On the Eighth of March: We Are All Hana Shalabi

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On the eighth of March, the world celebrates International Women’s Day, which was first observed as a popular event after 1977 when the United Nations General Assembly invited Member States to proclaim the eighth of March as the UN Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace. The majority of states selected the eighth of March in commemoration for the role played by American women in the 1909 protests against the inhuman conditions under which women were forced to work.

The eighth of March comes while Hana Yahia Shalabi, 30, a Palestinian woman from Bourqin village near Jenin who has been detained by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) since 16 February 2012, has been on hunger strike for 21 days. Shalabi declared an open hunger strike in protest to re-arresting her by IOF, as she had been released in October 2011 in the context of the prisoners swap between the Palestinian resistance and IOF.

Shalabi’s case highlights the conditions of 8 Palestinian women who are currently detained together with about 5,000 Palestinian men in Israeli prisons under cruel and inhuman conditions.

The suffering Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank remain persistent due to violations of their rights and policies practiced by IOF, which have impacted their living conditions. IOF have continued to impose a total closure on the Gaza Strip for more than 5 years, and have escalated attacks and settlement activities in the West Bank.

According to PCHR’s observations, in the past months, living conditions of Palestinian women deteriorated due to violations of their economic and social rights. In particular, the suffering of the Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip has continued as a result of the continued illegal Israeli closure which has aggravated their living conditions. For instance, the electricity crisis, which has reemerged due to the lack of the fuel required for the operation of Gaza Power Plant, has had a special impact on women, as they are responsible for house duties according to their traditional role in the Palestinian society, especially as the outages are often accompanied by cut-off water supplies.

Conditions experienced by women in the West Bank are no less harsh than the conditions experienced by women in the Gaza Strip. Women in the West Bank continue to suffer as a result of the escalated Israeli settlement activities, which include demolitions of houses, confiscation of agricultural land and attacks by Israeli settlers, who are often protected by IOF, against Palestinian civilians and their property. Women’s suffering is caused also by the restrictions on the freedom of movement imposed by IOF through more than 500 checkpoints and barriers, at which Palestinian civilians, including women and children, are subjected to harassment and humiliation.

Internally, Palestinian women continue to suffer as a result of the ongoing Palestinian split and its repercussions. The split has negatively impacted women’s social life as well as locally exerted efforts aimed at achieving justice for women, improving their conditions and promoting their rights. As the Palestinian Legislative Council is inactive, the political split further affects efforts aimed at amending relevant domestic laws addressing women’s rights in keeping with international instruments.

On the International Women’s Day, PCHR praises Palestinian women who constitute a symbol of steadfastness and sacrifice in spite of the extremely severe and complicated conditions they live under, which nevertheless have not prevented them from joining men in the struggle for the realization of the Palestinian national rights, and the development of the Palestinian society. PCHR further praises Palestinian women who are detained in Israeli prisons, especially Hana Shalabi, who has been on hunger strike. In light of the continued suffering of Palestinian women, PCHR reiterates its call for the international community to stop Israeli violations of Palestinian human rights, especially the closure imposed on Gaza and escalated settlement activities in the West Bank.

PCHR further calls upon the two parties to the Palestinian political split to activate the Doha Agreement and take practical steps to achieve Palestinian unity and create an appropriate atmosphere for holding elections, which will promote Palestinian women’s rights and stop their suffering at the internal level.

Public Document