I recently wrote an article for The Guardian's Comment is Free pages in response to the total absence of women on Fatah's Central Committee after its recent Congress in Bethlehem.
You can view the article here.
The Advocacy Project, with whom I interned last year, has sent another Peace Fellow to Ramallah this year to work with Women's Affairs Technical Committee. Corrine Schneider is blogging all summer about her experiences there. You can read her blog here.
13 August, 2009
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4 comments:
excellent article! and very true. i don't read the comments on cif any more but hopefully they were good. we need so much to recognise how things can be and should be changed by opening up the discussion of women in power. i was shocked as well to see that hamas consider themselves women's liberators?
sigh - i was just saying to emma on saturday how i miss our putting the world to rights rants on the sofa at east grove! but hopefulyl see you soon xxx
Thanks!
Yes, basically every party in Palestine will say that it is promoting "women's rights" but each has a different idea of what they mean by that.
Hamas has made a big deal out of the fact that it is employing a lot of women police officers. While on the face of it this is a good thing, the reason for it is that they don't want male officers searching women or, for example, entering a woman's home. In Palestine it is illegal for a man and woman who are not married or related to be alone in a house together. So although it is good that there are more women police officers, the reason for it is to continue to perpetuate the culture of gender segregation that exists in Gaza.
Arguably it is a good thing to have only women searching women (that's the system we have over here, and frankly if I have to be frisked I'd rather it was by a female officer than a male, even if that whole idea is based on the completely heteronormative assumption that that removes any sexual undertones from the situation). But it isn't really challenging the patriarchal nature of the society in which they operate.
Interesting reading the replies to your comment. I note an overwhelming tone of cynisim and can't help wondering what you think could be done to combat the current situation? It seems indisputibly true, what you say, and yet no thread of redemption is clear. Do you think there is such a thing?
Anyway, looks like you found yourself a splendid job, I think that I may just peep back here in search of tones of optimism and energy.
Rohan
HI Rohan!
Hmm... optimism is difficult when it comes to Palestine.
In terms of women's situation, the prospects for change lie with Palestinian women themselves. Quite a few foreign organisations and governments are pouring money into the many women's NGOs in the West Bank, which in itself is a good thing (in my opinion) but the drawback is that it's usually conditional on those NGOs pursuing their donors' agendas which don't necessarily reflect the needs of the Palestinian women they are trying to help. I think some changes are needed in the structure of funding and the relationship between the Palestinian women's movement and its international backers.
But there's also the 'national question' which is intertwined with the 'women question'. As long as Palestinian men are focused on achieving statehood and citizenship they are unlikely to pay much attention to the issue of women's rights. Many women activist accept this. On the other hand, preventing half the population from reaching their full potential means the national movement is only half as strong as it could be. Nominally most women's NGOs are working on both at the same time.
In terms of the peace process... honestly, I find it really, really difficult to be optimistic. It's not really a peace process at all right now. There is a total lack of honesty on all sides about the conflict, past and present, and I think until they take an honest look at their actions and motives the negotiations won't move forward.
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