حق المرأة في التملك

عقدت الجمعية يوم الخميس الموافق  22/3/2012 وعلى شرف الثامن من آذار ويوم الأم  لقاء جماهيري موسع حول موضوع حق المرأة بالتملك حيث شارك في اللقاء حوالي 100 امرأة تمثل المؤسسات الخاصة والحكومية بالإضافة الى نساء من المواقع في المحافظة ، حيث تم عقد اللقاء في قاعة فندق الشبرد وقد تم استضافة كلاً من فضيلة الشيخ عبد المجيد عطا مفتي محافظة بيت لحم والأستاذة المحامية سلوى ابو عياش من جمعية تنظيم وحماية الأسرة والاستاذ المحامي علاء غنايم من الهيئة المستقلة لحقوق الانسان .

حيث اشار المحاضرين الى اهمية دور المرأة في المجتمع والى حقوق المرأة بشكل عام والتطرق الى موضوع حق المرأة في التملك بشكل خاص وانه لايوجد أي معارضه دينية او قانونية او حقوقية انسانية تحد وتعيق من حق المرأة بان تكون لديها   ذمة مالية خاصة بها ، كما وقد تم التطرق الى العادات والتقاليد البالية والتي تؤدي الى حرمان المرأة من كافة حقوقها والى دور التنشئة الاجتماعية المهمة والضرورية للتغير الايجابي في المجتمع وفي نهاية اللقاء تم فتح باب النقاش والحوار وتم الخروج بتوصية في ضرورة ان يكون هناك  ذمة مالية   مشتركة بين الازواج ، بالاضافة الى التأكيد على ضرورة مشاركة المرأة في كافة مناحي الحياة وضرورة التركيز على التوعية الدينية والاجتماعية والحقوقية وانه لابد من مطالبة المرأة في كافة حقوقها وان الحق يؤخذ ولا يعطى، حيث اكد فضيلة الشيخ على ضرورة ان يتم تعيين مفتيات من النساء لمساعدة النساء على التعرف على حقوقهن والمطالبة بها وعلى ضرورة اجراء مثل هذه اللقاءات التوعوية بشكل مستمر لما لها اهمية وفائدة من رفع نسبة الوعي والثقافة في المجتمع وللأبتعاد عن المفاهيم المغلوطة بالدين والمستمدة من العادات والتقاليد والثقافة.

تم ادارة اللقاء والنقاش من قبل الأخصائية الاجتماعية رولى الشويكي، كما وقد تم القاء كلمة الجمعية من السيدة وجدان العزة.

Open Letter to Mr. Ban Ki-moon

To the Attention of Mr. Ban Ki-moon

As a Palestinian Feminist Human Rights Organization dedicated to the protection and promotion of women’s rights in Palestine, the Palestinian Working Women’s Society for Development (PWWSD) is gravely concerned at the increasing Israeli threats to Palestinian rights, and therefore asks the United Nations to commit to its charter, and to fulfill its obligations towards the Palestinian people.    

Since Al-Nakba, Palestinians have faced continuous restrictions and violations of both their national, legal and humanitarian rights, which are protected by all international conventions and the UN’s charter. Forced evictions, destruction of homes, restrictions of movement, violence, arbitrary arrests, expropriation of land, and curtailment on employment and development have become the norm for Palestinians living in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. A statistical view shows that the construction of the segregation wall in the West Bank used around 50,000 dunums of Palestinian lands as well as detaching around 725,000 dunums west of the wall and preventing Palestinians from accessing around 250,000 dunums which were classified as security buffer zone, according to the Land Research Center. Another indicates that since 1967, around 2,000 homes have been demolished in East Jerusalem, and the number of outstanding demolition orders is estimated at up to 20,000, according to The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions.

The colonialist policies of the Israel occupation are specifically condemned by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Racial Discrimination (ICESCR), and the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). Women specifically are protected by Security Council Resolution 1325, which sets out guidelines for the protection women in and post conflict situations. Discrimination is defined as resulting from laws, policies or practices that treat persons in similar situations differently due to, among other criteria, race, ethnic background, or religion, without adequate justification.  Citizens within Palestine are also protected from destruction of personal property, expropriation of their resources, and brutalization of the civilian population under the UDHR.

Palestinian women are among the most vulnerable groups in society, as they are continuously exposed to immense oppression, which range from killing, demolitions of their homes, sexual harassment and assault, discriminatory treatment towards female prisoners, refusal of movement, to the refusal of access to healthcare during medical emergencies. As they directly suffer from implications of Israeli procedures, they also encounter indirect effects of Israeli occupation, such as poverty, unemployment and domestic violence.  Due to the worsening economic conditions in the Palestinian Territory, women’s contribution to the labor market approximates 15% of the labor force, according to the PCBS statistics. This has deeply affected women’s representation in the public life in general, and in formal politics in particular. The impact of living under occupation for women includes extreme anxiety, stress related illnesses, loss of opportunities in education and gainful employment, and is detrimental to their relationships with husbands and children. The violence and personal insecurity that many women have witnessed and been subjected to causes extreme psychological distress, harming both family life and society as a whole. 

It is difficult to convey the extent to which women’s lives are affected by the illegal practices of apartheid by the Israelis in Palestine. Psychologically, socially and economically it can be seen that women are adversely affected by the insecurity that they face within their own homes.

It is important that the UN, and all international bodies dedicated to upholding and implementing International Law are able to hold Israel accountable for their violations, thereby reinstating the rights of Palestinian women, men and children alike within their lives and homes.

In writing this letter the PWWSD hopes to draw attention to the war crimes implemented under Israeli occupation in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, and hopes for urgent action from the international community to prevent further violations and to stop the discrimination, violence and repression that occurs daily in the Palestinian Territories. PWWSD calls upon the UN to recognize the international consensus as indicated by UN General Assembly in September 2011, which supports  an independent Palestine, and most importantly the Palestinian right to have an independent sovereign state, where they can live in peace and dignity.

The PWWSD hopes the international community will convene an international conference with IHL as its terms of reference in order to settle a just and durable peace.

Sincerely,

Amal Khreishe

On behalf of the Palestinian Working Woman Society for Development

International Women’s Day sees Hana Shalabi on 22nd Day of Hunger Strike

Press Release.

International Women’s Day sees Hana Shalabi on  22^nd  Day of Hunger Strike in Protest of Administrative Detention Sentence

7^th March 2012

As of the 8^th March 2012, Hana Shalabi, a 32 year old Palestinian from the city of Jenin, will be entering into her 21^st day of hunger strike in protest to the  practice of administrative detention at the hands of the Israeli Prison Service (IPS).

Ms Shalabi, was captured from her home near the West Bank city of Jenin on the 16^th February 2012 and was initially taken to Salem Detention Centre, then transferred to Hasharon Prison following interrogation. She has since been placed under administrative detention, a practice used by the IPS in order to detain Palestinian citizens without trial or charge, for 6 months with indefinite renewal.

On the 4^th of March 2012 Hana Shalabi’s sentence was reduced from 6 months to four months, however she has refused to terminate her strike, stating that she would continue in order to achieve her demands to end administrative detention.

Hana is currently extremely weak, according to Addameer-affiliated lawyer Muna Naddaf, and is refusing further medical treatment from IPS doctors. She has not ingested any food or minerals for the 21 days of her hunger strike, and despite pressure from the IPS is committed to continuing. She has also been subjected to physical and mental abuse at the hands of IPS guards, had a strip search performed on her by a male guard, and has been prevented from seeing family members.

Other political prisoners have also started hunger strikes both in support of Hana Shalabi, and in protest to their own arrests under military detention.

Administrative detention has been practiced by Israel since occupation in 1967. It is ordered by a military commander, and approved in order to protect the security of Israel.  

Under International Law, administrative detention can only be issued under extreme circumstances, namely a ‘public emergency that threatens the life of the nation’, as agreed in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Israeli government regularly maintains that it has been under a state of emergency since 1948, thereby ‘legitimising’ its use of administrative detention. There are currently around 310 prisoners in Israel being held without charge in detention. 6 women are being held, however it is not just the direct effects of being held which effects women in Palestine, but also the indirect economic and social effects of having sons, brothers, husbands and fathers in prison indefinitely.

The Palestinian Working Women’s Society for Development (PWWSD), an organization committed to the upholding of human rights for women, calls for an immediate end to the administrative detention of Hana Shalabi. It calls for the international community to put pressure on Israel to stop the arbitrary detention of Palestinian citizens, and to release those who are being held without substantial evidence.