Ego-driven hegemonic aspirations of (predominantly male) world leaders, largely unchecked due to a prevailing Western colonial mindset that fails to stand up to violations of human rights and international law, are dragging the whole world into a conflict whose dimensions, duration, and consequences no one can entirely predict. Palestinian women have grappled for decades with an oppressive occupation in a male-dominated cultural and political environment, yet they are rising to the challenge and excelling on many levels. In addition to the long history of women who have engaged in community development, the fight for voting rights, the education of girls and women, and the resistance to occupying powers, contemporary Palestinian women are successfully running businesses, participating in political and economic leadership, sitting on boards that shape Palestine’s economic future and sustainable development, engaging in solidarity movements, and creating films, art, and music. Women are volunteering and working as educators and health professionals in many places, including the occupied West Bank, which is under unprecedented attack by settlers, supported and shielded by the Israeli army. They do so also under the most dangerous and dire conditions in Gaza, where a genocide is taking place, albeit at a slower pace today. As the definition of genocide indicates: The intention matters. And with Israel limiting the delivery of lifesaving humanitarian aid, including food, water, fuel, and medical aid, and doing its utmost to prevent aid agencies access to the strip, the situation for Gazans is beyond abysmal. Yet women continue against all odds to do their best to feed and care for others – be they children, the elderly, persons with disabilities, or those who have been war-injured, whether family members or neighbors.
This March issue of This Week in Palestine highlights such achievements and outlines some of the challenges that women face, whether from patriarchal societal norms or the tactics used by the occupation to extend its reach and power.
We thank those who use TWiP as a communication tool to inform about their activities, while contributing to our financial sustainability. We also thank the authors who have contributed content to this issue: Ambassador Majed Bamya, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN; UN Women; Taawon (Welfare Association); the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory; Business Women Forum–Palestine; Nada Elia, an associate professor of ethnic studies in the Department of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies at Western Washington University; Huda Asfour, a co-founder of the DC Palestinian Film and Arts Festival; Aida Qleibo, a Jerusalemite Palestinian decolonial feminist activist and researcher; Randa Siniora, the general director of the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling WCLAC; UNFPA; Dr. Rulla Sarras, the director of funding and development at the Rural Women Development Society; CARE Palestine; Dr. Georgette Hazboun Rabadi, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Education at Bethlehem University; H.E. Vera Baboun, Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Chile; Nadine Fitiani, an alumna of Bethlehem University; and Dr. Shahd Abusalama, a Palestinian British scholar, author, and artist, born and raised in Jabalia Refugee Camp, northern Gaza, whose academic career was cut short by a smear campaign over her speaking out on Gaza. Our Poem of the Month is by Ahmed Masoud, our three Books of the Month are The Foundations of Zionism; An Odyssey of a City: The Story of Bethlehem City; and The Palestine Folk Museum: The Untold Story (1926–2012). Our Artist of the Month is the emerging girls’ band Hatta.
The entire team at TWiP wishes a blessed Women’s Day, Mother’s Day, and Eid al-Fitr to all who are celebrating, and an end to the wars in the region and beyond.
Tina Basem
