Democratic Palestine : 34 (ص 31)

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Democratic Palestine : 34 (ص 31)

المحتوى

VAN
dominant Palestinian orientation is towards the past, because
it considers the lost past sacred. How can tradition be part of a
future discourse? This question has no answer so far.
In this context, at a stage where the political and ideological
balance of power favored the conservative forces, the General
Union of Palestinian Women emerged. It had to be affected by
the times, especially by this balance of forces. It could only be
a bureaucratic body without autonomy. Although it was sup-
posed to be a mass organization, all of its membership, both
leadership and base, belonged to certain party organizations,
depriving it of the chance to be a mass organization and
rendering it the expression of a~socio-administrative elite
closely related to the leading political elite.
Bureaucratic mentality affects not only people working at
offices, but goes further to impose the mentality of hierarchy,
putting some above others for subjective considerations. The
bureaucratic logic leaves no room for real emancipation of
women. Such logic has affected the function of women in the
resistance movement where she has remained on the periphery
without taking up any important role in politics or administra-
tion, except in a few cases. This phenomenon points to the
traditional concept of women which has remained dominant.
The resistance movement assigned women to a role beyond
their traditional domestic role. Women became militants, tak-
ing part in military training as well as operations from time to
time, taking jobs at offices and carrying out informational
functions. Moreover, the resistance pervaded daily life,
especially in the camps of Lebanon. Men and women divided
their time between the small family and the bigger one, i.e., the
movement. Thus, logically, women should have became equal
to men in all fields, but at the practical level, things were dif-
ferent, not only because of the dominant ideological orienta-
tion, but also because of: bureaucratism which is based on
routine rather than creative development.
FOR THE REVOLUTIONARY UNIFICATION
OF PALESTINIAN WOMEN
$ e ° * . . . wig.
The «exterior» and «interior» (refering to inside and outside
of Palestine), were»common terms in the resistance. Con-
sciously or unconsciously, the intifada dropped this division to”
declare that the people are one in spite of many political and
ideological differences. Since this integration is determined by
a great event, it is necessary to look for the means of making
this unity continuous and dynamic. Women have a big role in
this unity which is bound to cancel the existing qualitative dif-
ference between the categories of exile and homeland.
Women involved in the resistance have usually ended: up
with their defined role in their political organizations; the par-
ticularity of the women’s status was completely absorbed into
the overall national - political struggle. Due to the prevailing
organizational rivalry, relations among the different women’s
organizations were not governed by a mentality of dialogue
and uniting efforts. Instead, they too were governed by the
mentality of rivalry, weakening their role and influence.
Women’s struggle was based on a categorical motto that was
subjective rather than objective: Measure all things exclusively
from the point of view of the concerned organization.
Although organizational discipline is a positive quality, the
Democratic Palestine, August 1989
)
spirit of competition has affected women’s activities negative-
ly. Palestinian women under occupation have concentrated on
fighting the visible enemy, the women of the resistance have
concentrated on their’ respective organizations fighting the
enemy. Between the two mentalities exists a wide gap.
Over and above that, while women under occupation defend
their dignity and that of the homeland, some organizations, the
right-wing ones in particular, have reduced women’s relation
to the struggle to a socioeconomic one; thus the organization
becomes a political and economic affiliation. Between the two,
there is a clear distinction and a wide gap.
The Israeli occupation has destroyed the traditional social
structure, especially at the economic level, and pushed women
into the labor market. The resistance movement, on the other
hand, especially in the camps of Lebanon, has had a significant
effect on the social structure, especially at the economic level.
It has pushed women into organizations to earn their living.
this often happened without even minimial ideological educa-
tion.
All the above-mentioned factors, as well as many others,
necessitate the unification of women’s efforts, especially after
the political unification of the homeland and the diaspora, to
wage a new continuous struggle for a comprehensive moral
reform in the Palestinian resistance movement. Palestinian
women, who are in the frontline of the struggle against the
enemy, should occupy the leading position they deserve in all
the national political activities. This call may appear feminist
in the eyes of conservative-minded people, but it is the true.
expression of the reality and the revolution, because Palesti-
nian women remain the excellent representatives of a heroic
fighting people. Palestinian women have scored many suc-
cesses in their striving for liberation, in the course of fighting
both in exile and under occupation. However, the culmination
of this emancipatory process with the full liberation of the
Palestinian women is conditioned upon ousting all leading
Palestinian personnel who see women as unequal creatures. @

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Democratic Palestine : 34

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