Besides Israeli Conflict, Palestinian Women Also Victims Of Their Own Society

by Sanjay Suri

(IPS) LONDON -- Palestinian women are becoming victims three times over in the Middle East conflict, Amnesty International researchers say.

"First, directly as a result of violations by the Israeli army, and secondly through indirect consequences such as increased unemployment and poverty," Donatella Rovera, lead author of an Amnesty report on Palestinian women, told IPS by phone from Jerusalem.

The third level is more stealthy but no less damaging. "The negative factors that existed in Palestinian society before the conflict have been strengthened, so the situation has become worse for women," Rovera said.

Palestinian women, says an Amnesty report 'Women Carry the Burden' released Thursday, "have borne the brunt of the escalation of the conflict and decades of Israeli occupation, while in Palestinian society they are subjected to a system of laws and norms that treats them as unequal members of society."

Sweeping restrictions have led to unprecedented levels of poverty, unemployment and health problems for the entire Palestinian population in the occupied territories, the report says. "Mobility restrictions, refusal or delay of passage at Israeli army checkpoints, blockades and curfews, have caused multiple complications for women in need of medical care, and in some cases have even resulted in the death of patients."

Scores of women have been forced to give birth at checkpoints, by the roadside, and several have lost their babies because Israeli soldiers denied them passage, the report says. The fear of not being able to reach hospital in time to give birth has become a major source of anxiety for Palestinian women throughout the occupied territories, it says.

But such troubles and those arising from poverty and unemployment are only the more obvious consequences of the conflict. Women have been "at the receiving end of growing pressures, and violence in the family and society" arising from the "damage caused to the fabric of Palestinian society," the report says.

"What makes it more difficult in the last four-and-a-half years is that women are now less inclined to seek help or to complain," Rovera said. "At a time of facing aggression they feel it is their duty to put aside their personal problems. They are not only suffering more, but less able to seek help."

The Amnesty report says that although there are no reliable statistics, violence against women in the family, including sexual abuse, rape and so-called 'honor killings' in the occupied territories have increased in the past four-and-a-half years but often those responsible for such killings have not been brought to justice.

Old tribal ways of justice have been growing stronger, Rovera said, arising from the Palestinian history of never having become a state, she said. "They were under Jordanian rule, then Egyptian rule, and then in 1967 they came under Israeli military occupation. They were never allowed to develop their own judicial systems. So they have turned to traditional methods of sorting out problems."

Palestinians acquired quasi-governmental structures through the Palestinian Authority (PA) in the mid-nineties, Rovera said. "But since the end of 2000 the Israeli army has destroyed police stations, security, prisons, institutions, and this has left a complete void."

The police cannot function, the judges can often not get to a court because of roadblocks, and "in a situation like this what can women do except to try to sort things out through family clans," Rovera said. "And these are patriarchal systems, to the disadvantage of women, they do not favour participation of women in society."

It means that women faced with the threat of 'honour killings' often have nowhere to do, Rovera said. And more immediate consequences of the conflict can manifest themselves at the same time, she said. "Escaping to safety is a big problem because of the blockades and restrictions on movement."

At least 50 women are known to have given birth at roadblocks since the beginning of this Intifadah, the Palestinian uprising, in September 2000, Rovera said. "But that is only the most dramatic example of the impact of the restrictions," she said. "It also means that antenatal and postnatal care have decreased substantially."

Both Israeli and Palestinian authorities must take concrete steps to put an end to the suffering of Palestinian women, Amnesty said.

"Israel as an occupying power has an obligation to ensure adequate medical care for Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and especially pregnant women, according to the Fourth Geneva Convention, but Israel has consistently disregarded its obligation and the army has often impeded access for Palestinian women, children and men to healthcare facilities," said Amnesty International.

The Amnesty report says that more than 4,000 homes and vast areas of agricultural land have been destroyed by the Israeli army since end of 2000, leaving tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of them women and children, homeless and destitute. "Women have been particularly affected by house demolitions and by the increased tensions which often develop within the families as a result," the report says.