[lit-ideas] Women's future under Hamas
- From: Eternitytime1@xxxxxxx
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sun, 14 May 2006 01:19:46 EDT
Hi,
Speaking of Palestinian happenings... Not sure that it necessarily
supports or discounts the LH concern of there being few or no moderate Muslims
in
that part of the world as those who are mentioned do have concerns. It's so
difficult to imagine not having at least the illusion of 'choice' in arenas of
life.
Best,
Marlena in Missouri
Palestinians Debate Women's Future Under Hamas
By Brenda Gazzar - WeNews correspondent
BIRZEIT, West Bank (WOMENSENEWS)--Only Ghada Ewais' spirited brown eyes can
be seen from the niqab, a full veil that covers her head and nearly all of
her face. The fourth-year university student is among the few women on campus
who wear this ultra-modest Islamic covering, which she says, brings her closer
to Allah and to paradise.
But even Ewais believes no one has the right to obligate women to change
their choice of dress or become more religious.
"Allah will punish us, or let us go to the paradise," said the 21-year-old
English major during a break at Birzeit University near Ramallah in the West
Bank. "This is not the work of Hamas."
Since Hamas' parliamentary victory in January, the Palestinian Islamist
organization has faced intense international scrutiny. The United States and
the
European Union have cut off aid to the group arguing it must renounce
violence, recognize Israel's right to exist and accept previous agreements the
Palestinians have made with Israel. Israel has also cut off all ties with the
Hamas-led Palestinian government and is boycotting foreign diplomats who meet
with Hamas officials.
Beneath those headline-grabbing events, however, a lower-volume debate goes
on here about the Islamist organization's intentions toward women.
Is it only a matter of time before the Hamas-led government tries to impose
the traditional Islamic veil or headscarf, close coffee shops where men and
women mix freely, or demand separation of the sexes in all schools and
universities?
Will the fundamentalist women who conducted a successful grassroots campaign
that spurred women in their homes to vote and helped Hamas to their stunning
victory become dominant while secular women are marginalized?
While Hamas officials say no, some women's rights activists worry about the
movement's long-term influence and see hints of a more restrictive attitude
in an increasing number of signs posted by Islamic organizations on
Palestinian buses urging Muslim women to dress modestly and wear the veil.
Open Atmosphere in West Bank
Palestinian women are both veiled and unveiled and enjoy an atmosphere of
greater openness, particularly in the West Bank, than women in many Arab
countries.
"We are a secular community. Religion has never been a practice in our code
of life," says Eileen Kuttab, director of the Institute of Women's Studies at
Birzeit University. "Our lifestyle has been more of an open lifestyle."
Although domestic matters for Muslims such as divorce and inheritance are
handled by Islamic courts, religious adherence is not strict. During Ramadan,
the Islamic holy month of fasting, for instance, it's not unusual to see
someone eating on the streets during the day in diverse cities like Ramallah.
Women make up 14 percent of the Palestinian labor force. While they mainly
work in traditionally female fields such as teaching and as secretaries, some
also work as police officers, judges and journalists, according to 2005 data
from the government's Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics.
But women such as Kuttab and Rose Shomali, general director of the Women's
Affairs Technical Committee, a Ramallah-based coalition of prominent
Palestinian women's organizations, worry about their fate under the new
Hamas-led
government.
"We fear that this pluralism, this diversity of culture, this diversity of
thought that gives space for dialogue and creativity and for development will
not be there," said Shomali, who is a Christian.
Other activists, however, were more sanguine.
"It's not the strategy of Palestinian Islamists to impose any type of social
code on women," said Islah Jad, a secular Muslim and an associate professor
at Birzeit's Institute of Women's Studies. "They have enough political burden
. . . that they wouldn't think to apply something that might bring on them
more problems than support."
Hamas Says No Obligations
Hamas officials say they will not obligate women to wear a veil, or force
other changes upon them. Instead, they talk of the importance of education,
equal opportunities in employment, improving life under Israeli occupation and
raising the standard of living of Palestinian women, 30 percent of whom lived
in poverty in 2003-04, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of
Statistics.
Islam does not force anyone to do anything against her will, says Muna
Mansour of Nablus, who in January was elected to the Palestinian Legislative
Council on a Hamas ticket and wears the veil.
"It's a religion that gives women their rights and their freedom," said
Mansour, whose husband was a popular Hamas leader assassinated by an Israeli
air
missile strike in 2001. "Among these rights is the women's right to work, to
get an education, to her beliefs, political participation, choosing whom to
marry, inheritance . . . We will use Islam to deliver those rights."
Sheikh Mohammed Abu Teir, who was elected as Hamas' No. 2 candidate on its
electoral slate, agreed. "Women can do whatever they want," he told Women's
eNews during an interview in his elegant East Jerusalem home. "Hamas is not
holding swords."
But secular activists worry about the new minister of women's affairs,
Maryam Salleh, an Islamist who will be working closely with Islamic women's
groups.
"She will favor women Islamists, and she will also develop and promote the
programs to convert women" to a more Islamic lifestyle, said Walid Salem, the
Jerusalem director of Panorama: Palestinian Center for the Dissemination of
Democracy and Community Development.
Similarly, with the rise of Islamist women, the voices of secular women
could become more marginalized in political and social realms, Salem said.
Converting the Populace
At the Islamic University of Gaza, for instance, Salem said it is understood
that unveiled women would not be hired to teach because they are not
considered devout Muslims. Hamas might promote similar practices at other
universities and schools. "They will not do that by force, but try to convert
people to
such positions," he said.
Today, personal status issues such as marriage and divorce are adjudicated
under Sharia, or Islamic law, which some argue discriminates against women.
For example, a Muslim man can marry more than one woman and when it comes to
inheritance, a Muslim son usually receives double the share of his parents'
wealth than that of a daughter. Hamas is expected to maintain such laws, Salem
said.
On the other hand, Salem expects Hamas to ensure that Muslim women receive
their rights to inheritance, which--even at half that of their brothers--are
often denied entirely to Muslim women in villages and conservative areas such
as Gaza, Hebron and the northern West Bank.
"What Hamas will be doing will be better than social practices that deprive
them of their right of inheritance," Salem said.
Ewais, the Birzeit University student, believes Hamas might benefit women in
very conservative Muslim families on several fronts.
Because it is an Islamist movement and is respected by many religious
families, it could clarify women's many rights under Islam and encourage
families
to loosen unfair restrictions on women, such as forbidding daughters to choose
their own husbands or hold a job.
"This is very wrong in our religion," said Ewais, who married a suitor of
her choice earlier this month. "A woman has to choose her life."
Brenda Gazzar is a freelance journalist based in Jerusalem.
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