Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 15)
غرض
- عنوان
- Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 15)
- المحتوى
-
Women's Struggle
in Occupied Palestine
Women’s liberation is a matter of increasing importance in
our time, for we live in the era of the victory of socialism, the era
of the steady advance of national democratic liberation move-
ments and the building of communist societies. Women’s liber-
ation is directly linked to this struggle; we cannot struggle for
the people’s liberation unless priority is given to women’s liber-
ation. On the other hand, women cannot achieve liberation
through a simple campaign for change in old ideas and cus-
toms. It is not enough to demand freedom in choosing a hus-
band, jobs and clothes, or to work in this or that association,
committee or syndicate. The women’s struggle must have a
political, national and progressive orientation aimed at chang-
ing the economic conditions which subjugate both men and
women.
Women in general suffer class oppression as well as
oppression by the men. In addition, the Palestinian woman suf-
fers national oppression due to the imperialist-supported
Zionist invasion and occupation of Palestine, which inflicted
grave political, economic, social and cultural destruction on
Palestinian society. From the beginning, Palestinian women
realized that this national and class oppression fell equally on
Palestinian men. Thus, Palestinian women worked side-by-
side with men against the common enemy, postponing the
conflicts that might arise between them for the sake of the main
aim: liberating Palestine and establishing a democratic society
as a major step towards women’s full liberation.
The Palestinian people have firmly faced many chal-
lenges and conspiracies aimed at eliminating their identity and
just rights. The Zionist invaders, upon occupying major parts of
Palestine in 1948, worked in accordance with a planned policy
to take possession of the land by expelling the original inhabit-
ants and enacting Judaization. A major component of this
poicy was destroying the Palestinian economic infrastructure
by imposing restrictions on agriculture, industry, marketing
and education. Moreover, laws were made to prevent the
founding of national associations and syndicates, and to dis-
band the existing ones. The same policy was later applied in
the remaining parts of Palestine which were occupied in 1967.
Confronting these challenges and conspiracies requires
the recruitment and mobilization of all the potentials of the
Palestinian people, of whom women compose roughly the half.
The Palestinian woman's contribution has been significant;
she spared no effort to serve her people, country and cause.
This was based on her strong belief in the people’s ability to
face these challenges, despite Zionism’s massive aggression
and imperialist support. The Palestinian woman’s struggle has
progressed from being partial and instinctive, to being overall
and organized. Women’s participation has taken a variety of
forms, including armed struggle.
The Palestinian woman's struggle, as part of her people’s
struggle, has passed through three main stages correspond-
ing to the following periods: (1) The beginning of the Zionist
invasion of Palestine until the formation of the Zionist entity in
1948, (2) 1948 until June 1967, (3) the contemporary Palesti-
nian national liberation revolution.
Stage one: Prior to the formation of the Zionist
entity
In 1884, Palestinian women were among the peasants
who acted to uproot the first agricultural settlement which the
Zionists tried to build near Affouleh. This was an early indica-
tion of women’s social and national-political awareness. After
World War | and the results represented by the Sykes-Picot
agreement and then the Balfour Declaration of November 2,
1917, the Palestinian woman’s awareness increased. In 1920,
women actively participated in demonstrations and strikes pro-
testing the colonial plans against the Palestinian Arab people
and demanding cancellation of the Balfour Declaration. In
1921, women made a qualitative advance by establishing the
first women’s union, headed by vanguard women like Melia
Sakakin and Zalikha Shehabi. This union played a major role in
organizing women’s efforts and in demonstrations demanding
a halt to Zionist colonization in Palestine. During the 1929
revolt, Palestinian women participated in the demonstrations
where many were martyred, such as Jamile Azaar, Aisha Abu
Hasan and Azba Salame.
In 1928, the Arab Women’s Association was founded as a
Palestinian association to work side by side with the men in the
common struggle. The founders were Khadije Hussein, Tarab
Abdul Hadi, Zakia Budeiri, Wadiha Khalidi, who chaired the
association. In October 1929, a women’s conference was held
in Jerusalem. Hundreds of women participated and con-
demned the repressive British measures. The conference sent
cables to the King of Britain and the United Nations. A delega-
tion of fourteen women was formed and met the British High
Commissioner, requesting cancellation of the Balfour Declara-
tion, a halt to Zionist immigration to Palestine, the discharge of
the Zionist British Deputy, the release of prisoners, and a halt
to torture and aggression against the Palestinian people.
In 1936, the women’s struggle took new forms in the con-
text of the famous general strike, which lasted six months.
Women started collecting and distributing material and finan-
cial aid to the rebels and to the families of martyrs and prison-
ers; they sewed clothes, bought and transported weapons,
carried food and water to the rebels fighting in the mountains
and administered first aid. On June 25, 1936, Fatima Gazal
became the first Palestinian woman to be martyred in combat; >»
15 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 3
- تاريخ
- مايو ١٩٨٤
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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