[Ppnews] Hana al-Shalabi’s hunger strike is the focus of Women’s Day in Palestine

[Political Prisoner News]

Hana al-Shalabi’s hunger strike is the focus of Women’s Day in Palestine

<http://electronicintifada.net/people/jillian-kestler-damours>Jillian 
Kestler-D'Amours
http://electronicintifada.net/content/interview-why-hana-al-shalabis-hunger-strike-focus-womens-day-palestine/11036
7 March 2012

Palestinians will mark International Women’s Day 
(8 March) this year with solidarity actions for 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/hana-al-shalabi>Hana 
al-Shalabi, who has now spent more than three 
weeks on hunger strike in protest of being held 
under Israeli 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/administrative-detention>administrative 
detention without charge or trial.

Al-Shalabi is the second Palestinian prisoner in 
recent weeks ­ the first being 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/khader-adnan>Khader 
Adnan, who ended his fast after 66 days ­ to go 
on hunger strike as a way to draw attention to 
Israel’s use of administrative detention and 
mistreatment of Palestinian prisoners.

“In Palestine, Women’s Day is a day of struggle,” 
wrote 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/janan-abdu>Janan 
Abdu, a political activist and wife of 
Palestinian prisoner 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/ameer-makhoul>Ameer 
Makhoul, in the call-out announcing Women’s Day 
as a day in solidarity with al-Shalabi.

“Despite the achievements of some significant 
things, which were achieved as a result of long 
paths of struggle, we shouldn’t celebrate yet as 
we are still Palestinian women, whether in 
Palestine 1948 or in the West Bank and Gaza or 
the diaspora suffering from colonialism, 
occupation, discrimination and racism,” she stated.

The Electronic Intifada contributor Jillian 
Kestler-D’Amours interviewed Khitam Saafin, 
chairwoman of the Union of Palestinian Women’s 
Committees about the challenges Palestinian women 
face today and why al-Shalabi’s hunger strike should be supported.

Jillian Kestler-D’Amours: Tell me a bit about the 
Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.

Khitam Saafin: The Union of Palestinian Women’s 
Committees is a mass-based organization for 
women. It was established in 1980 as a framework 
for lifting up Palestinian women, to organize 
them and to support ourselves, as women, to 
participate in our national struggle and towards 
achieving full equality for Palestinian women. 
Since then, we are working as a mass-based 
organization, organized in a democratic system, 
working with the whole Palestinian women and community towards our goals.

JKD: What challenges do Palestinian women face?

KS: The first challenge and the first problem 
that we face is the occupation itself and all of 
its policies and strategies against our people. 
The occupation itself is a crime and its whole 
policies ­ in arresting people, in confiscating 
land, in building settlements, in taking our 
water, in using checkpoints, in the 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/gaza-siege>siege 
of Gaza ­ all of these policies are considered in 
human rights laws and international laws as crimes against humanity.

The burden of massive oppression in any society 
comes indirectly on the shoulders of the women. 
Palestinian women face these challenges strongly 
but they have a big burden to hold. This is the first challenge.

The second challenge is the traditional society, 
which was considered and is still considered an 
obstacle towards full equality and [in] dealing 
with women as equal people in the Palestinian 
society. We know that this social challenge is a 
global challenge for women, even in countries who 
have secular or more equal laws. It is a 
challenge because it is based on a kind of 
discrimination, and on the traditional and the 
historical discrimination against women.

This is a big and long process and road that we 
have to go through to achieve our democratic rights as women, as equal people.

JKD: Has the Israeli occupation had an impact on 
the challenges women face within Palestinian society?

KS: The occupation used this traditional 
[Palestinian] mentality to reduce the 
participation of women in general life. First 
they claimed that there are no Palestinian 
people. And after that, they claimed that the 
Palestinian population is very traditional and 
they are not modern and they don’t have the right 
to be part of the world because they are not 
modern. This is a kind of racism, you know.

Second, through the great expulsion of our people 
in the 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/nakba>Nakba 
[catastrophe; the wave of ethnic cleansing that 
led to Israel’s establishment in 1948], they 
destroyed the structure of our society. A new 
structure began to be seen according to the fact 
that about half of our population are refugees, 
[and because of] losing our lands, losing our 
system of life. Many things were destroyed.

After that, the occupation tried to use this 
traditional view of women to force the 
[Palestinian] males and the heads of the families 
to stop women from struggling against the 
occupation. They used this mentality to threaten 
women in prisons, and [to say to women] that 
[their] family will neglect [them], all to try to 
give a bad [impression on] the women who are 
participating in the national struggle.

So, yes, the occupation was part and is still 
part of the reasons that prevent the natural, 
progressive way of our society, including the women’s issue.

JKD: The UPWC believes that gender issues are 
linked to class issues. Tell me about this.

KS: We believe that the discrimination against 
women is related to the [capitalist] system 
around the world. This discrimination began when 
the private sector began ruling the world. The 
[status of women], in the interests of capital 
and the private sector, came down and in some 
communities, [women] were used as a good.

For us, as a union of Palestinian women, we 
consider the whole [Israeli] occupation as a kind 
of capitalist, imperialist project in our land 
and it is related to this whole system of 
imperialism, dependent on capitalism and private 
entities. We believe that in the long-term, 
discrimination against women won’t be ended 
unless we live as women in a full, equal and social society.

As I said in the beginning, the burden of the 
general oppression, in any society, comes on 
women because they are considered [to be] the weaker part.

JKD: Palestinian women played a large role in the 
first intifada. Today, we see women participating 
in popular resistance in the West Bank, including 
in the weekly protests in places like 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/nabi-saleh>Nabi 
Saleh,. How would you describe the participation 
of women in Palestinian popular resistance today?

KS: The first intifada was full, popular work. It 
was dependent on bodies that were ready to be 
active. For example, our union was well 
established and well organized and able to be 
active and to mobilize women in good ways in the 
first intifada. There was a very big 
participation of women and it raised new 
questions for the Palestinian women’s movement 
[with regards to] the future, Palestinian 
statehood, the Palestinian entity and the role of 
women. This was a big opportunity for women to 
present themselves as real participants in political and social life.

These days, when we are talking about the 
[demonstrations] in many places in Palestine, 
especially near the confiscated lands, I think we 
need, as Palestinian people, to improve our 
strategy for popular resistance. [We need] to 
make it not [only] occasionally and mostly on 
Fridays and only in some areas 
 that will give 
more spaces for women to participate.

But, even in this situation, women are trying to 
raise their participation in these activities. 
For me, it is not enough. Women must have their 
special way to participate. There is 
participation of women [in the demonstrations], 
but we have to improve it and make it better in the future.

JKD: How would you suggest making it better?

KS: I think through collective plans from 
different organizations of the women’s movement, 
and to find tools and actions that women can 
participate and be part of easily. When we are 
talking about Fridays, Fridays is the formal 
holiday for the families. If the woman is working 
all the days of the week, this day is used not to 
take a rest, but to do household work. I know it 
is not an excuse because we are struggling, but 
these are the circumstances of Palestinian women. 
Also when we are talking about only some places 
here or there [that hold demonstrations], the 
access for women to reach these places is not 
always easy, especially the women who are living far away.

Also the women are active more in the 
<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/bds>boycott 
campaigns, [and] in solidarity with prisoners’ 
campaigns. You know these days we have the hunger 
strike of Hana al-Shalabi. Women must have 
solidarity and support Hana in her strike.

JKD: Do you think that Hana will garner as much 
attention as Khader Adnan, the Palestinian 
prisoner who recently ended his hunger strike after more than sixty days?

KS: I don’t know. It depends on herself. For us 
as Palestinian women and as the Palestinian 
population, we are ready to support her in her 
decision because she is the person who is 
undertaking this strike and this battle with 
administrative detention. We are ready to support 
her until she achieves her goals and we, of 
course, salute her for her strong position 
confronting administrative detention.

JKD: Do you feel that she is also drawing 
attention to Palestinian women prisoners, who are often overlooked?

KS: I think it is a big issue for Palestinian 
women as prisoners. Nowadays, we have six female 
prisoners. I think that it brings the issue of 
women as political prisoners more and more in the 
high level of concerns of the world. The United 
Nations must be responsible for the whole 
violations that are going on against our people. 
These prisoners are war prisoners, not security 
prisoners, not criminals; they are freedom fighters for their rights.

JKD: What else is being done right now to promote 
and protect Palestinian women’s rights?

KS:This is a long struggle and to make social 
change you need a long time and you need a very 
strong will to go on. What was done is from the 
beginning, the women’s movement, even before the 
’80s ­ it was a struggle through the national struggle.

After the 
[<http://electronicintifada.net/tags/plo>Palestine 
Liberation Organization’s] declaration of 
independence in 1988, it was the question of the 
coming independent Palestinian state and the role 
of every person in it. In the independence 
document, it was clear that there is no 
discrimination between men and women, but this is 
theoretical. On the ground, we have to work.

We worked on awareness. We worked on 
mobilization. We worked on some campaigns for 
political participation. We are preparing our 
proposals for new laws reducing the level of 
discrimination against women. It is [about 
raising] more awareness, more mobilizing for 
ourselves as women, and more pressure and 
lobbying through the decision-making [bodies] in the Palestinian society.

JKD: Are Palestinian women aware of the resources that are available to them?

KS: In general, they are aware but we have to 
present the women’s organizations better. That 
means to give these consultations and services 
for women to make them more aware about the 
women’s movement organizations. We try to reach 
them and to give them services, for their 
children, for their awareness, for their 
vocational training. We try to make them reach 
the resources for education, for economic resources.

JKD:Are you working on opening up a dialogue on gender issues in Palestine?

KS: We are talking on many levels, and we have our awareness work day by day.

For us as a union, we have a program with the 
General Union of Palestinian Women. We have 
another program for encouraging young women for 
political participation. We have programs for 
encouraging women and giving them a kind of 
economic empowerment. We are active, but it is 
not enough. We are not covering the whole Palestinian society.

If every organization works alone and tries to 
cover all the Palestinian society in the West 
Bank and Gaza, it is not enough. No one can work 
alone. So we have coalitions for some things and 
we try to build more and more networks.

JKD: If there was one thing you would want people 
to know about the situation Palestinian women face, what would it be?

KS: I say that Palestinian women deserve to live 
free in their independent state with the right of 
return, the right of our people to 
self-determination, the right of establishing our 
independent state with Jerusalem as a capital. 
For the people all over the world, justice means 
freedom. Justice means ending occupation. Justice 
means full equality for all of the people, men and women, everywhere.

We are part of the freedom strugglers around the 
world and we are asking all the freedom voices to 
bring solidarity with our cause and also, we are 
in solidarity with all the people who are asking 
for their democratic freedom and rights.

Jillian Kestler-D’Amours is a reporter and 
documentary filmmaker based in Jerusalem. More of 
her work can be found at <http://jkdamours.com/>http://jkdamours.com/.




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