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NEWS & LETTERS, November 2004Living in
occupation
In
October, Partners for Peace sponsored a unique U.S. tour, "Jerusalem Women
Speak: Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared Vision." We print below
excerpts from our interview with one of the women, Marianne Albina, a Christian
Palestinian. While
many men were in prison, women had to take over. In Gaza, for example, women are
setting up programs where they can raise animals to help with the income,
because so many husbands are unemployed. They start with two rabbits. In this
way women help deal with the unemployment, which has risen to 65%. For
a family who is used to man as the income provider to have a woman say,
"You've done your best, let me see what I can do," is a big change. I
see those women and I am proud. They may have had expectations that they would
be only mothers and housekeepers, and this experience is going against that. It's
hard for women to get together. Those who are fortunate to be in an organization
have the biggest support. Women get together to do embroidery to sell for extra
income. The men have a hard time accepting this. It used to be that women chose
men seven to ten years their senior to marry, looking for someone able to
provide financial support. Now there is not such a big gap in ages because women
are able to support themselves, and they are looking for someone compatible. Since
the latest Intifada a few people got together and established a theatre group.
We did fund raising by organizing shows of embroidered wares. We trained for two
years and then performed for the people of Jerusalem. This is how we resisted
the occupation. The
group, Majhool, which means unknown or anonymous, has for a logo a fingerprint.
It symbolizes that although we have no control over our lives, whatever we do,
we leave a fingerprint. It is a great way to do political theatre. Men may have
been better actors, but we were better in organizing the group. East Jerusalem
is dead culturally. People welcomed us with open arms, because we were at least
trying to have some cultural activities. Palestinians
have gotten used to blaming everything on the occupation. A person might wake up
late, so they would be late to where they needed to go. But they would say to
themselves, "I can tell them I was detained at a checkpoint."
Palestinian society is not a society that criticizes itself. People are afraid
because if you criticize, you are automatically a traitor. People who admit
there is anything wrong in Palestinian society are viewed as not
pro-Palestinian. That is dangerous for the future of our state and control of
our own affairs. Because
we are occupied, we want independence so much we are hastening the idea to have
a state when it is not feasible because Israel still has control of the West
Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem. Elections for a spokesperson would be fine. But
it's too early to elect a government. The West--especially the U.S.
government--will say, "OK, you have your own government, you are now at
fault for not doing this and that." We are not able to because we are still
under occupation. To be independent we need to end the occupation, have the occupied territories back, restore normal life. Then you start to fight for democracy the way Palestinians would define it. I would like new alternatives when I go to elections, that speak about the Palestinian and not the Other. I would like alternatives for better social care, health care. All we have now are alternatives on how to end the struggle with Israel. |
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