We have just visited the Gaza Strip where we met many courageous people trying to live relatively normal lives despite the crippling effects of the illegal Israeli blockade. The blockade was imposed to punish the Hamas-led government, but it is women and children who are paying the highest price.
In our conversations with a range of women, we learned that despite the apparent "easing" of restrictions by Israel and Egypt, important socio-economic indicators such as poverty, malnutrition, unemployment and family violence are getting worse. Women in this conservative society find their domestic responsibilities made all the more difficult and time-consuming by the blockade -- and they bear the brunt of society's frustration and anger in such trying times.
Equally disturbing are the creeping restrictions on women's freedom imposed by Hamas activists. These restrictions are not being imposed through the introduction of laws, but rather through party-led initiatives that are enforced without any system of accountability. For example, there is no legal decree stating that all schoolgirls must wear a headscarf, yet those who don't wear it are harassed. Women are punished if they smoke in public, while their male compatriots are allowed to do so. And at the beach, Gaza's main source of fun and entertainment, women and men are strictly segregated.
The erosion of women's freedoms is compounded by their lack of participation in politics. In Gaza, women already struggle to be heard. The absence of women from politics in turn fuels perceptions of women as passive; they are seen as victims of the ongoing conflict, rather than active participants in shaping opinions and political processes. Despite the extremely challenging circumstances in which they live, it was therefore encouraging to meet a remarkable group of women in Gaza who are working hard to counter prevailing stereotypes. They are doing it in particular through a UN mechanism called 1325.
Ten years ago, the United Nations Security Council adopted Resolution 1325, which recognized that sustainable peace could not be achieved in any conflict without the full participation -- and protection -- of women. We were impressed to see that women's groups in Gaza are working hard to mobilize support for the democratic principles of Resolution 1325. At the heart of this resolution is the conviction that women, like men, have a right to participate as decision-makers in all aspects of governance: Women have a right to a voice in institutions that are democratic and accountable, including those that govern peacemaking.
Women's groups in Gaza told us that they are doing their best to raise awareness about Resolution 1325 among local leaders. They have provided training to women on the ground in how to exercise their political rights. They have documented human rights violations and violence against women, and they participated in the UN investigation, led by Judge Richard Goldstone, to establish whether war crimes were committed during the devastating Israeli attack on Gaza in December 2008/January 2009. However, they don't feel that there has been any positive improvement in the lives of Gazan women.
Women activists are clamoring for help from beyond Gaza: "What we do ourselves is not enough", they told us. "We need help to make sure that our voices are heard in the outside world." These women are very keen to join networks worldwide who are working on Resolution 1325 and women's rights more generally; They want to stand in solidarity with women around the world and feel that they are not alone. They want to reach out to the wider international community, but they are penned in -- the blockade prevents them from doing so.
This is one, largely unrecognized, price of the blockade of Gaza: It is hampering women's efforts to cooperate and build a movement that can effectively advance gender equality. The effect extends beyond politics; the disempowerment of women hinders post-conflict reconstruction, reduces the likelihood that it will be sustainable, and prevents any meaningful progress on development.
As Elders, we call for the immediate and complete lifting of the blockade on Gaza. The ongoing siege is a denial of dignity; it is the denial of rights of a people, particularly its women, who yearn to be free.
Lakhdar Brahimi and Mary Robinson are both members of The Elders. Mary Robinson was the first woman President of Ireland from 1990 to 1997 and United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 1997 to 2002. Lakhdar Brahimi is a distinguished diplomat and mediator. He was Foreign Minister of Algeria from 1991 to 1993 and has led UN missions in South Africa, Iraq and Afghanistan.
Katherine Marshall: Fighting for Girls' Rights With God's Help: A Conversation with Aicha Ech-Channa
http://justworldnews.org/archives/004109.html
"... I am disappointed to see these two generally respected members of the generally wise "Elders" group engaging in this imperialistic kind of faux "feminism"... that is, the articulation by people strongly connected with the west (and that now certainly includes my old friend Lakhdar Brahimi) of a "particular" concern for the plight of the women living in non-western societies, based on the divisive argument that their own menfolk (based on their alleged backwardness, etc) repress them just as badly as their western colonial occupiers do.
Certainly the French used to adduce just exactly this same argument to help support the conceit that they were pursuing a mission civilisatrice in Brahimi's own native Algeria, back in the day. It is really disappointing to see him dragging it out of the attic now, 50 years later."
Neither Robinson nor Brahimi can plausibly claim to be ignorant of the fact that Nato-associated psyop plans involved 'selling' the Afghanistan war to European populations by claiming that the war was liberating women; one must notice the same propaganda pattern implicit in this writing about Gaza, which posits a genuine "false equivalence" between Israeli imperial brutality
and native religious extremism (which itself, as several commentators have pointed out, is largely inspired by Israeli imperial brutality, and which originally was in fact aided and abetted by Israeli secret services).
>>>"Nobody is saying Israeli blockade is the root cause of the oppression of Gaza women; but it is certainly contributing to making a bad situation for women a lot worse."
Firstly, that IS what is being said, in an insidious way. The article is entitled "Gaza's Blockade Silences Voices of Women". It is not entitled "Women in Gaza Are Oppressed by Islamists and Primitive Local Culture -- Blockade Makes it Worse".
Secondly, any HONEST person dealing with a problem (as opposed to Israel-haters merely exploiting it for their own purposes) seeks to treat its root cause. Removing the blockade would NOT remove the oppression of women in Gaza. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait, etc. are NOT under blockade. Still, women are very much oppressed there.
Thirdly, the whole logic of linking "poverty and unemployment" or other types of problems with gender inequality is rotten. Oppression of women is ubiquitous in the Arab world. It is the result of an unfortunate intersection of Islamic fundamentalism with a particular type of local cultural primitivism. Providing it with various excuses is fundamentally WRONG, as it justifies it, rather than condemning and correcting it. This is like saying that if your colleagues at work are nasty to you and you beat your wife -- it's your colleagues' fault!
"I met with some people while I was home dealing with domestic abuse. It has gotten out of hand," Reid said on the Senate floor, the Hill newspaper reports. "Why? Men don't have jobs."
Even though women are losing jobs as well, "women aren't abusive, most of the time," Reid said. "Men, when they're out of work, tend to become abusive."
There is evidence to support Reid's claim. A 2004 report from the National Institute of Justice found that unemployment is one of the factors "significantly associated with increased risk of violence."
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-6234592-503544.html
In addition, the blockade prevents Hamas from organizing terror acts against Israel. Which makes them more frustrated and more likely to abuse their women. Surely the Israelis should help Gazan women by proviing their manfolk with the opportunity of releasing some of the anger by blowing up ITS women and children. Shouldn't they?
I can't really speak for the Jewish people. But I'm sure if you ask them to "admit guilt", they'll oblige. They'll admit their guilt for the maltreatment of women in Gaza and throughout the Arab world. They'll certainly admit the guilt of dreaming about their ancestral land for 2000 years and returning to it at the first opportunity they had; of accepting to divide it with those who meanwhile migrated into it from the depths of Arabia; the guilt of defending themselves against a genocide attempt; of resisting numerous other aggressions, including acts of savage barbarism deliberately perpetrated against their defenseless; the guilt of being still willing, after all that, to make peace. Is that enough, or would you like them to "admit guilt" also for being butchered at Auschwitz?
And now, that we have established that the Jews are guilty as hell & Arabs innocent as angels, surely we can – as you suggested – "make just that little bit of progress toward peace". No?
Just out of curiosity, lonngfello: is it that you don't realize how ridiculous you are – or is it that you don't care??
No wonder Arabs have slumped into primitivism, despite their past civilization. It comes from the habit of always shifting the "guilt" on others, rather than taking a good look at themselves and correcting their own problems.
Then let's see who they aim at first: Israel or their husbands.
It isn't Israel that is making things worse.
It is people like you two.
Fan'ed and fav'ed.
Exactly what is Israel do to restrict their ability to communicate? They can travel through Rafah and any restriction there comes from Hamas or Egypt, not Israel.
Considering also that the blockade--BTW a joint operation of Israel and Egypt--was imposed because of rocket attacks by Hamas, the effects of that blockade lie on Hamas as well. If people were honest about all of this, they would be calling for Hamas to step down, cease hostilities with Israel, and let the Palestinian women--and men--prosper and live in peace.
And finally, the blockade is not a “joint operation” between Israel and Egypt. The Egyptians have their own reasons to restrict movement to Gaza.
You can try all the tricks in the book to defend the blockade, but the fact is it is largely and correctly seen as an illegal and inhumane measure by an occupying power.
The whole world is a wire-meld away.
Under siege conditions, with mounting poverty and unemployment, women become more likely to bear the brunt of men’s frustration and violence. To claim that there is no connection between the two sets of problems is nonsense. Nobody is saying Israeli blockade is the root cause of the oppression of Gaza women; but it is certainly contributing to making a bad situation for women a lot worse.
the fact remains, that this type of *mistreatment* of women, in gaza, happen largely because they can.
women have little in the way of *rights*, and less in the ability to fight mistreatment.
the *root* of the problem, has nothing to do with israel, it has to do with the culture and the roles
of men v women in that society.
"An extensive 2004 report by the National Institute of Justice found that the rate of violence against women increases as male unemployment increases. When a woman's male partner is employed, the rate of violence is 4.7 percent. It's 7.5 percent when the male experiences one period of unemployment. It's 12.3 percent when the male experiences two or more periods of unemployment."
http://womenslawreports.blogspot.com/2008/10/domestic-violence-increases-with.html
So if abuse is in the culture already as you claim, that means it gets worse with high unemployment and I would speculate even worse due to a higher level of frustration and lack of control over ones destiny while under Israel's subjugation.
Firstly, that is what is being said. The article is entitled "Gaza's Blockade Silences Voices of Women". It is not entitled "Women in Gaza Are Oppressed by Islamists and the Primitive Local Culture - and the Blockade Makes it Worse".
Secondly, any HONEST person dealing with a problem (as opposed to Israel-haters merely exploiting it for their own purposes) seeks to treat its root cause. Removing the blockade would NOT remove the oppression of women in Gaza. Saudi Arabia, Iran, Egypt, Jordan, Yemen, Bahrain, Kuwait, etc. are NOT under blockade. Still, women are oppressed there.
Thirdly, the whole logic of linking "poverty and unemployment" or other types of problems with gender inequality is rotten. The oppression of women is ubiquitous in the Arab world. It is the result of an unfortunate intersection of Islamic fundamentalism with a particular type of cultural primitivism. Providing it with various excuses is fundamentally WRONG, as it justifies it, rather than condemning and correcting it. This is like saying that if your colleagues at work are nasty to you and you beat your wife -- it's your colleagues' fault!
it is my understanding that the answer is no, that "pork is forbidden" by the islamic religion.
So what is your point?
The "logic" employed by the authors is, in simple terms: Hamas is oppressing the women, who would like to complain to the international community; but Israel's blockade of Gaza (set in place to bring Hamas down) prevents them from complaining (why??); therefore, their plight is Israel's fault, rather than Hamas's!! Ha??
This reminds me of a similar "report" published a few years ago. It analyzed the situation of Palestinian women and (among other things) reached the conclusion that they were frequently victims of domestic violence. So it promptly blamed… Israel for that. The logic was something like this: "because of Israeli-imposed restrictions on movement, the Palestinian men spend more time at home; therefore, they beat their wives more". Clearly, Israel's fault!
After being beaten by her husband, a woman blamed... the cab company: "had I found a cab", she claimed, "I could have escaped".
Now, for serious people: the ONLY way to improve the Arab women's lot is to:
- Bring down Islamist regimes such as Hamas, Hezboullah, Ayatollahs,Taliban, etc.
- Militate for cultural progress and development in the Arab world.
You seem to be seeing that the brutal occupation and siege conditions have no influence on people’s behavior! I wonder if you were living under the boot of the Israeli military (in addition to your choice of oppressive groups) if you would be making the same claim.
try as you may to continue to blame israel for the oppression of women, but it is simply
not true. the *occupation* is not what fuels, or is responsible for womens roles in gaza,
WB, or anywhere else. it is the belief system of which they live by.
This is not true for eveyone of course, but among believers it is nearly universal. There are no atheists in fox holes and there are few in the Gaza open air prison, where they do not control their own destiny.
or that even someone like Walid Husayin would not be under arrest for voicing he is an atheist online?
As we know the people of Gaza have been completely subjugated by Israel, and therefor are not in control of their own destiny and consequently turn to religion with their hope to be free of their oppressors. The belief that adhering to religious doctrine will solve ones problems, is what gives religion it's power over peoples lives and their decision making process.
In afghanistan women went to school and dressed in western garb in the 50s. Look at them today.
My point is we have no freaking idea what would happen if there was no Zionist project imposed on the region. Zero.
Actually, Pan-Arabism a secular in character, often also espousing socialist principles movement that started around the time of WWI as well as women's rights groups. The west put the Kibosh on that. After 50 years of divide and conquer at the hands of western imperialists and zionist expansionists... Who knows what the ME would be like. What we do know is the west provokes and encourages violent extremists to play for their own political purposes.
Where the article veers off course, badly, is in the allegation that somehow Israel is responsible for the Islamic theology that is the root of such oppression.
Hamas is the reason the blockade exists.
If you want the blockade to end and women to be free, you need to address the source. Because even if the blockade no longer existed, Hamas would still force women to wear burqas.
Hamas is not the most progressive organization (not unlike some factions of the Israeli government), but it does not force women to wear burqa. This is a fabrication and I challenge you to prove it.
"Non-governmental enforcement of hijab is found in many parts of the Muslim world.
Successful informal coercion of women by sectors of society to wear hijab has been reported inGaza where Mujama' al-Islami, the predecessor of Hamas,used "a mixture of consent and coercion" to "'restore' hijab" on urban educated women in Gaza.
Hamas factions called for a 'return' to Islam campaign that focused on the role of women. Hamas campaigned for the wearing of the hijab alongside other measures, including insisting women stay at home, segregation from men and the promotion of polygamy.
In the course of this campaign women who chose not to wear the hijab were verbally and physically harassed, with the result that the hijab was being worn 'just to avoid problems on the streets'"
contnd.
"Following the takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, Hamas attempted to implement Islamic law inGaza, mainly at schools, institutions and courts by imposing the Islamic dress or hijab on women.
Palestinian Supreme Court Justice Abdel Raouf Al-Halabi ordered women lawyers to wear headscarves and caftans in court, attorneys contacted satellite television stations including Al Arabiya to protest, causing Hamas’s Justice Ministry to cancel the directive, But
Islamic group Swords of Truth threatened to behead female TV broadcasters if they didn't wear strict Islamic dress. "We will cut throats, and from vein to vein, if needed to protect the spirit and moral of this nation," their statement said. The group accused women broadcasters of being "without any ... shame or morals." Personal threats against female broadcasters were also sent to the women's mobile phones. Gazan anchorwomen interviewed by the AP said that they were frightened by the Swords of Truth's statements."
This article struck me as silly, but that's only my opinion.