Women in Gaza, Professor Islah Jad, Israel

News at IDS - Women in Gaza

Gazan woman looks at her destroyed house. Tom Pilston/ PanosIslah Jad - 16 January 2009

Islah Jad, a partner in the Pathways of Women's Empowerment Research Programme Consortium (of which IDS is the lead partner), gives a personal view on how the current conflict in Gaza is affecting Palestinian women.

'Women in Gaza have had no water, electricity, food, medicine, heat, fuel or shelter since the beginning of the war on Gaza on December 27. Women have to fetch water, wood, food and shelter for their families. Many women are seen digging through the rubble of their destroyed homes to look for their buried children. Two mothers were killed and their young kids were hanging to their bodies for four days with no food or water till the Red Cross reached their home. Whole families are being exterminated by Israeli artillery from air, sea and ground.

The example of the Samouni family is just one case. The Samouni family work on their agricultural land at the outskirts of Gaza, it is a big extended family. The Israeli army asked the family last week to stay together in one house. More than 160 gathered together, once they were all settled in one house the army opened fire killing 30 people, mostly women and children.

Tens of houses have been destroyed on their inhabitants’ heads. Many families moved to empty schools run by the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), the Israeli artillery followed them to their new refuge and killed, in one example 42 Palestinians, again mostly women and children were instantly killed which led the UNRWA director in Gaza to ask for an international investigation to document the many war crimes committed against the civilians in Gaza. Up to the moment of the writing of this text, the war on Gaza is approved by 91 per cent of the Israeli public.

Few Israeli organisations are making efforts to stand by the Palestinians, in particular Physicians for Human Rights. The Israeli women’s organisation at large did not move a finger to denounce the war crimes committed by their army and government against the Palestinian women and children. To this moment 930 Palestinians have been killed, 292 of them are children (32 per cent) and 75 women (8.2 per cent). However, no Israeli organisations for women or children took a clear cut position against this crazy war. In such situations the brunt of the war and re-organisation of the social fabric is left on women. Again, Palestinian women will be busy making ends meet with the rising level of poverty and unemployment. All the dreams about law reform, strategic gender needs and mainstreaming gender... all will be on the shelves for years to come.

Palestinian women have been demonstrating against Israel's military operation – what impact have these brave demonstrations had – and do you know of any other strategies women are using to mobilise and raise their voices against the violence?

Many women in Gaza risked their lives to save the besieged targeted groups in Gaza. Women, through their mass mobilisation, managed to save many houses from being demolished by Israeli artillery. Women are mobilised to provide vital emergency services for women in Gaza, women are also active in the media and mass communication to make their voices heard against this war.

So many strategies have been employed in the past to bring about peace – what the right path? In my view the way forward is very simple, more than 15 security council resolutions have been issued since 1948 to solve all aspects of the Palestinian cause that include the status of Jerusalem, borders, land, refugees, water and natural resources and a state for the Palestinians. None of these resolutions have been implemented – including the last one, number 1860, issued on January 8 2009 asking for an immediate ceasefire. To this moment the killing is business as usual because Israel has never abided by any UN resolution and was never punished for not implementing any of these resolutions. It is time to sanction and boycott the state of Israel to force this state to abide by the UN resolution and the international community.'

Islah Jad is a professor at Bir Zeit University, where she lectures on gender
and politics in the Women’s Studies Program and Cultural Studies Department

Image: Tom Pilston/ Panos
Related Resources

IDS Research on Gender

Gaza: Humanity and Human Rights

Pathways of Women's Empowerment

Institute of Women's Studies, Birzeit University
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