Sama Aweidah (Jerusalem, 1959) is one of the women who laid the first stone of feminism in Palestine. She is general director of the Center for Women’s Studies in Palestine, but has also been coordinator of the Arab Women’s Forum or founder of the first feminist organization in Palestine in 1978.
Today, as then, she promotes gender equality among her fellow citizens, a difficult goal in a society “so conservative” that it continues to commit “honor killings” against victims of sexual violence. Added to this is that, since the war in Gaza began, women simultaneously suffer in their bodies the violence of the soldier, the neighbor and the system. Aweidah spoke about this in her speech at the International Conference on hate speech and sexual rights organized by Calala in Barcelona.
The conflict began a little over a year ago and there seems to be no end in sight. How are they?
Surviving. The situation is not good. Furthermore, now you cannot go from the West Bank to Jerusalem and vice versa and we have not seen our family or friends for a long time. It is also difficult to work with NGOs in the territory because the borders are closed. We cannot deliver food, clothing or medicine. The only thing we can send is money, but what’s the point if there’s nothing to buy?
You focus your work on women. In the few images that there are of them in this conflict we see them hugging corpses of their children or husbandswhile we see the men fighting. What is the true role of women in this war?
Even though men are more involved in fighting, there are also some women. In the 70s, some political parties created grassroots women’s organizations, so there have always been women focused on defending the Palestinian cause from the streets.
But during this genocide things have changed. They cannot leave their children in these circumstances, so they must take care of the children. As a conservative society, men have to be fighting in the streets and women have to take refuge, take cover with the little ones. But Israel is bombing homes, schools and hospitals, so women and children become the most vulnerable.
Women and children in war zones face many difficulties that the world cannot imagine.
Many families have had to move to refugee camps. What is the situation there?
I will tell you that for every 16 tents, there is one bathroom. Imagine how many hours a woman has to wait to go to the bathroom. While men can do it wherever they want. This may seem silly, but in addition, there is no running water and, furthermore, while they are standing in those long lines, anything can happen to them. Women and children in war zones face many difficulties that the world cannot imagine.
She assures that Palestinian women experience double oppression. Besides Israeli bombs, what are they afraid of?
To everything. Many of them do not sleep at night because, if they rest, anyone could enter the tent and abuse their daughters. They are very afraid of being sexually assaulted, both by Palestinian men and Israeli soldiers.
What happens to a woman who has been raped? How does Palestinian society receive it?
The soldiers try by all means to rape as many girls and women as they can. And not only because of the act itself, but because they know that with this they are going to harm their families. In fact, it is a way to humiliate the entire society.
I give an example: when a woman is arrested and taken to prison, she is forced to walk naked in the street. On one occasion, a man took off his shirt and pants so she could get dressed, and the soldiers nearly killed them both.
Associations like yours focus on education, but a few years ago the Palestinian government suspended a training program to prevent sexual harassment because it considered that it “spread the vice.” What happened?
We had two programs with the Ministry of Education to increase awareness among adolescents about sexual harassment and child marriage. We were attacked by the Islamic Liberation Party, who said we were explaining immoral things to children. And, consequently, the Government canceled the programs and we are not allowed to work in schools.
Despite this, although we cannot deal directly with children and adolescents, we continue to train social workers and teachers. They know the importance of warning young people about these issues, so they continue to do so incognito, without schools or, often, families knowing.
What does it mean to have lost a program like this?
That young people do not have a safe place to talk about their experiences or explain if they have been victims of sexual assault. And now, in the midst of this conflict, we see that it is a very important need. When the genocide began, the Government promised us that it would reinstate it, but it has not happened yet.
Aren’t families a safe place to explain these kinds of things?
I will only tell you that, in many cases, families do not accept that their daughter has been raped and end up killing her. ‘Honor killing’, they call it.
Many families do not accept that their daughter has been raped and end up killing her. ‘Honor killing’, they call it
What is the life of a widowed woman like?
Very hard. Especially because of the economic situation. Many men used to work in Israel and now they cannot go there because they are either dead, in prison, or because the crimes have intensified. check points. At least in the West Bank, families can access aid from other countries, but Gaza is completely blocked. There is no food or drink, sometimes for days.
As a Palestinian society we are trying to help each other. It is the only good thing that the genocide has brought: solidarity between families is increasing because, before October 7, a widowed woman would not have had so much help. Women’s organizations are trying to pressure for this cooperation to persist after the conflict.
What does a woman have to do to get food?
It depends on where you are. The problem, usually, is that when they are able to find food, the prices are prohibitive. The only option is to access the food that some NGOs distribute for free, but this often involves waiting for hours.
Normally, it is the children who stand in line to get water and food for their loved ones. Families prefer them instead of girls or mothers because they are afraid that, while waiting, they will be victims of sexual harassment or violence.
How do you plan the future of an entire generation of children who have not been able to go to school and who are growing up surrounded by violence?
This is one of the most difficult consequences Gaza will face. There are many volunteer teachers who are teaching groups of children. But the training is not continuous. Every now and then they are bombed and have to move and flee. We are talking about children who have not gone to school for two years, but that is not the priority of families. The most important thing is to survive.
What worries me a lot is the emotional well-being of this generation. They are losing the feeling of security and protection. It will take many years to heal the damage they are suffering.
#Sama #Aweidah #Palestinian #feminist #activist #Israeli #soldiers #rape #women
