Hello to you on International Women’s Day!
I know I don’t usually drop into your inbox on a Friday, but this is no ordinary Friday, right?
Firstly, let me remind you that International Women’s Day (IWD) was never intended to be a Hallmark occasion. It wasn’t soft, pink and fluffy. It wasn’t hijacked by men who wanted to centre themselves. From its inception, IWD was intended to unite, inspire and mobilise women across the world. It recognised that although women were not (and never would be) one homogeneous group, they were united by one pressing need – to reclaim their sovereignty in a male-dominated world.
As I’m writing this, the war on Gaza is in its sixth month. Since the beginning, the World Health Organization and other major world agencies have warned that it is women (alongside children and newborns) who are “disproportionately bearing the burden of hostilities, both as casualties and in reduced access to health services.” Women are giving birth in the streets amid rubble, having c-sections without anaesthesia and there are approximately 700,000 women and girls who are menstruating and who cannot access period products, toilet paper or running water.
What we also see is that women’s activism – the very essence of what International Women’s Day is about – not only continues but thrives - both inside and outside of Gaza. Women mobilise, women organise, women speak, protest and write.
We shouldn’t be surprised by this. In fact, Palestinian women have a long and rich history of activism. Let’s go back to the days of World War One when Western imperialists defeated the Ottoman Empire and then carved up the spoils. Palestine, which had been part of Greater Syria, was not brought under French control. Interesting, right? Instead, it came under the British Mandate. In 1917, Britain issued the Balfour Declaration, which promised to create a Jewish homeland for the Jewish people of Palestine. The Balfour Declaration also said that the rights of the ‘Indigenous population’ of Palestine would be maintained, though exactly who this applied to and what rights they meant were never clarified.
To say that Palestinian women did not protest before the Balfour Declaration would be inaccurate. However, Balfour prompted them to step things up a notch. Not only did Palestinian women take part in the first public demonstration against the Declaration in 1920, they were also part of the delegation that demanded its repeal.
In 1929, the founding of the Arab Women’s Congress marked the birth of the Palestinian women’s movement. In Jerusalem on 26th October, some 200 Palestinian women demanded a repeal of the Balfour Delcaration, an end to Jewish immigration and the development of industry and the economy, alongside a national government that included a legislative council.
In the early 1930s, women’s participation in protests dramatically increased. So much so that in 1933, just after women called for a general strike and demonstration in Jerusalem, the British High Commissioner, Arthur Wauchope, commented:
If you want to take your knowledge of this topic further, there are some resources at the end of this post. What I absolutely do not want to do is emphasise the ‘resilience’ of Palestinian women. Resilience does not end conflict, nor does it solve the many, many problems that Palestinian women and girls are currently experiencing. Frankly, I’m sick to death of women’s resilience being highlighted. International Women’s Day is about radical change. Highlighting resilience is just a distraction technique.
What I want to do instead is A) emphasise that this need for radical change is only increasing, B) highlight the Balfour Declaration as a turning point for women in Palestine, and C) remind you that Palestinian women have been fighting for a long time. When, I wonder, is the rest of the world going to lend a hand?
Until next time,
Kaye x
Resources:
Interactive Encyclopedia of the Palestine Question.