HARIS, West Bank - Whenever
I volunteer in the West Bank, friends back home are concerned for my safety and
comfort, wondering how it feels to be a woman living in a predominantly Muslim
community. As an outsider, however, that's not a question I can answer. I, a
Jewish American volunteer for the International Women's Peace Service, can
never know what my female Palestinian neighbours experience because foreign
women enjoy a sort of special status in Palestine - privy to many of the
privileges of being female without the same restrictions imposed on local
women. What I can say, however, is that some of the most inspiring and
independent women I've ever met have been Palestinian. Each one has a story of
struggle and hardship - as a woman and as a Palestinian - and also a story of
survival. Take, for example, my friend Fatima.
Fatima Khaldi grew up physically handicapped and
fatherless in a refugee camp in Gaza. When it came time for college, she was
instead made to work in a sewing factory to support her younger siblings. But
Fatima had bigger dreams. Determined, she took two jobs to put herself through
school, studying during the day and splitting her free time between caring for
orphans and the elderly. She founded the first campus group at Jerusalem Open
University, a club for female social work students like herself. After
graduation, she worked as everything from a political organizer to a nurse for
drug addicts. While taking care of handicapped people she met the man she would
later marry, a blind musician, and when the young couple moved to his village
of Qarawat Bani Hassan, west of Nablus, Fatima started the village's first
kindergarten for their five young children to attend. Meanwhile, she began
working at the Working Women's Society in Nablus, raising awareness among women
about human, social and worker's rights.
Life in Qarawat was never easy. Fatima's husband was
generally controlling and unsupportive, as well as physically and emotionally
abusive. Then, after the second intifada began, Israeli military checkpoints
consistently disrupted her commute to work, so she was forced to leave her job
in Nablus. Shortly thereafter, Fatima's husband left her for another woman.
Over the years, I have learned that Fatima's life is
but a microcosm of the story of Palestinian women today: fighting a battle on
multiple fronts. Fatima's stunted leg is the least of her handicaps - she is
also a woman living in a patriarchy, and a Palestinian living under intense
military occupation. The paralysing nature of Israeli military rule in the
Palestinian territories cannot be overstated: the colossal theft of land,
resources, life and dignity would be enough to discourage almost anyone, and
yet people like Fatima exemplify the most hope-inspiring and defining
characteristic of most Palestinians I've met - resilience.
Always a survivor, Fatima transformed her daunting
obstacles into more strength and perseverance, and that same year joined with
two other local women to form "Women for Life" (WFL), an organization
dedicated to empowering local women in their struggle to live in a free, just
and democratic society. I met Fatima the year after WFL began. She welcomed me
into her home and work with patience and generosity. I watched her organization
grow from 3 to over 200 members, meeting regularly to participate in legal and
leadership workshops, job training, domestic violence awareness and creative
nonviolent resistance to the occupation.
There is a strong precedent for organizations like
Women for Life all over Israel/Palestine, many of them west of the Green Line.
Israeli peace groups like Bat Shalom, New Profile, NELED, TANDI and the Fifth
Mother have worked for decades towards justice, equality and an end to violence
in Israel/Palestine through their strength and wisdom as women. Indeed, it's
hard to imagine the Israeli peace movement without the dedicated women of
Machsom Watch bearing witness at West Bank checkpoints, or Women in Black
standing strong on street corners around Israel demanding an end to the
occupation, or all the other Israeli mothers, sisters and wives working
tirelessly for a better world for their children. Some of them have worked
closely with Fatima and Women for Life, teaching Palestinian women Hebrew and
helping organize demonstrations and educational tours. The late Israeli
academic and activist Tanya Reinhart visited Fatima's region often, and was
unwavering in her dedication to exposing the injustices she felt perpetuated
the conflict and supporting the people of Israel, Palestine and the international
community working for positive change.
It is the collaborative efforts by women in
Palestine, women in Israel and women from both communities working together
that gives me most hope for a future of peaceful coexistence in
Israel/Palestine. In spite of the obstacles, whether living under oppressive
patriarchal or occupation policies or in an increasingly militarised society,
Palestinian and Israeli women like Fatima and Tanya have remained resilient in
their nonviolent approaches towards resisting injustice and struggling for
equal rights for all people in the region: men and women, Jews and
Palestinians.
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