Aditi Sharif :
“I am like Palestine. My wounds are deep. We Palestinians are all wounded and strangers in the world (Abu-Lughod, 2013) .”
This quote was taken from the book of American-Palestinian Anthropologist Lila Abu Lughod which expressed the immense grief about a Palestinian woman who had to leave her motherland due to the Zionist usurpation. When I decided to write about Palestinian women, I was quite certain that I would write about their sufferings in the recent ‘war’(can we call this asymmetrical battle a ‘war’?. Possibly we don’t have any proper answer to this question) between Israel and Palestine. However, I couldn’t understand how to start while writing this piece. Most possibly I got overwhelmed by the narratives, narratives that describe the injustice that has occurred against Palestinian people. So, I decided to borrow the voice of Lila Abu Lughod, a Palestinian-American Anthropologist. In her book “Do Muslim Women Need Saving?”, she described how Muslim Women, as a homogeneous category, were constructed by the Westerns. To support her argument, she told us the story of her aunt, who got married at a very young age to an aged, educated person with whom she couldn’t adjust. Then the greatest challenge of her life came in 1948 when she was forced to move to Egypt and lead a life of refugees(Abu-Lughod, 2013). Can her situation be compared with those of other women, who lead a ‘normal life? I think that we all know the answer would be negative. For some apparent reasons, the question makes the proponents of mainstream feminism uncomfortable, eventually leading to an awkward silence and even more awkward mumbling.
In this regard, I want to present some facts about the current situation of this historical issue. On 7th October 2023, Hamas attacked Israel and killed 1139 people. Around 259 were kept hostages. As a revenge plan, Israel devastated Gaza. As a consequence, more than eighty percent of the population in Gaza has been displaced and more than 29000 people have been killed. Like their male counterparts, Palestinian women are treated inhumanely. Sometimes, their assaults get multiplied due to their gender identity. They are suffering from food, medicine, menstrual pads, and physical torture. It is allegedly said that women, who were detained, were kept in a cage in bad weather and became starved. They were often victims of sexual assaults and violence( Al Jazeera, 2024;UN Women Palestine, n.d.).
The shocking fact is the agonies of Palestinian women are quite invisible among women’s rights activists around the world and it is not a recent phenomenon. Historically, the oppression of women living in developing countries (especially in Muslim countries) has been intricately associated with capitalism and imperialism. Nevertheless, a significant number of women right’s activists tend to generalize the complicated webs of oppression in terms of religion or traditions. However, their hypocrisy got caught when it came to Palestine. As a consequence, they chose to remain silent or try to act like a neutral sportsman. But who doesn’t know that being neutral in a time of crisis would not be worthwhile in many senses(Abu-Lughod, 2013; Tabassum, 2024; Mohanty, 1984; Said, 1979)?
As a juvenile feminist, I strongly believe that feminism, both as an ideology and a movement, can work to create an inclusive society where no woman will feel guilty for her gender identity. However, to create such a society, we must recognize that the notion of ‘women’ is not universal. Women worldwide are leading quite different and diversified lives in terms of history, tradition, class, and many other factors(Hooks, 1984). The oppression of women in the global south can never be understood without the history of subjugation, the history of Colonialism, and Imperialism(Abu-Lughod, 2013; Hooks, 1984; Mohanty, 1984; Said, 1979). The generalized economic empowerment and emancipation story would not apply to all(Escober, 2011). It is high time that we should recognize the differences, and the complex webs of oppression and raise our voices no matter how many differences exist among us and the women, who are victims of oppression. If we can’t do that, we will never win the war against injustice and inequality. We can learn from the student protests in renowned universities worldwide or the grassroots movements on behalf of the Palestinians. Let’s not restrict feminism to some elite spaces or ideologies that only support the growth of neoliberalism.
About the writer:
Aditi Sharif is a Social Researcher, currently researching Gender Inequalities, Migration, and Climate Change.
References:
- Abu-Lughod, L. (2013). Do Muslim Women Need Saving? Harvard University Press. https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt6wpmnc
- Al Jazeera (Feb, 19,2024) UN experts warn of Israeli violations against Palestinian women, girls. , from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/2/19/un-experts-warn-of-israeli-violations-against-palestinian-women-girls
- Escober, (2011).Encountering Development | Princeton University Press. https://press.princeton.edu/books/paperback/9780691150451/encountering-development
- Hooks, B. (2000). Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center (2nd edition). South End Press.
- Mohanty, C. T. (n.d.). Under Western Eyes: Feminist Scholarship and Colonial Discourses.
- Said, E. W. (1979). Orientalism. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
- Tabassum, N.N.(March 8, 2024) Lessons from Palestinian feminist organising. (2024, May 2). https://www.newagebd.net/article/227317/lessons-from-palestinian-feminist-organising?fbclid=IwAR3qWgVwXaYCbZql_g23hWT9BpHYxmU_9KVDe09XLwNUI4xGe5EDqbOp__U
- UN Women, Palestine, (n.d.). Facts and estimates: Women and girls during the conflict in Palestine. UN Women – Palestine Country Office. Retrieved May 6, 2024, from https://palestine.unwomen.org/en/what-we-do/peace-security-humanitarian-response/facts-and-figures/conflict-in-palestine
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