INT'L WOMEN'S DAY: Conflict Only Makes It Worse
By Fawzia Sheikh

March 7, 2006 -(IPS) The overriding obstacle that Arab women cite in their fight for freedom and equal rights in the Palestinian territories is the continuing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

"Israeli occupation impacts very negatively on the daily personal life of Palestinian women," Amal Khreish, director of the Palestinian Working Women Society in Ramallah told IPS.

Thousands of Palestinian men languish in Israeli jails or have been forced to leave the country, Khreish said, and their wives have no choice but to bear a greater burden.

"Women have psychological and economic responsibilities to maintain the well-being of the family," she explained, noting that 13 percent are forced to become the family's breadwinner.

Khreish said women also confront problems associated with the occupation at checkpoints that must be crossed to gain access to work in Israel. A Palestinian woman can "lose her life at any time" should violence erupt. "Many times women have to be at checkpoints for more than six or seven hours," taking them away from their homes and work as a result.

Often, arbitrary checkpoint closures also hit women who have their own businesses, including running bakeries or boutiques, because "sometimes production can't wait" and products are damaged, Salwa Abu Khadra, secretary-general of the General Union of Palestinian Women in Ramallah told IPS.

"Occupation is the biggest hindrance to our development."

The concrete security barrier Israel is building to separate the West Bank from Jerusalem and ultimately to stop terrorist attacks is another source of friction.

"When we have people put into walls, they can't move," said Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas, director of the Women's Centre for Legal Aid and Counselling in Jerusalem. Men as a result find it difficult to gain work, a situation leading to social problems like domestic violence and unrest in the family.

Moving beyond hardships caused by Israel, though, Palestinian women contend with homegrown inequality within their own societies. Economic rights are one example. Abu Khadra explained that male business-owners prefer hiring single women over mothers who may lack work flexibility.

"The women are discriminated against in this way, but not by the law. There is no discrimination in getting jobs in theory." On a social dimension, women encounter another challenge based on patriarchal Palestinian culture. Women's groups say they are treated as inferior citizens in the application of family and criminal legislation.

Under Palestinian law, for instance, men may have four wives without being required to divorce any partner or obtain permission, noted Khreish.

Women generally do not have the right to divorce men, she said. But the law does recognise three exceptions: if the husband develops psychological problems, acquires a sexual disease, or leaves his wife for more than a year. "To prove this is not easy," she said.

Double standards prevail in cases of adultery as well. If a woman is unfaithful, Kreish said, her husband can kill her and get away with it. If a husband's infidelity prompts his wife to murder, "she will be sentenced to death or life imprisonment."

But political rights within the Palestinian Authority are gradually improving. Parliament passed a law eight months ago stating female candidates must make up at least 20 percent of political party nomination lists, said Abu Khadra. The women's movement aims to increase the figure to at least 30 percent over the next few years, with an eye on nominating only efficient women, "not women for the sake of women," she said.

This law cannot dictate the degree of female representation in the election outcome but seems to have boosted numbers. The 1996 election produced seven percent women in parliament; after last January's poll the number soared to 17 percent.

"It's a credit to the Palestinian population and the women's movement," said Abu Khadra.

The women's movement issued a legal charter in the territories in 1994 whose principles are used to lobby the government to respect women's rights when issuing new laws.

Yet, this charter and legislation affecting women may be open to debate in light of the new Hamas government that ascended to the top political office in the Palestinian Authority. The religious-oriented party has heightened some people's fears since its election that it may eventually impose Islamic laws that diminish women's status.

Abu Khadra insists Palestinian women will not accept to "go backwards" by conforming to male-dictated Sharia law. But others point out Palestinian society may have no choice.

"Because of international pressure on Hamas to modify its discourse and politics, this means they will be more keen to keep their ideology and social agenda....otherwise this will create differences and splits within the Hamas party," said Khreish.

She said the controversial militant party has the capacity to change family and criminal law to correspond with the doctrine of Sharia law, in which women and men have unequal rights.

Non-governmental organisations predict Hamas is likely to develop a thorny relationship with the women's movement. But one limit on Hamas's potentially unbridled power may come to light should it attempt to change the constitution.

"If they start to show their power by controlling the movement of women, the appearance of women...we know that they will not be a success," said Khreish. This is because the government needs two-thirds of parliamentary votes to include Sharia law in the constitution, which is a mandate they do not have.

Not all men share Hamas's views. Abu Khadra said many men support her group's demands for equality. "We are not leading the battle alone."

From: http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=32405