Head of MIFTAH’s Board of Directors, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi yesterday met with French Consul General in Palestine, Mr. René Troccaz, and the political and media advisor at the consulate, Ms. Lydia Tabtab, at MIFTAH’s Ramallah office.

They discussed French-Palestinian relations and the latest regional and international developments. They also touched on developments in the Palestinian arena, especially the upcoming Palestinian elections, the role of the international community and Palestinian civil society.

These meetings are part of MIFTAH’s global dialogue and public discourse program, aimed at increasing awareness on the Palestinian cause.

MIFTAH, in partnership with the Women’s Center for Legal Aid and Counseling (WCLAC), recently launched the Beijing+25 parallel report by civil society organizations (CSOs) as part of the 25th anniversary of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action with participation from over 30 CSOs, women activists and international organizations, supported by OXFAM.

MIFTAH Executive Director, Dr. Tahreer Araj and WCLAC Director, Randa Siniora, opened the zoom meeting by welcoming the participants and stressing on the importance of building on this report, towards adapting the Beijing platform to exclusively Palestinian national issues.

Araj explained that the report was the outcome of in-depth discussions held during a regional workshop in Tunisia that addressed the gaps in national reports, which was attended by several countries, including Palestine. The parallel report was drafted in accordance with political and social developments on the Palestinian arena, particularly during the coronavirus pandemic and with participation of over 80 grassroots organizations and women activists.

Siniora said the contents of the report would be used to launch international advocacy campaigns, starting with the 65th CSW session in New York and the conferences within the same framework in Mexico and Paris. The report, she maintained, will serve as an important tool for local advocacy efforts by utilizing international follow-up mechanisms.

MIFTAH project coordinator Tamara Malouf, presented data and information that sheds light on the status of Palestinian women within the focus areas of the Beijing Platform. These include: women and work, women and poverty, women in armed conflict (under military occupation in the Palestinian context), efforts to push the WPS agenda forward and the political participation and representation of women in decision-making positions.

WCLAC advocacy director, Maram Zaatara then showcased the focal area of women and armed conflict (military occupation) and peace and security efforts, in addition to gender-based violence and women and the environment. She also highlighted the most significant challenges to implementing the Beijing Platform for Action, namely Israel’s violations of international humanitarian law and the lack of political will on the part of the PA to comply with international agreements they signed, in addition to the Palestinian division, the role of political parties and other active parties in civil society. This, she added, is in addition to the rise in patriarchal and tribal culture and the complicated legislative legacy in Palestine.

Writer and researcher in women’s affairs, Rima Nazzal said that progress and development in Palestine regarding women’s issues and political participation in particular, is very little, indicating that political participation suffered a setback in previous years. For example, Nazzal said women comprised only 25% of the ministerial composition during the term of former Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. It slipped to 20% during Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah’s term in office and is now at 16% under current Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayeh. She maintained that the Palestinians are on the cusp of elections, possibly resulting in 33 women in the PLC, which should prompt the creation of a committee in the PLC entitled “equality and justice” to ensure their protection from bullying.

Director of the Center for Women's Legal Research, Counseling and Protection, Zeinab Ghuneimi stressed on the need to shed light on the repercussions of the repeated Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, particularly the currently halted reconstruction process. She said Israel must be held fully accountable, through using clear and fix terms in all submitted reports regarding these violations and attacks, including not dealing with Gaza as one statistical unit. Instead, she said data and statistics should be produced separately for the five districts in the Gaza Strip.

Director of MIFTAH’s Policy Dialogue and Good Governance Program, Lamis Shuaibi said the issues in focus in the parallel report were designed for debate in international and regional forums and conferences in terms of sharing accurate data and statistics and highlighting the gaps mentioned in the report pertaining to the status of Palestinian women.

The UNWomen representative, Inas Marjiyeh, maintained that such reports were very important in expressing the voice of civil society, adding that international criteria were taken into consideration in the publication of such reports.

It should be note that these reports are part of MIFTAH’s interventions within its OXFAM-supported partnership with WCLAC.

Head of MIFTAH’s Board of Directors, Dr. Hanan Ashrawi today met with the Netherlands Representative to Palestine, Mr. Kees van Baar at MIFTAH’s Ramallah offices.

The two discussed Dutch-Palestinian relations and the latest regional and international developments. They also touched on developments in the Palestinian arena, especially the upcoming Palestinian elections, the role of the international community and Palestinian civil society.

These meetings are part of MIFTAH’s global dialogue and public discourse program, aimed at increasing awareness on the Palestinian cause.

Dr. Hanan Ashawi, head of MIFTAH’s Board of Directors, welcomed Mr. Franklin Aquilina at MIFTAH’s offices in Ramallah, wishing him success in his new position as Representative of Malta to Palestine. The two discussed political developments in Palestine, including the upcoming general elections and the role of civil society in supporting the participation of women and youth. They also examined ways of preventing Israel from creating obstacles to the participation of Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem in the elections.

Dr. Ashrawi and Mr. Aquilina discussed the promotion of Maltese-Palestinian relations and ways to further strengthen the partnership between their countries in various fields, particularly in regards to halting Israeli violations and holding Israel accountable in international arenas.

These meetings are part of MIFTAH’s global dialogue and public discourse program, aimed at increasing awareness on the Palestinian cause and shedding light on Israeli violations of international law under its occupation.

Dr. Hanan Ashawi, head of MIFTAH’s Board of Directors today received Irish Representative to Palestine, Mr. Don Sexton, at MIFTAH’s Ramallah offices. They discussed political developments on the Palestinian arena and the role of civil society in supporting Palestinian general elections, especially women and youth. They also discussed ways of overcoming any obstacles to ensuring the success of the upcoming elections.

Dr. Ashrawi and Mr. Sexton spoke about the promotion of Irish-Palestinian relations and Ireland’s role in the EU and UN Security Council, particularly in regards to providing protection for the Palestinian people, halting Israeli violations and holding Israel accountable. They also stressed on the need for a decision by the Irish government to ban the import of settlement goods, based on a parliament decision in this regard.

Ramallah – 20/1/2021 – Dr. Ashrawi met with Mr. Clages today at MIFTAH’s Ramallah offices to discuss recent developments pertaining to the upcoming general Palestinian elections and political developments on both the internal and international fronts. They discussed the role of Palestinian civil society in ensuring that free, transparent and fair elections are held in Palestine, including ways of removing any impediments to their smooth implementation.

Dr. Ashrawi and Mr. Clages also broached the topic of the incoming US administration under President Joe Biden and ways to undo the damaging legacy of outgoing President Trump on Palestine. In addition, the meeting addressed the role of Europe in helping to forge a path towards a lasting and just solution to the conflict.

The meetings are part of MIFTAH’s global dialogue and public discourse program, aimed at increasing awareness on the Palestinian cause and shedding light on Israeli violations of international law under its occupation.

The meetings broached the latest developments on the internal Palestinian front including reconciliation and elections and also reaffirmed the need for cooperation, communication and the promotion of joint framework action at all levels. The participants also discussed the latest political, regional and international developments and the challenges of the coming stage, including ways of addressing the legacy of [outgoing US President Donald] Trump’s policies towards the Palestinian cause. In addition, the parties discussed moving towards a new course that corresponds with the requirement of justice and peace on the Palestinian and international political arenas.

These meetings are part of MIFTAH’s Palestinian narrative and political dialogue program, which contributes to the promotion of global dialogue, increasing awareness on the Palestinian cause and to shedding light on Israeli violations of international law.

Bethlehem – 19/10/2020 – MIFTAH recently capped off a series of meetings to raise awareness about adopting laws in ecclesiastical courts to coincide with human rights treaties signed by Palestine. Prior to the meetings, a public policy paper was released by MIFTAH, which addresses the gender gaps in policies and regulations in effect in ecclesiastical courts. The meetings included a presentation on and discussions about the clarifications and recommendations from the policy paper, which addressed the gaps in church polices that constitute challenges for women and youth in accessing justice. It also discussed the working mechanisms and reforms necessary for ensuring the protection of women’s and youth’s rights. The participants discussed the importance of abiding by international human rights and treaties, demonstrating articles in international treaties that coincide with Palestinian national treaties and conventions including the Declaration of Independence and the Basic Law, as affirmation of the principles of equality and non-discrimination. These include CEDAW (The Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women), of which Palestine is a signatory, along with others. The meetings were attended by several society sectors, including Christian clergy (both men and women) from courts in the Bethlehem district. The meetings are part of MIFTAH’s OXFAM-supported “Conflict and Fragility” project.

Presentation

During the meetings, MIFTAH’s policy paper was presented by Judge Scarlett Bishara from the Lutheran Church’s Court of First Instance. She spoke about the challenges Christian women face when they turn to ecclesiastical courts, most prominently the challenges pertaining to legal measures and policies in effect in some of these courts and which contradict with the values of equality and relevant references in the Bible. This is besides the challenges and difficulties women face regarding alimony and child custody.

Bishara’s presentation concluded by saying that church laws are founded on the concept and philosophy that women need guardianship in the form of a man to oversee her affairs. Men are considered the custodians over women in regards to inheritance and family-related issues.

During the meetings, a presentation was given on CEDAW by researcher Salwa Abu Hashish in addition to a presentation by attorney, Ala’ Ghanayim on human rights and international agreements and the importance of abiding by and working in accordance with them.

Interventions

Several clerics from the various Christian denominations gave interventions during the meetings on the status of women in a patriarchal society, confirming their opposition as clergy to violence against women. They spoke about domestic problems in communities and the injustice and oppression women suffer on issues pertaining to the personal status law, reiterating their rejection of any mistreatment that negatively reflects on family relations and on the cohesiveness of the Palestinian social fabric.

The speakers expressed their full willingness to offer any necessary moral and material support, including help with resolving domestic problems inside churches and working with both Christian and Muslim women.

The participants also reaffirmed the major role of both men and women in building the family community, pointing to a number of steps churches have made towards their parishes. They also pointed out texts in the Bible that reaffirm the concept of equality between men and women, maintaining that churches in Palestine have contributed to the education of women and education in Christian schools in general in line with the principle of equality espoused in the Bible. They said this education is based on the standpoint of equality of all of creation and on dignity, responsibility and redemption in a bid to curtail the extremism and violence women and youths may endure.

Recommendations:

A number of recommendations were concluded from the meetings, including: the need to continue holding awareness meetings on international and regional conventions and further expand awareness on ecclesiastical laws and the family protection law; holding sessions and workshops for raising the awareness of both men and women on change; holding meetings with decision-makers regarding accountability and utilizing interpretations in the Bible from a women’s perspective.

In this context, the women participants called on MIFTAH to help in presenting the laws of each church to compare them with each other and therefore be able to demand the required changes; they called for organizing awareness campaigns for school and university students as change-makers and for the need to form a committee of the four churches in Bethlehem, Beit Sahour and Beit Jala to work as one campaign team; the participants also called for creating leaders within the churches who are capable of change.

Meanwhile, MIFTAH coordinator in Bethlehem Yolla Khair maintained that the women and youth sectors were very welcoming of the meetings in the three cities. She also noted the significance of the clergies’ contributions in highlighting the perspective of rights in the Bible, along with interventions from rights activists in raising awareness over human rights treaties, which contributed to expanding the circle of dialogue and consultations between clerics, rights activists and local communities. Khair also said there was consensus over the need to combine efforts towards promoting the principles of equality, non-discrimination and the renunciation of violence in Palestinain society at large.

Ramallah – Under the auspices of Dr. Amal Hamad, Minister of Women’s Affairs, and as part of the “Shufuna” project, MIFTAH launched its ‘’Shufuna” strategy for integrating women and youth in decision-making positions and at the national reconciliation table during a meeting on November 26.

MIFTAH Executive Director, Dr. Tahreer Araj opened the meeting, saying the “Shufuna” platform for active representation and participation of women at the national dialogue table and in decision-making positions is a continuation of efforts to promote the leadership role of women and youth. She said it also aims to push for these sectors’ involvement in political decision making and formulation of public policies along with their representation in national dialogue circles. Araj said through its program “Policy Dialogue and Good Governance”, MIFTAH was able to set the tone for a climate of interactive dialogue for women and youth from various backgrounds, professions and political affiliations at the grassroots and elite levels, in order to discuss the challenges that hamper their integration in political life. It also allowed them to discuss the reasons behind the absence of women and youth in national reconciliation and unity talks.

Araj continued, “MIFTAH, in partnership with UNDP and “Wattan” Media Network, seeks to provide democratic dialogue spaces on the topic of women’s political participation in the Palestinian socioeconomic context. This includes discussing challenges, such as the extent of political will for reforming laws and legislation in combatting the patriarchal male culture in Palestinian society and for developing policies that guarantee gender equality and justice through organizing a group of interventions.”

Sufian Mshasha, special deputy representative for UNDP then delivered a speech as funder and project partner, saying that unlike other projects, “this was self-funded, which heightened our interest in the strategy’s launching, which is not the end of the road, but an accumulation of past activities. We feel this strategy sets the basis for continuous action to promote a real role for women in decision-making and not only to address the political division and participation in reconciliation committees. Hence, the “Shufuna” strategy is a launching point that cannot be assessed only by being launched but through criteria on the strategy’s effectiveness and the extent to which we were able to create real participation.”

Ahlam Al Wahsh, who spoke on behalf of “Shufuna”, said they held several awareness and consultation meetings, which culminated in the formation of a platform that included a number of women and youth. “We aspire to reach decision-making positions so we can have a role at the reconciliation and dialogue table because women have been marginalized and excluded from these places. We base this on the premise that rights are indivisible and that principles unite us, most importantly the principles of freedom of opinion and expression, guaranteed by our Palestinian resistance history towards active representation and participation of women at the national dialogue table and in decision-making positions. This is a women’s and youth interactive platform between the West Bank and Gaza Strip , which we hope to expand to social media platforms as well. We insist on being visible and that our women and youth can reach you through both real and virtual interactive arenas.”

Meanwhile, Minister of Women’s Affairs Dr. Amal Hamad thanked MIFTAH for its work in addressing priorities and needs and having a clear vision on the challenges facing Palestinian women. In her presentation, Hamad broached several issues, including the importance of partnership between the government and civil society as a partner with an active role in needs and priorities-based policies, programs and interventions. She said this was the foundation on which the Ministry of Women’s Affairs operates with civil society institutions. In this regard, she maintained that the Ministry of Women’s Affairs addressed the topic of political partnership, pointing to the sectoral strategy of the ministry, which is primarily aimed at empowering women and helping them reach decision-making positions in all PLO bodies and unions and within factions and parties. These parties, she maintained, must take the initiative in implementing PNC and Central Council decisions regarding the women’s quota, which could be achieved through working on laws and legislations.

This was followed by a presentation of Shufuna’s strategic plan by Hatem Taha, member of the platform. He presented Shufuna’s vision, which revolves around real representation and active participation of Palestinian women in national dialogues and decision-making positions. He also shed light on the most important objectives of the plan, which confirm women’s active participation in democratic transfer of power, representation in decision-making positions, in national reconciliation and ending the division.

Shadia Abu Sultan and Yassin Abu Odeh then presented the most important virtual and face-to-face initiatives planned by the platform through several meetings it held in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The most standout initiate was the “Shufuna” national reconciliation bus and the friendly football match between Palestinian factions.

Regarding the values and principles adopted by the strategy, Sami Sa’aee explained that Shufuna's strategy is based on belief in the values of societal peace, democracy, freedom of opinion and expression and all values that promote citizenship, respect for pluralism, ability for free thought and constructive criticism, sustainability of leadership skills development and leadership of an initiative for change towards reaching the aspired goal of the Shufuna platform.

Furthermore, Wijdan Buheisi showcased the most important pillars of the Shufuna strategic plan, namely the Palestinian Declaration of Independence and the strategic approaches in the national policies agenda in addition to the approaches of the international community in empowering women and combatting all forms of gender-based discrimination.

The presentation also included an analysis of women’s situation during the division. Rasha Nofal said the Shufuna strategy confirmed that women are the most affected by the division at the economic, social and political levels. The political division, she maintained, poses a direct threat to the Palestinian right to life, with 1,098 Palestinians who lost their lives between 2007 and 2017 due to internecine violence, the proliferation of weapons and deaths in detention centers in addition to other unnatural causes of death with the exception of martyrs who died as a result of Israeli violations. The abovementioned number is divided as follows: 11% of deaths (or 127 cases) occurred in the West Bank while the remaining 89% took place in the Gaza Strip (971 cases).

Moreover, the presentation included statistics on women’s participation, which indicated that although women comprise 49% of the population of Palestine and head 11% of Palestinian households, their role in public political life and at the national dialogue table was clearly absent.

Interventions and recommendations

One of the most significant interventions was made by journalist Reem Omari from the Wattan Media Network in which she reiterated Wattan’s objectives in promoting women’s participation and representation in various political arenas and sectors. She said the network believes in the need to focus on the issues of marginalized sectors such as women and youth. She continued that this was realized through the “Shufuna” interventions that included several multimedia talk shows, short videos, radio spots and messages through social media in addition to online petitions and polls. Shufuna’s main program in its first season reached approximately four million viewers. Also through its media campaign, “Wattan” introduced the “Shufuna” platform by covering its activities and news. In addition, it discussed important issues that affect women’s participation, including religious discourse, representation in political parties in elections, student councils, unions and federations. “Wattan” also focused on the vital role of women in crisis management and hosting international influencers to introduce them to the Palestinian experience such as Palestinian-American activist Linda Sarsur. The highlight of the campaign was appointing Dr. Naser Al Qudwa as Shufuna’s ambassador to carry the campaign’s messages and recommendations to decision-makers at the political level.

At the end of the meeting, several interventions and recommendations were presented, all of which confirmed that the platform was a unique and pioneer experience meant to achieve the main goal of promoting women’s participation and empowering them at all decision-making levels. Other objectives, they agreed, include achieving social justice and equality, the need to form a committee for serious pressure and demands pertaining to women’s participation in reconciliation committees, conducting field visits to those in charge of reconciliation files in order to press them in that direction and to work on raising youth awareness to the importance of their role and participation in decision-making.

MIFTAH program director, Lamis Shuaibi said the launch day for the Shufuna strategy was a success for all the partners’ efforts towards more community interaction. She added that the platform embodies national and social unity within a unified rather than factional framework. “What we need right now is for the platform to be able to lead itself and to be able to determine its own tools and executive plans.” Shuaibi continued that MIFTAH and its partners were willing to offer every possible help within this open space, not only through social media but also through actions on the ground.”

Furthermore, MIFTAH project manager Najwa Yaghi-Sandouka said the meeting falls under the efforts of MIFTAH’s partner institutions in building a concept on the participation of Palestinian women given the importance of women’s role in building state institutions and impacting the formulation of public policies and national legislation. This, she said, is in response to the needs of various social components and in a bid to increase higher representation of women and youth within the Palestinian political system. Yaghi-Sandouka maintained that such efforts would contribute to institutionalizing citizenship rights for Palestinians on the grounds of equality, partnership, pluralism, respect for liberties and the achievement of human dignity.

Ramallah – On October 20, MIFTAH held a zoom session to showcase the results of its study, which monitored and documented Israeli human rights violations against Palestinian women during the state of emergency imposed during the coronavirus pandemic. The study was conducted in the districts of Jerusalem, Hebron and the Jordan Valley and include violations resulting from Israeli military measures and settler violence.

The study highlighted three factors categorizing these targeted areas: the colonialist settlement regime; the social and cultural patriarchal system and its relation to the colonialist regime; and the marginalization of these areas from various aspects including the most recent factor, which is the coronavirus pandemic.

Interventions

All of the interventions in the session called for a plan to protect women in seam zones most affected by these violations, in addition to lobbying and advocacy campaigns to provide health care services to women and girls in these areas, which suffer from meagre Ministry of Health services. This is attributed to a number of factors related to the Israeli occupation and settlement expansion and the lack of support and international funding for programs and health services in these areas. They considered the report an opportunity to shed light on the situation of women under occupation during the pandemic, to be used in early warning measures for linking these issues to Israel’s violations and to the need to hold the occupation and settlers accountable. They also called for including the study’s recommendations in the action framework for implementing the UNSCR1325 National Action Plan as follow up and implementation and for exclusivity for marginalized areas in terms of protection, services and alleviating the everyday hardships and challenges facing Palestinian women under occupation. In particular, the interventions pointed to Palestinian areas threatened with confiscation, annexation and population displacement.

Presentation

Dr. Nader Said and the Arab World for Research and Development (AWRAD) team, commissioned by MIFTAH for the report, presented the highlights of the study. He addressed the political developments pertaining to Israel’s systematic policies of expansion, annexation and attempts to take over more Palestinian land amid Israel’s continued violation of international agreements and refusal to abide by international laws and human rights treaties. The report also broached the Israeli occupation’s ongoing violations against the Palestinian people in general and against women and children in particular, which has had an adverse impact on women in terms of their access to resources and curtailed ability of movement and free choice.

The study showed that all areas under control of or in direct contact with Israeli soldiers or settlers, especially areas the Israeli government is threatening to annex, suffer from a lack of economic, educational and political opportunity and prosperity. It said that throughout the pandemic, there has been a concerning increase of violence against Palestinians, whether by Israeli occupation forces or settlers. This period also saw an increase in arrests in spite of the spread of the virus and the state of emergency in place.

The study ascertained that the lockdowns, Israeli checkpoints and the cuts in medical referrals to hospitals in Jerusalem all put pregnant women and newborns at risk. These restrictions increased during the state of emergency mostly under security pretexts, which had a major impact on the people’s ability to move freely, reach their workplaces and access health and educational services in addition to receiving humanitarian aid. Moreover, due to Israel’s restrictions to curb the spread of Covid-19, some landowners behind the separation wall or near settlements were unable to obtain permits allowing them to reach their land. Others were denied access because of the closure of gates in the separation wall or when permit-holders were prevented from reaching their workplaces [inside the Green Line]. This had an adverse effect on production and therefore, their livelihood. The state of emergency coincided with discussions on the annexation of West Bank areas to Israel while concomitantly seeing the highest average of demolitions in the past four years. These demolitions included not only homes but water, sewage and sanitation facilities, agricultural structures and others, which impacted the ability of Palestinians to access these services.

Results

The study concluded with the following results: 99.6% of women participants in the study (sample of 245 women) have been subjected to assault, prevention, violation or harassment by Israeli occupation forces or settlers during the state of emergency; 69% of women saw an increase in Israeli violations and settlement attacks; 81% of women were subjected to restrictions on movement in reaching basic services; 74% of women in the Jordan Valley have been subjected to assaults on their properties while 95% of women said the violations made them more vulnerable to the risk of abortion. Furthermore, 89% of the women said the closure of their areas negatively impacted their ability to reach clinics and hospitals for treatment, while 98% said the lockdowns and Israeli violations negatively impacted the ability of preventative medicine teams and the Ministry of Health from maintaining a presence in their areas. Israeli violations, furthermore, negatively impacted the livelihood of 93% of women and their families and Israeli closures in their areas had a negative effect on the ability of 91% of women to secure sufficient funds.

Recommendations

The study also produced a number of recommendations including: the need to develop clear interventions by official, international and civil society parties in order to find ways to support these sectors and promote their endurance on the land against Israeli military violations and settler attacks; to continue documenting violations against Palestinian women by occupation forces and settlers in all areas; increasing efforts to adjust UNSCR1325 in harmony with the Palestinian situation; and to hold Israel accountable for violations against women in Palestine.

This session was held as part of MIFTAH’s interventions to support efforts in implementing the WPS agenda in Palestine and within its OXFAM-funded “Conflict and Fragility” project.