Fighting on Two Fronts: Conversations with Palestinian Women

Abstract

The salient characteristic of the women's movement in Palestine and in exile has been its identification, since the early part of this century, with the national movement against Zionism. is this that distinguishes it from the women's movement in Egypt or in Western countries: among Palestinians there has never been a broadly-based grassroots movement for women's rights; the major efforts have been devoted to political, national ends, and the emancipation of women has come as an accidental consequence of their determination to carry out some political action, such as a demonstration, which entailed a flouting of conventional mores. The Palestinian women who first demonstrated against Zionist immigration in 1921 were heavily veiled and rode in closed cars. Then, in 1929, two hundred delegates from all over the country attended the first Arab Women's Congress of Palestine. It was a bold step to take in view of the traditional restrictions which, until then, prevented the Arab woman in Palestine from taking part in any movement which might expose her to the public eye.3