Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 17)
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- Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 17)
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push Palestinians to emigrate. Students were arrested prior to
exams, teachers expelled and universities closed. There were
efforts to rob and distort the Palestinian national heritage.
Later, on the political level, the so-called civil administration
was imposed, while the national associations and
municipalities were repeatedly attacked.
Nevertheless, Palestinian women played a greater role in
the national struggle in this period. This was basically a con-
tinuation of their previous role, yet with broader activities and
greater commitment. It was now clear that the national cause
was a question of the very existence of the Palestinian people
as a whole. Furthermore, the rise of the Palestinian resistance
organizations gave new inspiration and opportunities for strug-
gle. In this period, Palestinian women’s struggle within the
revolution was characterized by the following:
a) Women participating in all fields: political, ideological,
military, economic, social, educational, cultural.
b) Broader participation by an increasing number of
women in activities everywhere, whereas such participation
had previously been limited to vanguards. This was especially
marked in the 1948 occupied territories, where the struggle
there was now linked to the overall Palestinian struggle.
c) Leadership passed to politically educated and working
women of the lower strata of the petit bourgeoisie.
d) Arise in women’s motivation to struggle.
e) Broader participation of women in rural areas, which
are most endangered and in sharpest confrontation with the
Zionist plans to confiscate the land, expell the population and
build settlements.
f) Attention given to women’s liberation by the leftist
organizations, and more support to their general and personal
social matters.
Military activity
Women were active militarily as compared to the forego-
ing periods and the traditional role of the Arab woman. Yet this
was still limited to a number of vanguards. In addition to stor-
age and transport of weapons, women now started to carry out
operations. In October 1967, Fatima Bernawi was arrested
after planting a bomb in a cinema in Tel Aviv. On November 21,
Women campaign against illiteracy
1968, Shadia Abu Ghazale was martyred while preparing a
time bomb; she was the first woman martyr at this stage. In
February 1969, a number of women (Rasmieh Odeh, Aisha
Odeh, Mariam Shakshir, Latifa Hawari, Rashide Obeid) were
arrested, accused of planning and executing two of the
greatest military operations at that time: the explosion at the
Superso!l supermarket and the attempted explosion at the
Hebrew University in Jerusalem. Women such as Leila
Khaled, Amine Dahbour and Therese Halasa participated in
special operations. Other women were arrested while trans-
porting weapons, like Abla Taha. Women played a great role in
the experience of the early seventies in the Gaza Strip, when
the freedom fighters controlled the Strip by night. Women also
took part in attacks on Israeli patrols, throwing molotov coctails
and stones, which is considered a new form of resistance by
many observers. In July 1968, many women were arrested in
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, accused of aiding the resis-
tance fighters. Others were expelled: Isam Abdul Hadi, Abla
Taha, Huda Abdul Hadi and Nawal Titi. During 1968, the
number of women in Nablus prison reached sixty, forming 20%
of the inmates. Women prisoners were subjected to monster-
ous physical and psychological torture.
Political activities
Realizing that a conscious, organized, leading role cannot
be maintained unless guided by revolutionary organization,
women began to join the organizations of the Palestinian
Resistance, as well as forming women’s unions, syndicates,
clubs, associations and social committees.
Women became more active in demonstrations. The most
outstanding was that of April 1968, in Jerusalem, where
women dressed in black protested against the planned Israeli
military exposition. Women have been active in the mass
uprisings and strikes, in distributing political publications and
slogan-writing on the walls. Women were active in the first
Land Day demonstration in the Galilee in 1976, when Khadije
Shawahne was martyred. Other women have been martyred in
demonstrations of solidarity with political prisoners, and pro-
testing the Sabra-Shatila massacre: Lina Nabulsi, Muntaha
Hourani, Taghrid Batmeh, Ihsan Abu Draz, Maysoun Kas-
tanawi, Aziza Hussein, Elham Shahbari. Many others were
wounded. In a month of mass uprisings from March 12th to
April 12th, 1982, sixty women were wounded, while the
number of women imprisoned rose to 150.
Economic activities
The number of working women has increased during the
last ten years and reached 17% of working-age women.
Women carry out a major part of the agricultural work. Increas-
ing interest in higher education can be noted, giving women
more employment opportunities. The percentage of women
doctors, engineers, teachers and other professionals has
17 - هو جزء من
- Democratic Palestine : 3
- تاريخ
- مايو ١٩٨٤
- المنشئ
- الجبهة الشعبية لتحرير فلسطين
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