Women's rights in Palestine

Women and girls are suffering particularly from the current war and the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip. Thousands of women have been killed by Israeli military strikes in the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023 – including many mothers. They leave behind several thousand children. More than one million Palestinian women and girls in the Gaza Strip are traumatized, suffer from hunger and have little access to food, clean drinking water and functioning toilets. Palestinian women and girls in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip are also discriminated against and disadvantaged in everyday life.

Women suffer particularly under the occupation, which has been in place since 1967 in violation of international law. They do not enjoy the same rights as men in Palestinian politics and the justice system and are inadequately protected against gender-based violence and femicides, so-called "honor killings". With the current Gaza war, the situation for women has deteriorated significantly, not only in the Gaza Strip, but also in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

However, Palestinian women are not only victims of war, occupation and patriarchal structures. They are also active agents and shapers of Palestinian society. As activists, journalists, academics and politicians, they are resolutely committed to improving the situation. Despite the legal shortcomings in Palestine and over 50 years of Israeli occupation, there is a lively and courageous Palestinian women's movement that stands up for their rights. The struggles and commitment of this movement date back to the colonial era. These women are committed to overcoming patriarchal structures and economic exploitation. They fight against the exclusion of women at a political level and against discriminatory legislation. They raise their voices for an end to the Israeli occupation policy and are committed to a free, democratic and self-determined Palestine.

Far too few of these women's voices who stand up against violations of human rights and international law and at the same time are under enormous pressure from authoritarian structures are heard in Germany and Europe. This marginalization has increased further since 7 October 2023. Against the backdrop of the current escalation in the Middle East, we therefore want to discuss with our guests about the challenges and opportunities of civil society engagement and a policy that is consistently oriented towards human and women's rights.

How are women and girls currently faring in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank? What do they need most? What are the structural obstacles to the equal political and social participation of women in Palestine? What civil society initiatives and organizations are there that (can) do women's rights work in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank? How can women's rights and women’s rights activists in Palestine be strengthened? How can and should Germany contribute to this against the backdrop of a value-based feminist foreign and development policy?

With:

• Andaleeb Shehada, Head of the Community Development and Media Center (CDMC) in Gaza
• Dr. Dorthe Siegmund, Office Director Ramallah, Heinrich Böll Foundation
• Xenia Kellner, Co-Founder of Young Feminist Europe

Language: English/German with simultaneous translation

Information:    
Bauke Baumann
M baumann@boell.de
T +49(0)285 34 -321

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at the the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung Conference Center, Schumannstr. 8, 10117 Berlin

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