As a Middle Eastern Women, living in a country surrounded by war zones, I witnessed life examples of activists working against the unjust ruling in occupied territories. Since I was a little girl, the occupied land of Palestine was one of the most important issues we faced in the Arab world. I’ve heard many stories from my parents about beautiful Palestine and the time they used to live happily in “God’s haven”, as they used to call it. I was raised to admire and respect the efforts of the Palestinian women, and their resilience in the face of the Israeli ethnic cleansing of Palestine, who are on a daily bases trying to resist the oppression of the Israeli military occupation with their bare hands. For me these women have fought the other battles for the freedom of their day, they have moved on to advocate for their own rights. And, since feminism is simply a logical extension of democracy, the world is facing a situation in which it will be almost impossible to force these awakened women to stop their fight for freedom – their own and that of their communities.
Rationale:
I wanted to write about the Palestinian women and their daily struggle against the Israeli military occupation because I consider those women as my role models; they symbolize power and determination. Palestinian women are very courageous and confident, they fight against the Israeli soldiers, tanks and machine guns. They fight the aggressors who trespassed and stole their lands, destroyed their homes, divided their families, killed their sons and husbands.
Palestinians are reminding the world that they were dispossessed 70 years ago, and this injustice has still not been remedied. Palestinian women, as much as men, have a vital stake in finding a solution to the conflict, that will provide safety and certainty for the next generation.
Keywords: Palestinian women, Role models, Power, Determination
Author: Jadal
Thanks for sharing this, Jadal. It’s been really enlightening comparing your experiences in the Arab world with experiences here in Canada.
The more I read about Palestine and Israel and its connections to the Canadian state and Indigenous sovereignty, the more the parallels between the two are irrefutable.
Like Israel, Canada is occupying sovereign Indigenous territory through legal, political, and militaristic means.
Like in Palestine, Indigenous resistance movements couldn't happen without the leadership and guidance of women, non-binary, and trans folks.
Like Israel, Canada uses its world reputation as a place supportive of LGBTQ rights, as we've seen in other posts on this website about Pinkwashing, in order to mask its colonial violence and occupation on Turtle Island.
These parallels…