimacy.
-
Boycott of Israel’s civil society supportive of occupation:
Blast
Israeli civil society organizations such as the Histadrut
for their denial of the Palestinian catastrophe and for
their silence regarding Israel's atrocities and war crimes
against the Palestinian people who are constantly deprived
of their source of income and means of subsistence. On the
other hand, maximize the prospect of Jewish Israelis who are
against occupation and who are brave enough to confess that
the Nakba of 1948 has been the root cause of all the
suffering and injustices that the Palestinian people have
been subject to up to date.
-
Building solidarity campaigns and people- to- people contact
with the Palestinian people particularly with civil society
organizations and grassroots movements. The campaigns and
actions should deal with the most imperative issues; (1) the
cease of the unfair siege imposed on the Palestinian people
particularly in Gaza Strip, and (2) the full implementation
of the ICJ Advisory Opinion on the legal consequences of the
construction of the wall in the OPT including East
Jerusalem.
Remember,
Palestinian people are in need of a supportive and powerful
political position more than a parcel of food!
Assistant to General Director for External Relations/
Palestinian Agricultural Relief Committees (PARC)
http://www.un.org/events/res_1325e.pdf
A Gap Analysis Report on the Status of the Palestinian Women by
Women Center for Legal Aid and Counseling,
http://www/wclac.org/cedawengeditedfinal.htm.
Al
Quds Newspaper, issue 13171, 19 April 2006,
www.al-quds.com
State Information Service, 20 February
2007
There are more than 550 check points and road blocks separating
Palestinian villages and towns. Most of them are installed
within the occupied territories, not between the OPT and Israel.
Al Quds Newspaper, issue 13643, 10 August 2007
Report on Human Security in Palestine,
Mient Jan Faber and Mary Kaldor, May 2007
State Information Service, 20 February
2007
Al
Quds Newspaper, issue 13643, 10 August 2007
Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, poll No. 153, The impact
of suspending the European and American financial and economical
aid on the Palestinian government.”
Al
Quds Newspaper, issue 13643, 10 August 2007
PCBS selected statistics of 2006
Ibid
Desmond Mpilo
Tutu. Bishop of
Johannesburg; former Secretary General, South African Council of
Churches and winner of the 1984
Nobel Prize in Peace
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