No day is women's day in Gaza

Mohammed Omer

Mahasen Darduna suffers in ways the world recognizes;
her suffering comes at the hands of the Israelis. But there
are many Palestinian women whose suffering the world
does not see, because their hell is inflicted on them by
fellow Palestinians. One way or another, no day is
woman's day in Gaza.

For a week, Mahasen Darduna, 30, has sat day and
night by her son's bedside in the hospital. The boy, Yahiya,
9, was among a group of children hit by an Israeli missile
while playing football on a field at the Jabaliya refugee
camp. Yahia survived, but with severe injuries.

"He needs my support, he has been confined to this
bed since he was maimed by the Israeli missile,"
Mahasen says. But she must also slip away often to
see her other five children, who she has moved to her
mother-in-law's house in belief they will be safer there.

"I think of them constantly when we are apart. I feel
terrible: two are getting sick, and they all cry each
time we say goodbye. I can't be at both places."

In the same hospital room, Umm Ali Faraj looks after
her seven-year- old son, who suffered a cracked skull
in a bombing. Umm Ali too has rearranged her family
life. Four of her seven children stay with her in the hospital.
Umm Ali goes back and forth between hospital and home,
cooking for the children and sending them to school.

Like Mahasen and Umm Ali, countless women have
suffered through more than 40 years of Israeli occupation.

"Palestinian women's lives are incredibly difficult under
the crippling international siege and the Israeli army's
killing invasions," says Nadyia Abu Nahla, director of the
Women's Affairs Technical Centre in Gaza, an independent
group that supports women's rights.

The large number of women who have been forced to give
birth at army checkpoints is well documented by
international and Israeli rights groups. Israel's policy of
demolishing Palestinian homes has collectively punished
tens of thousands of women in Gaza and the West Bank,
rendering them and their children homeless.

But through this period, women have also struggled
against denial of their rights by Palestinian society.

"The dire economic situation is one of the causes of an
increase of violence in Gaza," Abu Nahla told IPS. With
resistance to the siege and military attacks, religious
fanaticism has grown, and that has contributed to an
increase in violence against women, she said.

"Islam forbids violence against women, and forbids the
use of women as slaves," explains Sheikh
Dr. Hassan al-Jojo, head of Gaza's Legitimacy Court,
the main court for society and family issues. But he also
acknowledges that women do not have their full rights.

"Honor killing" has increased, according to Abu Nahla.
At least 17 women have died in "honor killings" in Gaza
last year, her center reports. This was the highest number
of "honor killings" since 2003 when 34 women were killed
in Gaza and the West Bank.

Neither the Jordanian criminal laws enforced in the
West Bank nor Egyptian law observed in Gaza effectively
prohibit or appropriately punish violence against women.
Women are rarely encouraged to use the courts, or to seek
the help of social services for rehabilitation.

Police chief investigator Mussa Dawoud told IPS that
violence against women is taken seriously. But in trying
to solve problems, he says that the police try to protect
the family structure, and avoid complications that could
lead to divorce.

Police officers and clan seniors routinely mediate to resolve
issues around family violence, but provide solutions that
usually mean that the abused woman is sent back to her
husband. When women receive support to take a strong
stand, they face pressure and punishment from
abusive men.

According to Abu Nahla, one 29-year-old woman from
Khan Younis is not allowed by her husband to use the
phone or even send a text message. She is locked up at
home daily, and on one occasion could not take her sick child
to hospital. Abu Nahla adds that other women have been
beaten by their husbands for visiting relatives without
permission.

Only 13 percent of Palestinian Legislative Council members
are women, with fewer holding leading positions. "This
is not enough, Abu Nahla explains, "we are hoping there
will be more seats for women" and "that there will be safety
at home in every way."