Palestinian women and their role in society (themanummer)
- Creator
- El-Yassir, Alia
- Jaouny, Samah
- Abu Eid, Xavier
- [et al.]
Palestinian women and their role in society (themanummer)
Because of international womens day on March 8th, this issue is dedicated to Palestinian women and their role in society. The Palestinian woman has always worked alongside her male partner, especially in rural settings, also in times of war and peace. The new Hamas dominated Council also has its share of women deputies. In this issue attention for Palestinian community-based women's empowerment programme Sabaya. Sabaya is a programme that focuses on protecting rural women from insecurity and using empowerment as a tool for increasing independence of these women. Khalil Nakhleh reports of the course she offered in the Master's programme in 'Gender, Law, and Development,' at the Institute of Women Studies at Birzeit University. Rima Tarazi writes about the General Union of Palestinian Women. The Women's Affairs Centre (WAC) is an organization mainly concerned with improving the role of women in Palestinian society, particularly in the Gaza Strip. The WAC operates to challenge the relatively-wide understanding in society, for lack of being informed otherwise, that the way women are sometimes treated is normal and fine. Women make a major contribution to the well-being and sustainable development of their communities and nations, and to the maintenance of the earth's ecosystems, biodiversity and natural resources. The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) concentrated on bridging gender gaps in education in absolute figures. Without a strong commitment to gender equality, drop out rates will increase because of early marriage. Women's political participation will decrease and their economic participation will remain limited. The most serious challenge during the last 10 years has been the inner transformation of the Palestinian women's movement from a grassroots struggle to an elite phenomenon. Presently midwives constitute 3.4% of the health providers in Palestine. There are 16,935 health providers in the health sector, of whom only 574 are midwives. The core of protecting women's rights and achievements in Palestine lies in the necessity of involving women in the democratic process. While Hamas's gender ideology rests on religious idioms, it is nonetheless possible to demonstrate that it is in continuous flux. This is due to ordinary socioeconomic factors and as a reaction to the challenge presented by the discourse with feminist nationalist and secular women, as well as Islamist women’s activism within the movement.
- Creator
- El-Yassir, Alia
- Jaouny, Samah
- Abu Eid, Xavier
- [et al.]