466520

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Palestinian Women Writers and the IntifadaAuthor(s): Suha SabbaghSource: Social Text, No. 22 (Spring, 1989), pp. 62-78Published by: Duke University PressStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/466520.

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PalestinianWomenWritersnd thentifada

SUHASABBAGH

While

many

have

attempted

o

analyze

various

spects

f

the

ntifada,

one

aspect

hat ontinues

o be elusive

s

the

contribution

f

Palestinian

women otheuprising. ediaanalysts,eporters,nd Arab ntellectuals

have had

a

great

deal

to

say

about the role of "hidden

orces,"

he

UnitedNational

eadership,

nd the outside

eadership,

esponsible

or

the

uprising,

et

all fail to

recognize

he active

participation

f

middle

aged

traditionalomen

who

sometimes

orm uman

hields

etween

he

youths

nd

the sraeli

oldiers.

t is of course

ossible

o

argue

hat he

initial

mpetus

which

drove

women

ut of

the

private

phere

f

the

home

and into

the

public

sphere

f

the

street-to he

extent hat

he

term

ublic

and

private

re

applicable

o

life

on the

West

Bank

and

Gaza-was simply he desireto protectheir hildren. y thesame

token,

owever,

omen ave

expressed

illingness

o

question

radition-

al values

which

equire

heir xclusion

rom

he

political phere.

heir

veryparticipation

ndicates transformation

f

consciousness:

omen

have

questioned

aluesthat

nsure

he

economic

ecurity

f

the

family,

the

safety

f

its

members,

hat

require

women's

eclusion rom

he

political phere.

heir

priorities

ave

shifted

rom

rotecting

he

tradi-

tionalvalues

at all costs to

risking verything

n

order

o loosen

the

grip

of

occupation.1

At a timewhenmostmenwhere rippled ya senseofdefeatnthe

aftermath

f the 1967

invasion,

omenwere

thefirst o

carry

hebur-

den of

ensuring

greater egree

f

compliance

ith

amily

eeds

n

a

difficultnvironment.t can

generally

e

said

that

y encouraging

elf

reliance nd

nurturing

rends,

he

intifada

as

feminized

alestinian

society

n

the West

Bank and Gaza.

The

willingness

f

Palestinian

women o reevaluate raditional

orms

hrough

heir

mpact

n

resis-

tance

an

bestbe understood

hrough

ranzFanon'snotion

f

violence.

In

writing

f

the

Algerian

evolution,

anon

proposes

hat

he act of

violencedirected

t

the sourceof

oppression-in

he

case

of the

n-

tifada hethrowingf stones-should e measured otby degree f

damage

nflected

pon

he

oppressor

ut

by

the

degree

o

which

his

ct

empowers

he victim f

oppression.ollowing

anon,

he

ntifada

an

be

read as

initiating process

f

liberationn a

psychological

ense.

For

Palestinian

womenthis sense of liberation akes

place

on

two

62

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63

Suha

abbagh

fronts: he fact

of

participating

n

the

intifada

eads womento

(1)

recognizethe need to questiontheirpositionvis-a-vispatriarchal

domination,

2)

given

he nfluence omen xertwithin

he

home,

t

is

not difficulto

imagine

hat

heir

articipation

n

the

public phere

will

have

long-term

epercussions

n

gender

elations ithin

he

family,

he

exactnature

f which

emains o be seen.

The active

participation

f Palestinian

omen nd

the

contributionf

Palestinian

omenwriters

ust

e examined rom he

point

f

view of

nineteenth

nd twentieth

entury

istories f

Third

World

truggle,

where

women

have

alwaysparticipated

n

national

truggles,.g.,

the

uprising against colonial rule in Egypt (1919) when women

demonstrated

n

the

treets

f

Cairo

chanting

ationalist

logans hrough

their

chadors.

The

intifada

must also be

perceived against

the

demonstrationsf Palestinian

omen

n

1921

against

ionist

mmigra-

tion nd

against

he

more

ctive

ole of

Algerian

omen n

bringing

n

end to the olonial

ccupation

f

Algeria2.

he

history

f

women's

ar-

ticipation

n

the national

agenda

is

well delineated

n

Kumari

Jayawardena's

ook,

Feminism

nd Nationalism n the Third

World

(1986).

Although ayawardena

oes not

specifically

ention

he con-

tributionf Palestinian

omen,

er

definition

f

the relation

etween

feminismndnationalismn the ThirdWorld

ccurately

elineates he

role thatwomen ssumed

n

the

Palestinian

esistance.urther

ore,

er

use of

feminism

oes

not

mply

direct onfrontationith

patriarchal

authorityua patriarchy:

n

traditional,

atriarchal

ociety,

omen

ave

almost

lways

been

excluded

rom

he

political

phere;

women's

ar-

ticipation

n

the

ntifada

utomatically

resents challenge

o

traditional

norms

nd

is,

therefore,

oth

feminist

nd nationalist.

Palestinian omen n

the

West

Bank

are

also

making

contribution

on the level

of

writing.

his

article examines

Raymonda

Tawil's

autobiographyyHouseMyPrison,19793, ublished hen he author

was

under

ouse

detention

n

theWestBank

city

f

Ramalah,

nd two

of SaharKhalifeh's ive

novels,

l

Subar,

1976,

translatednto

English

as Wild

Thorns

n

1985).4

nd

Abad El

Shams5,

1980).

Both

Khalifeh

and

Tawil,

neighbors

n

Nablus

during

he 1967

nvasion,

re

among

he

foundersf

the

ArabWomen's

nion,

which

merged

n

response

o

the

economic eeds

of

displaced

illagers

fter

he

1967

invasion;

awil's

autobiography

ffers

rare

glimpse

nto ssues

around

which

women

organized

fter

967.6

Khalifeh's arlywork,WildThorns,ranslatedntoeight anguages

including

ebrew,

eals

mainly

with he

conditions

f

WestBank

day

laborers ussed

n

daily

to

work

n

Israel.

Khalifeh's

trong

oint

ies

in

her

ability

o

depict

he

nner

truggle

f

workers

ho

must ind

balance

between

meeting

hefinancial eedsof

their

amilies

y

work-

ing

on

building

ettlements,

ften n land

confiscated

rom

heir

wn

village,

nd their esireto assertnational nd individual

ights.

er

feministoncerns

mergemainly

n

Abad El

Shams,

sequel

to

Wild


8/11/2019 466520

4/18

Palestinian

omen

nd

he

ntifada

64

Thorns,

here

he

deals

with he

growing

umber

f

traditional

omen

who suddenly ind hemselvesingleheadsof householdsdue to the

incarceration

r

deathof their

husbands)

ighting

battle n

several

fronts,

ncluding psychological

attle

gainst

he

internalization

he

traditional

orms

hathinder heir

bility

o

fully

ccept

the

respon-

sibility

f

being

ole

breadwinner.he

two

novels

by

Sahar

examined

below

offer

rare

view nto

the

thoughts

nd actions f

a number f

characters

roughtogetherhrough

common

eographical

ocation,

n

old

and

financiallyeprivedlley

n

thetown f Nablus.

Khalifeh's

at-

ter

work

an be

equated

with

hat

f

Nawal

El

Sadawi. Both

employ

the novel as a tool for nvestigatingherole of women oth howan

equal

concern

or

feministnd

nationalistssues.

Finally,

his

rticle

will

examine wo

historical

ovels

by Soraya

An-

tonius,

urrentlyesiding

n

Beirut. er

work

eals

with

he

occupation

of

Palestine

y

theBritish

n

1918,

to theestablishmentf

the

tate f

Israel

n

1948.

Her first

ovel,

The Lord

1986)7,

deals

with

heemer-

gence

of Arabnationalism

n

response

o the

growing

ionist

movement

in

Palestine nder he

British

Mandate.

he

plot

deals with

he

ifeof

Tareq,

popular

ocal

magician

nd

an

Arab

rebel,

ung

y

the

British

on

the

Moslem

Feast

of

Sacrifice.

ut the novel

derives ts

title

from

the

irony

nherento the colonialencounter,

hereby

olonizations

sanctified

n

the name

of

bringing hristianity

o

the

people,

ven

as

the British

angTareq

ust

as

the Roman

onquerors

rucified

hrist.

Tareq

s

hung

n the

Moslem east

of

Sacrifice

hen

sheep

s

ritual-

ly slaughtered

n

commemoration

f Isaac's

escape

from

he

same

fate.

On

an

allegorical

evel

thework

stablishes

relation

etween he uf-

fering

f

the

ndividual,

areq,

n

his

quest

for

reedom,

nd the

uffer-

ing

of

thePalestinian

eople

for

nationaliberationnd

dignity.

Like the

magician areq,

Antonius

onjures p

life

n

pre-1948

ales-

tinebyconveys he olors, he mells ndthewayof ife nPalestinian

villages

hat

ave

ong

ince

disappeared.

he

repeats

his

eat

n

Where

theJinnConsult, 987 a sequel to the first ovel, nly o make his

world

disappear gain

nto

the

folds

f

historyhrough

he

devastation

of

lives,

homes

nd entire

illages

s a

result

f

the

establishment

f

the state

f Israel

n

1948.

At least one

underlying

ssumption

arries

hrough

he work f

all

threewomenwriters:

ender

onditions

xperience f

the

occupation.

Khalifeh

n

particular

raws

parallels

between

the

oppression

x-

perienceds a result f occupationnd theoppressionfwomenn a

patriarchal

ulture

howing

he doubleburden hat

womenmust

ndure

under

ccupation.

he works

f

all threeuthors

ake

place

between

he

poles

of

colonialdominationn theone

hand,

nd

traditional

orms f

patriarchal

ontrol

n

the other.

awil

draws

parallels

etween

erself

hermother

howing

ow the seclusion f women rom

olitical

ction

diminished he

ability

f thePalestinian

ommunity

o

pickup

the

pieces

after he 1948 invasion nd the 1967

occupation

f the West


8/11/2019 466520

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65

Suha

abbagh

Bank.Antonius

oes

further

roposing

hat

he

ogic

of maledomination

has alteredhecourse fPalestinianistory.heproposeshat hefalse

sense

of

security

xperiencedy

local Palestinian

otables,

hich on-

tributed

o the 1948

disaster,

as

based

n

part

n

the

senseof

control

that

men

exert ver women's

ives

in

the

patriarchal

tructuref

pre-

1948

Palestine.

All

three

uthors

write rom

he

position

f a national

truggle

n

which

he

questioning

f

patriarchal

orms s mediated

hrough

na-

tional

genda.

n

this

respect,

alestinian ational

spirations

ffer

form

f

"protection"

o feminist

bjectives.

Womenwho

opt

to

take

politicalactionotherthanwriting ave enjoyedthe same kind of

protection.

n theWest

Bank and Gaza

today,

women

an

demonstrate

in

the

streets

n

the name

of

performing

mal

Al Watani

national

work),

where

reviously

heir

ery

presence

was considered

mproper.

However,

he

protection

fforded

n

thename

f

nationalism,

hether

n

writing

r

in

political

ction,

as

proved

o

be

a mixed

lessing:

t

has

prevented

alestinianwomen

from

onfronting

irectly

he central

paradigm

n which

patriarchy

ests,

lthough

womenhave shattered

nearly

very ymbol

f

thisrelation. he

argumentgainst

uch a con-

frontation

tates that direct

questioning

f this

power

relation

may

destroyhe ocialgluethat s currentlyoldinghecommunityogether

in

a

world

therwise

one

mad.

All

three uthors re

engagmee

with

the

problems

onfronting

hePalestinian

ociety

s

a

whole,

position

which

efuteshe

notion

hat eminism ust ake

a back seat

during

time f

crisis,

s

well

as

the

commonly

eld view

n

the Arab world

today

hat eminisms a

Western

mport

nd

as such has no

place

in

Arab

culture.

I

seek to

view the worksunder

onsiderationirst

s a

source

of

social

history.

n

relation o

the dominant

istorical

iscourse,

ocial

historyonsidersheway n which ndividualseact omajorhistorical

change.

Khalifeh's

two

novels,

for

example,

focus

on

coping

mechanisms

developed

in

the aftermath f the Israeli

invasion.

Antonius's

work

provides

an accurateand detailed

description

f

everydayeasant

ife

before

948:

measuresaken

y

women

o

prepare

the

Muni,

winter

rovisions

f

grains,

nions, il,

and other

upplies

necessary

n

the

daysprior

o

refrigeration

nd

supermarkets.

he

reader

is also

given

detailed

nformationbout

he

practicality

f

sleep

accom-

modations

hen

peasants

sed a

lahaf,

thin

otton

uilt

that

oubled

as bothmattressnd cover ndwas rolledup andplaced n the Youk

(an

early

form f

wall

closet)

providing

or

greater

pace

in

the

day

time.

There

s also a detailed

escription

f

all

the

objects

hat on-

stitute

most

peasant

owries,

ncluding

he

Sini

meaning

hinese)

up-

board,

referring

ere to the

porcelain

mports

romChina thatno

household

ould do without.

Second,

consider hese

works s

a

national

llegory

f the

Pales-

tinianituation.

n an article

ublished

n

1986',

Fredrick ameson

one


8/11/2019 466520

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Palestinian

omennd he

Intifada

66

of the few American ritics oncerned

ith

developing

theory

or

thirdworld iterature)rgued hat ll ThirdWorlditeratureanbe per-

ceivedas an

allegory

o

emerging

ational

ituations.

n

part,

Jameson

bases

his

argument

n thenearobsessive oncern

f Third

World ntel-

lectuals

with ational haracternd national

dentity

is-a-vis

ther hird

world ountries. ameson as

criticized,

ustifiably,

ecausehis

analysis

fails to account

or

the

rich

variety

f third

world

iterature

urrently

beingproduced10.

his caveat

aside,

Jameson's

otion

s

applicable

o

the

iterature

f

countries

acing

minentutside

anger.

n

Palestinian

literature

his

s

particularly

rue

f

texts hat ombine he

political

nd

thepersonal,s in the dearthfpoemswhere hebelovedusually he

female)

nd the andbecome

nterchangeable

etaphors

orthe

Pales-

tine.

Or

in

narrative

rose,

wherewomen re often

escribed

n

terms

that vokethe

fertility

nd the

giving

ualities

f

the

and.

n

Ghassan

Kanafani's

ovella

UmSa'ad,

the

ridges

nd wrinkles

arved

n

the

face

of

Sa'ad's motherre

equated

with he

geography

f

Palestine nd

her nner

ualities

re rendered

ynonymous

ith

he

vine,

demanding

very

ittle

n

from

he nvironment

n form f

water

while

ransforming

every

rop

nto succulentnd

nourishing

ruit.

Gender nd Colonial elationsnSorayaAntonius'sovels

Soraya

Antoniuswas

born

n

Jerusalem efore1948.

Her father

s

George

Antonius,

ell known istoriannd

Arab

nationalist,

uthor

f

TheArab

Awakening.

er

mother,

atie

Antonius,

edicatedmost

f her

later

years aring

or

n

orphanage

n

Jerusalem.

ntoniuss

intimately

acquainted

with the

geography,

he

politics,

nd the

history

f

the

Jerusalem

rea,

nd

through

erdetailed

escriptions

f

pre-1948

ales-

tinian

illages

nd

countryside,

here

s the

sense that

he

author

s

attempting

o

reverse

hehistorical

rocess

hat ed to the

destructionf

Palestine,

o restore or

posterity,

f

only

withinhefolds fher

novel,

thosePalestinian

illages

hat

history

as

erased.

While

no

one would

rgue

hatAntonius

et

out

to

write

feminist

work,

t is

impossible

o

read

her

two historical

ovelswithout

on-

stantly

eing

aware of

a

female

voice.

This

voice

speaks

through

Antonius'setailed

escription

f

everydayeasant

ife

described

bove,

in

the

way

in

which

Violet

Dhaishi,

the

Jerusalem ocialite

who

measures

er uccess

by

the

degree

f

her

ssimilation

nto

British

ul-

ture,

ets

her table for one of

many

dinner

arties

ttended

y

Arab

notables nd British fficials. female oice s also evidentt the evel

of

the

plot,

n

which

n several

ccasions

Antonius arrates

discus-

sion

of

gender

nd

history.

wo such

episodes

have been

singled

out

for

discussion

below.

The

events which take

place

in

The Lord are told

mainly

from

he

point

of view of the British

Other,

he

quintessential

ritish

missionary,

Miss

Alice,

interviewed

n

England

about

the

events

that

ed to

Tareq's

hanging,

when Miss Alice was

approaching

he

age

of

seventy

and


8/11/2019 466520

7/18

67

Suha

abbagh

"after

Jaffa

ad

long

since

disappeared." areq

had

been her

favorite

studentn themissionarychool directedy herfather,nd a special

relation

eveloped

etween hem.

Miss Alice

was

not

typical

mission-

ary,

he

was

capable

of

overcoming

any

of

the

prejudices

hat

her

colleagues

harbored

oward he Arabs.

Yet,

n

spite

of

the

strong

ies

formed

etween er nd the

neighborhood

omen,

he was

incapable

f

supporting

he

grievances

f

the

ocal

populationgainst

he

Mandate.

She is

willing

o

concede hat

he British ad lied and two

conflicting

promises

ere ndeedmade

regarding

hefuturef

Palestine,

et

t the

time he had done

very

ittle

n

way

of

questioning

ritish

olicy

n

the

face thesufferinghich hehadseenfirst and.While hemayhave

felt

ome

empathy

owards

heArabwomen

ased

on

shared

ousehold

experiences,

er

oyalty

t

all times emainedo

Britain.

Antonius's

rgument

s that

uropean

women,

ecause

of their

ub-

jugated

tatus re

capable

of

a

greater

egree

f

empathy

owards he

indigenous opulation

han

men,

but

this

gender-basedmpathy

annot

transcend he

exploitive

nature f

colonial relations.The ties

that

develop

between

Tareq's

mother nd

Miss

Alice are based on their

mutual

xperience

n

running

household,

ut

this

olidarity,

ased on

gender,

oes

nottranscendolonial

nterests.olonization

itsoccupiersand

occupied gainst

ach other, o

friendship

ased

exclusively

n a

personal

elations,

owever

incere,

an withstand

he historical

urrent

which

will

one

day

lead

to a

confrontationetween

he

two.

Although

therelation etween he

role of

European

women

n

colonization

s

not

as

thoroughly

eveloped

s

it

might

ave

been,

he

salient

oint

s

that

the

author

raises

questions

rarely

addressed

in

the

analysis

of

colonialism:

amely,

hatwas

the

position

f

European

omen

ighting

for

women's

ights

oward

he

human

ights

f

indigenousopulations?

The narrative

ime

f Where heJinn

onsult

egins uring

herela-

tive calmthatprevailedn Palestinewhile WorldWarII ragedelse-

where,

nd

ends

with

he

1948 defeat nd

dispersal

f

the

ndigenous

population.

he life

of

Buthaina,

areq's

Magdalene,

he

peasant

woman

who

played

n

important

ole

n

Tareq's

ife,

nd that f characters

n-

countered

n

the first

novel,

constitute

subplot.

he

second novel

deals

mainly

ith he ife s

experienced

y

the

financially

ecure trata

of

society

n

Jerusalem.

Tareq's

magic

act

consists f

revealing

he truth bout

the

British

occupation-the

rand

inale

f his act

consists

f

turning

hat nto

Kuffiyya,hesymbolismf which oes notescapeBritish fficials. he

Ingliz

British)

re also

unamused

when,

n

a different

ccasion,

he

strips

he

high

commissioner

aked

n

public, ymbolically

aring

he

truth

bout

British ntentions

n

Palestine.

Antonius's

econd novel

shows hehistorical

nderpinnings

hat

nexorably

haped

hedestruction

of

Palestine,

venas life

ppeared

n the urface

o be

proceedingery

much s it

hadbefore.Where

he

JinnConsult

s

the

name

given

o

the

courtyard

f the

sultan's

palace

where ssassinations

f rival

princes


8/11/2019 466520

8/18

Palestinian omennd he

ntifada

68

who

might hallenge

he

throne ere

plotted.

he

title's

ymbolic

efer-

ence is not imited, owever,o theplotagainst alestinehroughhe

Balfour eclaration

nd ater hePartitionlan. t also

includes

olonial

policies

which

ought

o use local

customs,

uch as

the

concept

f

"female

honor,"

gainst

he

population

n

an

efforto

discrediteaders

of the

present prising.

inally

t refers

o the

activities

f

the Stern

Gang

nd the

rgun,

imed t

evicting

he ocal

population

y

means f

terror.

If

the ocal

population

s

faulted,

t

is

for

feeling

oo

secure

n

the

face of

signs

ndicating

he

destruction

f

Palestine. or

the

peasants,

the essenceof that ecurityerived rom avingivedforgenerations

on the

and.

Abu-Ramzi

annot

nderstand

hy

his son

has

oined

the

uprising

nstead

f

tilling

he

earth. he

argument

hat he

and can

be

usurped

eems

absurd

o him:

"It

(the

land)

can't be

killed,

ike a

sheep.

t

can't be driven o the

desert,

ike a

camel.

And

not even

the

Ingliz

can

put

t

in

their

uitcases

nd

sail

away."11

The

security

f

the

gentry

ested

withtheir ocial

and

economic

standing,

ncluding

he

power

hat

men exercise ver

women n

a

cul-

ture

n

which

atriarchy

s so

heavily

ntrenched.

his

dea

is

put

forth

through passage

hat

escribes

he

nteraction

etween

British

our-

nalist nd the1948

mayor

f

Jerusalem,

agheb

Beh al-Nashashibi.o

demonstratehat

will

inevitably

appen

hould ionist

mmigration

e

allowed to

continue,

he

mayor

nstructs

young

man to

pour

water

into an

already

ull

glass explaining

hat,

ue to

the

aws

of

physics,

the

result an

only

be

one of

two

things:

The

new addition

s

spilled

or the

container

ill

burst."

he

ournalist

s

impressed

ith he

anal-

ogy,

nd "a woman

yes

bent

o

the

ground

otto

disturbherulers

f

theworld"

omes

n

to

sponge

hewater

pilled

n

the

desk

nd on

the

ground,

without

ither

man

noticing

er

presence.

ut

the

ournalist

proposes thirdlternativehat hemayor adfailed oconsider:fthe

new

water

s

poured

n

fast

enough....The

riginal

ontents

ouldbe

displaced."'2

Witheconomy f space, the author aises the issue of

gender

nd

ts

relation

o the vents

hat

ed

to the

destruction

f

Pales-

tine. he

proposes

hat he false

senseof

security

xperienced

y

local

notables,

ong

consideredne of

the

reasons

or

Palestinian

nertia

n

the face of the

events hat

ed to

the

devastating

low

of

1948,

was

based

in

part

on

the sense of

control hatmen

enjoy

over

women's

lives. As

she also

brings

ut the

role of women

s

invisible

leaning

machines,ometimesully onvincedf therightfuloleofmen o con-

ductthe course

f

history.

n

the

above

passage

the

mayor's

uthority

as

a

patriarch

indered is

ability

o foresee

he ast

option

roposed

y

the

ournalist.

The role of womenn

peasant

ociety

s

questioned

n

a

way

that

does not

disrupt

he

narrative,

.g.,

in

the

following assage,

ven

as

the

author

escribes he fear

nd havoc that

eigned

n

the

countryside

as

villagers

ere

fleeing

efore heterror

pread y

the

rgun

n

1948,


8/11/2019 466520

9/18

69

Suha

abbagh

her

description ncapsulates

he social

hierarchy

resent

n

peasant

society:Hadil, s docile s thoughbeying man, ropped erbundle

and

the two

women

mother

nd

daughter)

eft

by

the

back

lane,

through

he fields

nd

the

long

dusty

oad

to

Lydda."13

he

passage

touches n the

power

held

by

men,

the

strength

f

some

matriarchs,

parental espect, espect

or

old

age,

and

the

deal

of female

ocility,

bringing

ack

to life

pre-1948

illages, epicting

oththe warmthnd

the

problems.

The

Three

Circles

f

Oppression

xperienced

y

Buthaina

Antonius's iews on theproblems acingwomen n ruralPalestinian

society

re

expressed

hrough

he ife of

Buthaina,

childless

easant

womenwho seeks the

help

of

the

magician

areq

n

overcoming

er

problem.

Buthaina's

beauty

nd

strength

f character

win

over her

father's eart.He

expresses

is love

by marrying

er to a much

lder

widower

apable

of

providing

or

her.Viewed rom

within ulturalon-

text,

her father's

ecision

s

based

on

maximizing

he welfare f

his

daughter,

nd

although

the

marriage

does not

seem

to involve

Buthaina's

eelings,

he

is

happy

with

he

degree

f

autonomy

hat he

exercisesn thehome--buthe ecurity hichherfatherought orher

was not

to be. Her

life

is

shattered

t

the

hands

of the

British

authorities.

irst,

ritish

oldiers earch nd

turn

er

house nto

rubble,

second,

n

an efforto

discredithe nationalist

ebel,

Tareq,

he

British

turn

he

oncept

f female

onor

gainst

tself

y

circulating

rumor

f

a sexual

relation

inking

areq

to Buthaina.

As a

result,

Abu

Ramzi

repudiates

uthaina nd

marries

gain.

Buthaina

who

must

now seek

employment

s a maid

to

sustain

er-

self

nd

her

on,

recounted

n

the

equel

to thefirst

ovel.

Through

he

characterfButhaina,he uthorxamineshethree reas

of

oppression

experienced

y

ruralwomen:

ppression

asedon

gender,

lass,

andthe

colonialism.

er conclusion

uts

forth he dea that

women uffer

ar

more s a

consequence

f colonization

han

hey

do

because

of

their

status s

women. romButhaina's

oint

f

view,

her

ife withher

hus-

band

held

a

sense

of cohesion

f

not

equality.

he understood

errole

and the

nternal

ogic

that

holdsthesocial structure

ogether.

owever,

the British

Mandate nd

Zionist

lans

for

Palestine

rove

o be a

for-

midable

nemy

hat

destroys

hat

mall

comforts

he was

finally

ble

to make

forherself.

Buthaina'sresilience s not easily crushed. n the second novel

Buthaina

ecomes hemaid

ofa Mrs.

Al-Ghal,

whosehusband askid-

napedby

Britishuthorities.

ogether,

he two women

orm

support

system

or ne

another,

lbeit ne

notbased on

class

equality.

uthaina

nevertheless

chieves

her

objective

f

educating

er

son,

who soon

shows

every

ndication

f

becoming

future ebel

such

as

Tareq.

n

Antonius's

orkPalestinian

omen

eceive

cknowledgement

or

their

resiliencend

for

heir ontribution

n

raising

he

coming enerations.


8/11/2019 466520

10/18

Palestinian omen

nd

he

ntifada

70

Where he

uthoreemed omewhatemovednd

dispassionate

n

the

firstwork,due to historical istance,n Where heJinnConsult he

narrative

s

propelled

orward

y

the

njustice

one

to

the

Palestinian

people.

Antonius's

bility

o make

palpable

historicalacts hat

have

long

since

ost their

bility

o shock

hereader oes not

change.

Violet

Dhaishi,

Jerusalem

ocialite,

s

in

pursuit

f

a

treasuredrooch

iven

to

her

by

a

discarded ritish

ove,

when he

miraculously

scapes

death

as the

wing

f the

nearby

ing

David

Hotel s

blown

p.

Ninety

eople

are

killed

n

the

ncident.

rs.

Al-Ghal's

on

and

daughter

re

on

their

way

to a children's enefit

arty

whenher

on is

killed

t

the

Damas-

cus

Gate as

barrels

illed

with

xplosives

re hurled

nto hemidst

f

acrowd.The massacre f

Dayr

Yasin,

told from n

impassioned

emale

perspective,

s

given

new

meaning.

he author's

echnique

onsists

ere

of

playing

with

temporality,lacing

well

known

historical acts

back

into

the

routine

f

daily

ife.She

compells

he

reader

o

remembrance

form

point

n

thefuture

n

which he

reader

eers

n

on the

present

as

it shatters

ispersing

ike

the dust

of a

nebula

back

intothe

future

and to all corners f theearth.

Subalternity

n

Khalifeh's ovels

In

her

private

ife,

Sahar Khalifeh

has

shown

the

same

courage

manifested

n

her

nquiry

nto

herole of

women.After

hirteen

nhap-

pily

married

ears,

he

initiated ivorce

rocedures,

steprarely

aken

by

women

n

a

traditional

rab

society,

o

pursue

career

n

writing.

She

recently

eceived erPh.D.

from

he

University

f

Iowa

in

Creative

Writing

nd is

currentlyeaching

n

Jordanwhere he

lives

withher

two

daughters.

The

only

copy

of

her

first

novel

was

confiscated

y

the

Israeli

authorities.

er second

novel

s

currently

ut of

print.

Wild

Thorns,

nd

its sequel,Abad El Shams Sun Worshiper)re herthird nd fourth

novels

so

far

only

the

former as

been translated

nto

English).

Wild

Thorns

arrates he

life

of fourmale

characters,

hree f whom

re

laborers

ussed

daily

to

work

n

Israel.

The

fourth

haracter,

epre-

senting

he

young

nd

more

radical

generation,

s

on a

mission

o

destroy

hose

ery

usses hat

arry

he

workerso

obs

in

Israel,

lung-

ing

the whole

area intoa

deeper

elation

f

dependency

nd

subjuga-

tion.

When

Khalifeh

wrote

his

novel the

issue

of

working

or

the

benefit

f the

occupying

ower

was

still

being

hotly

ebated

n

the

WestBank, nd this ccounts or heprominencehat ssuereceivesn

her

work.Her

third

ovel,

Abad

El

Shams

narrateshe ives

of

three

women,

wo

of whom

re

respectively

idow

and

girlfriend

o

two

laborers

ncountered

n

thefirstwork.

Areas

of

inquiry

nto feministssues are almost absent n

Wild

Thorns:women haractersre

underdeveloped

hile the

author's

n-

timate

knowledge

f

the

worldof

men,

.e. scenes inside

themale

prisons,

re

portrayed

n

finedetail.

Finally,

atherhan

ddressing

he


8/11/2019 466520

11/18

71

Suha

abbagh

problem

f social

segregation

f men and

women,

he

relation f the

first nd secondnovelreiteratehissegregation.n an interviewhe

author

tated

hat t the time of

writing

WildThorns

he

was

pre-

feministnd felt

ompelled

o

write

sequel

that escribes

he

tribula-

tions

of

womenunder

ccupation.

would

argue

the author's ived

experience

s a woman

xposed

o themechanisms

f

social control

as

greatly

nhanced er

bility

o

explain

he

mechanisms

f

political

on-

trol nd

the

psychology

f

oppression

n

thecontext

f

occupation.

he

relationbetween

the two

forms

f

oppression

may

be

approached

though

ramsci's otion

f

"subalternity,"

ehavior

ndicating

he sub-

servience nd obediencewhich

nvariably evelops

n

situations

f

dominance,

specially

nder

olonization,

utalso the nternalizationf

traditional

orms

n

women

n

cultures

were

patriarchaluthority

s

heavily

entrenched.

t is

precisely

her

unique

insight

nto

the

psychological

makeup

f the individual

aught

etween inancial e-

pendency

n

the

one

hand,

nd the

desire

o

resist n the

other hat

gives

Wild Thorns ts

special

flavor.

Khalifeh

investigates

his

phenomenon

s

a relation

etween hree

enerations,

iving

hework n

historical imension

hereby

he

young

who have no

parental

espon-

sibilities

have

greater

reedom

o

refuse status

quo

that

eeks

to

diminishheir eing.

Laborers

Prior

to the

current

prising,

20,000

aborerswere bussed

daily

to

work

n

Israel,

55%

of

whom

work

n

construction,

he

rest

n

agricul-

ture nd

industry.

nskilled

ay

labor from he West

Bank and Gaza

represents

.5%

of thetotal sraeliwork

orce.

heir

mportance

s

due

to their

oncentration

n

building

ew

settlements.

A

dilemma urroundshe

issue of construction

orkers ometimes

hired o build ettlementsn land confiscatedromheir wn

villages.

In

Tawil's

work,

lass

ratherhan

ender

onditions

he

way

thenation-

al

allegory

s

construed.

mpoverished

and

owners

who

can no

longer

compete

with

he

wagespaid

in

Israel

are

disapproving

ut

of self

n-

terest. thers

iew the ssue

from more

nationalistic

ngle.

But

in

either

ase,

the condemnation

f the

day

laborer asd ramifications

n

workers'

elf-image,

xacerbating

heir

ilemma.

Khalifeh

rgues

hat

while the workers'

arning apacity

has

improved

omewhat,

he

psychological

mpact

of

their

new role cannot

be

neglected.

The

laborers reofthat enerationhat dheres o traditionalaluesof mar-

riage

and

family,

nd

consequently

ind hemselves

n

a

doublebind

between

heir

conomic

esponsibility

oward he numerous ouths

hat

depend

n

them

nd their esire o

resist

ccupation

yasserting

heir

national

ights.

The

fingers

f Abu-Saber's

ight

and are

mangled y

construction

equipment.

ince he

is from

he

erritoriesnd was

illegally

ired

y

an

Israeli

firm

hat

does not

provide

ts

workers ith

ccident

nsurance,


8/11/2019 466520

12/18

Palestinian omen

nd he

ntifada

72

no

hospital

n

Tel-Aviv

will

admit

him.

During

he

ong

trip

back

to

Nabluswith wofellowworkers,delandZuhdi, uring hich enear-

ly

bleeds to

death,

Abu-Sabernsists

n

hearing

ales

about

the

Arab

heroic

igure,

bu-Zaid,

n

order o

forget

is

present

ondition. t

a

point

when

his

life

s in

the

balance

nd

the

financialurvival f

his

family

s at

a

great

isk,

Abu-Saber's irst

riority

s

to

regain

sense

of

dignity.

his

somewhat

athetic

igure

ngages

here

the

empathy

f

the reader

s he

desperately

ries o

escape

into a

past

in which

he

could take

pride

n his

Arab

dentity

ver

a

present

hat

places

him

beyond

he

pale

of

thinghood.

Abu-Saber'sequests notmet.His companionsharehispresentnd

cannot ecall the

tales of the

glorious ast.

But

the

support

nd kind-

ness

of

his

wife,

riends,

nd the

grocer

whooffers

ood n

credit,

elp

his

family

urvive,

f

not overcome he

squalid

state of

poverty

n

which

they

ive.

In

a

maze

of

red

tape

of

incredible

imensions

(reminiscent

f

the

plight

f

Saeed,

the

protagonist

f

another

ales-

tinian

ovel,

The

Pessoptimist,y

Emil

Habibi,

memberf

the sraeli

Kenesset)

Abu-Saber

wins

his court ase

for

compensation

ut ooses

the battle.

The

company

eclares

bankruptcy

nd

disappears

rom

he

scene.The above

episode

s

preceded

y

more

than

one

scene

in

which

laborers rom

he West

Bank are

exposed

daily

to

racist

lurs

that

produce

onfrontationsetween

alestinian nd

Jewish

aborers. he

combined ffect

f

these cenes

explain

he

psychological

echanisms

of

the

subaltern,

et

in

motion s

the

Palestinianaborers

must

first

fight

ach

other

o be selected o work

n

Israel,

only

to

be further

humiliated

n

the

basis of their

ational

dentity.

bu-Saber's

ttempt

o

recapture

he

past

becomes n abortive

ttempt

o

reject

he slave con-

sciousness

mposed

n

the

deepest

ecesses f his

being

by

what

he

perceives obe as sources f authority:ewish orkers,sraelipolicies

on

the West

Bank,

and

by

fellow

Palestinians ho

condemn is

par-

ticipation

n

the sraeli

conomy

without

ffering

ny

alternative.

he

laborer's

ense of discordwith

he environment

akes

on

a

symbolic

physical

imensions

n

theform f

maiming,

bu-Saber's

ccident,

nd

death,

hat

of

Zuhdi.

n

the

final

scene,

Zuhdi,

one

of the

laborers

caught

n

the

crossfire

etween he

military

nd the

young

usama

who

carries ut

his

mission nd

ambushes he

bus,

finds

onsolation

n

the

knowledge

hathe

will die

as

a wild

thorn

n

the

side

of

occupation

andnotas he hadlived, ompliantnd docile.

Khalifeh's wn

position

is-A-vis

ocial

as well as

literary

orms f

authority

ust

e

understood

hrough

er

controversialse

of

language,

which

eparts

rom

Arab

iterary

orms. ot

only

does she

mix

collo-

quial

and

classical

Arabic,

formhat s not

widely ccepted,

he also

has

no

reservations

gainst

aithfully

eproducing

street

anguage,"

er-

bal use

that ne

might

ncounter

n

the

everyday

ife of

an

alley

but

not

accepted

n

literature

r

"polite"

onversation.

er

charactersre


8/11/2019 466520

13/18

73

Suha

abbagh

formed

hrough

hat

hey ay,

not

through

isual

description;

he

char-

acters re heardratherhan een. She depictshercharactershrough

local

idioms,

roverbs,pontaneous

erse

composed gainst

ccupation

by

women

n

the

public

bath,

rguments

etweenwomen

n

the

quarter,

unflattering

emarks

o

the

soldiers,

nd even

exchanges

f

insults,

when

necessary.

Khalifeh

uestions

hese

forms f

authority

rom

he

standpoint

f

the

present

arsh

eality

f ife

n

the

Casbah

under

ccupation.

er

use

of

language

uggests

hat ll

values,

ll

ideological

ositions,

re

subject

to contestation

rom

he

standpoint

f

their

mpact

n

the

social

and

emotional

ell

being

of the

mostvulnerable

trata

f

society,hroughthe

anguage

f the

alley.

Her use of

language

reates n

affinity

e-

tween

her

politics

nd that

of the

young

generation

n

her

work.

f

Khalifeh's

anguage

rings

er

closer

politically

o

the

position

f

the

young

generation,

er

sympathies

re,

without

doubt,

with

the

laborers.

lthough hey

eceive

no benefits

nd

their

hourlywage

is

considerably

ess than he

sraeli

minimum,

he

aborers arn a

higher

income

n

Israel

than

hey

would

working

or

he

emi-feudal,

nd

cur-

rently

mpoverished

andlords.

owever,

ccording

o the

author,

he

price

hat he

aborer

must

ay

n

terms

f

his inner

truggle

akeshis

predicamentn impossiblene.

The Landed

Gentry

Khalifeh

oes not

employ

great

eal of

symbolism

n

her

work.

Her

portrayal

f

a life

basic

survival

s

expressed

n

the direct nd

un-

adorned

tyle

f

social

realism.

ut there

s

one

instance

n

which

ym-

bolism ecomes n

essential

ool

n

conveying

er

deas,

nd that s

in

depicting

he

decaying

ole

of the anded

entry.

eprived

f its

and-

some of which

was

confiscated

o

build settlements-and

nable to

compete

withthe Israeli market,his

previously

owerful lass is

paralyzed.

t is

symbolically

epresented

hrough

he

figure

f Adel's

father,

he

ailing patriarch

f the

family,

ept

alive

by

a

dialysis

machine.

he

symbol

f

the

dialysis

machine

onjures

p

a

powerful

image

f

a class

whose

position

n

the

nationalssue

s

exacting

toll

paid

for with

blood,

the

lives

of two

younger

enerations.

ever

a

cliche

for

any

ideologicalposition,

he

express

he

suffering

f

the

father

s

well

as the burden

hat

his

physical

nd

political

aralysis

places

on

therest f

the

family

members.

he

three

enerations

f the

Al-Karmi amilyometo representhewayin which ach Palestinian

generation

iewsthe solution

o the

problem.

The father's

present

elf-imposed

mission s to receive

foreign

our-

nalists

and

dignitaries,

elieving

that

n

pleading

the

case of the

Pales-

tinians

abroad,

these emissaries

will somehow

bring

about an end

to

occupation.

Though

well

intended,

his efforts o

seek a

solution

from

outside

ncreases the toll

placed

on the shoulders

f the children:

Adel,

who must

work as a bussed

laborer

in order to sustain

through

his


8/11/2019 466520

14/18

Palestinian omennd he

ntifada

74

meager

esources

is

father's

medical

osts,

nd

young

assil

unable

o

exert nycontrolverhisownprofessionaluturen an economyetup

to

absorb

nly

aborers.

Khalifeh

uestions

ere he

validity

f

waiting

or

olutions

o

come

from

broad.

Her own

position

s more

elf-reliant.t

is

expressed

n

the

ending

f

Abad

El Shams: Sadia abandonsher

quest

for

an

in-

dividual olution

n

the

form f

building

erown haven

way

from

he

alley

and

oins

othermothersnd their hildrenn

demonstrations.

he

also favors irect

ialogue

between he two

parties

oncerned:

n

the

final

cene

of

the ame

novel,

when

progressive

sraeli

ournalist

nd

Adel,now editor f a magazine alled Al-Bald,meet nd coverthedemonstrations

ogether.

Collective

unishmentsmposed

rom bove

bring

he

above

histori-

cal

impasse

o an end

by uniting

he

population

ehind

he

position

f

the

young eneration.

nlike

Adel,

the

eldest

brother hose

first om-

mitment

s

toward

ustaining

he

family,

assil's

first

ommitment,

nd

that

f

the new

generationhrough

im,

s

liberation.

is

involvement

in

unspecified

cts of resistanceause the

military

overnor

o

issue

orders or

blowing

p

their ncestral ome.Adel takes

his

pportunity

to

get

rid of the

dialysis

machine

hat as cost

him

his

future.

retend-

ing that herewas notenough imeto remove t from hehome,he

experiences

sense of

relief as

he watches

the

machine low

up

together

ith he

ncestral ome.The scene an

be read

n

a

number

f

ways,

ll

indicating greater

adicalizations

theold is

discardednd

new

responses merge

owards

ccupation.

The old

patriarch

epresents

he

toll that

ertain raditional

alues

re

exacting

rom

he

younggeneration.

n

important

spect

of

Sahar's

work ies

in

her

ability

o

expose

the

way

in

which

ome

traditional

values

unwittingly

ollaborate ith

he

ocial

mechanismsf

occupation.

Here sheproposes hat espect orthe viewsof theelderlys well as

waiting

or his

generation

o lead the

struggle

s

preventing

he

young

from

eading

ull

nd normal

ives

and

from

estoring

heir

ight

o

be

free.

The

New Generation

The

most

imely uestion

hat

nyone

ould

pose

to

Sahar's s:

what

re

the

forces hat

ransformnd radicaliz

he

new

generation?

he

question

is

even more

pertinent

oday,

when

roughly

0% of

the

population

f

the WestBankand 70% of thepopulationf the Gaza strips under

the

age

of

21,

than t was when his

book was

written

n

1976:

So the

nly

olutions

emigration,

hich

means

working

nSaudi

Arabia,

ibya

and heGulf.

What's he esultf ll his? ducated

eople

eave he

ountry,

nd

only

workers

nd

easants

emain. nd

hat's

xactly

hat

srael

wantso

happen.

But whetherts

workers

nd

peasants

r doctorsnd

engineers

ho

tay,

ur

mentality

nd ur

ctivity

emainhe ame.We're umble

n

pirit,

eeble-hearted.

Menwhoworkike

machines,

oo cared o

ay

no"to

nything.14


8/11/2019 466520

15/18

75

Suha

abbagh

The

young

generation

ees

its future

uspended

etween

migration

on theonehand, r rejecting status uo which eeksto destroyheir

sense

of selfhood n theother.

heir rustrations

due

to their

nability

to fulfill

heir

inancialnd

professionalspirations.

ack of

obs,

lack

of

basic

economic

ecurity,

re

all

part

of

their oncern.But basic

human

ignity,

chieved

hrough

ational

ights,

onstitutesn

equally

importantspect

f their

truggle.

Women

Women's

mployment

n the

West

Bank

has

risen

during

he last

20

years. hesefigureso not,unfortunately,eflectn improvedconomic

position

ince

most

women

work

or

he

benefit f the

sraeli

conomy.

Before hecurrent

prising

any

womenwere

mployed

ith

lite,

he

chocolate

manufacturing

ompany;

n

agriculture,

icking

itrus

ruit;

y

the

garment

ndustry;

nd

in

the services

s

cleaning mployees

or

homes

and

hospitals.

ince

1967,

female

mployment

as

increased

from .4

percent

o

24.8

percent

n

1980.

However,

t must

be noted

that

womenon the West

Bank

are

paid

50

percent

f

what their

counterparts

eceive

n

Israel.At the

time hatKhalifeh roteAbad El

Shams n 1980,womenwhosuddenlyound hemselvesingleheadsof

households ere

hastised

y

other

women

or

departing

rom

radition-

al

modes

f behavior

y

virtue

f

their

ew

found

esponsibility.

ince

then,

ocial

norms

ave

changed

o

accommodatehe

growing

umbers

of

women

who,

due

to the death

or incarceration

f

their

husbands,

mustnow

provide

or heir

amilies.

All

female haracters

n

Sahar's

work

re

stronger

han

hey

ealize

themselves

o

be.

Sadia,

the ttractiveidow

f

Zuhdi

s

now

employed

as

a

seamstress

or

an Israelishirtmanufacturer.

er

wages,

however

meager,

xceedthe ncome

f

her

departed

usband.

ut,

her

resilience

in

earning living

ontrastsvenmore

markedly

ithher

nability

o

find

he

inner

trength

o

challenge

he values that ondemn

er

be-

havior.

n

a strata

f

society

wherewomendo

not

work

outside

he

house,

Sadia's sudden

olt

intothe

work

place

takes

place

at

a

faster

pace

than

he

parallel

djustments

n

the

norms f the

social

system.

The

neighborhood

omen nd

Sadia

herself oubt he "correctness"f

her

new

behavior,

nd she

s

anguished

y

her

rips

o

the

Big

City,

y

the

men

who must isit

her

home

gainst

revailing

ccepted

orms,

y

her

being

seen

with less than

reputable

omanwhich he

quickly

denies.

Trapped

etween

er frustration

t

being

ostracized

rom he com-

munity,

er oneliness

or

her

departed

usband,

nd

her nner orment

at

her

present

ehavior,

he becomes bsessed

with he

dream

f

escap-

ing

her

present

eality

ybuilding

homeon the

sunny

ide

of

town.

The

title

f

the

work,

Sun

Worshiper"

r

"Sunflower,"

plant

which

follows hewarm

ays

of the

sun,

reflects

er

desperate

ttempt

o flee

an

unbearable

resent.

er

quest

for n individual

olution raws cer-


8/11/2019 466520

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Palestinian

omen

nd

he

ntifada

76

tain

parallel

withAbu-Saber's

esire

o

escape

nto

more

olden

ast.

Sadiasparesno sacrificen herquest o achievehergoal.Althoughhe

is able to feed

her

children

etter,

hey

uffer

rom er

nger

nd

her

frustration.

ike

Abu-Saber

he

must

ace

thefact

hat

scape

s

impos-

sible.

As soon as

she

moves nto

hernew

haven,

he

uthoritiesonfis-

cate

her

land and

demolish

er home for the

purpose

f

building

settlement

n all

the

surrounding

rea.

Angry

nd on the

verge

f mad-

ness,

she

finally

bandons

er

quest

forthe

rays

of

the

sun

and

oins

her children nd the crowds

n

demonstratinggainst

he

occupation.

Given

the

current

istorical

onditions

n

the West

Bank,

the

ssues

facingwomen an onlybe addressedn conjunctionith heproblem

facing

heas a whole. n

seeking

o

escape

her ife n the

alley,

adia

had

enforced

er

own

chastisement.

ut,

her

politicization

n

the

end

marks

shift,

he

will

now be able

to

challenge

raditional

aluesfrom

the

point

f

view of

the

resistance.

How Women

rganize

Raymonda

awil,

an

activist

nd a

correspondent

o

various

oreign

journals

nd an

editor o

a

local

Palestinian

ublication

alled

AI-Awda

(Return,urrentlyloseddownbythe sraeli uthorities),ecame airly

well

known

n

the

United

tates nd

Europe

hrough

ercontact

with

Western

eporters

nd

foreign iplomats

isiting

heWest

Bank.

n

My

Home

My

Prison

he informs

he

reader hat

her

objective

was

to

pro-

vide a

"a

bridge"

between he

occupied

territories

nd

the

outside

world.

Priorto

the

occupation,

awil

formed

literary

alon

in

her

home to

compensate

for

the

cultural

ife

in

Nablus,

which

soon

developed

nto a

meeting

lace

for

diplomats,

ntellectuals,

nd

local

officials.After

967,

she continued o

receivevisitors

ncluding

he

Western

ress,

sraeli

Leftists,

rabsfrom

srael,

nd

sometimes

ven

the ocal

military

overnor

nd hisaides.

My

Home

My

Prison

s

one of the few

sources

hat ffers

nforma-

tion n the

way

women

rganize

s

a

reaction o the

punitive

measures

imposedby

the

military

overnment.

awil offers

mportant

etails

about

pecific

vents,

uch s

women's ctive

nvolvement

n

preventing

changes mposed y

the

militaryovernment

n

the school

curriculum,

and

demonstrationsarried ut

against

he demolitionf

homes.

Tawil

is,

however,

erhaps verly

ptimistic

n

her

assessmentf

the

strides

made

by

women n

the

WestBank or

their

bility

o

maintain

hese

stridesfterhenationaltruggleas achieved tsobjectives.

Tawil's

describes he condition f the

refugees

victedfrom

heir

homes nd settled

emporarily

round er house

during

he

1967 war.

Her

first

hought

was to

provide

food,

shelter nd

medicalcare.

Together

with

Khalifeh,

he two

women et off to

get

the Israeli

authoritieso

openup

the

UNRWA

warehouse

United

Nations

Relief

and Works

Agency).

awil,

who

grewup

in

the coastal

city

of

Acre

after

948,

was able tocommunicateith he oldiers

n

Hebrew.

heir


8/11/2019 466520

17/18

77 Suha

abbagh

move

was

bold-at

that

point

no

one knewwhat

to

expect

from

he

occupyingower. heir ctionwaspragmaticnd devoid f ideological

posturing.

he later

agenda

of women's

rganizations

aintainedhe

same

directness

n

its

approach.

We learn

hat ome

men

n

Nablusfelt

highly

ffendedo

see

the two

women

n

the

company

f an

Israeli

official,

he

enemy,

ven

f

the ssue

was

to save lives.

But,

Tawil

and

Khalifeh everthelessefine hemselves

s

nationalist:he conflict e-

tweenmen and women's

erception

s based on the

greater egree

f

dogmatism

hich nforms en's

approach,

onsidered

y

Khalifeh

nd

Raymonda

s

unessential,

nd

pragmatism

r

nurturing

s women's

domain, iewed s theessentialtuff f life.

'Talking

o he

nemy

scollaboration "omeone

ays uriously.

aharoses er

temper.

We

have suffered

nough

rom

logans

nd

ideologies "

he

cries."Ba'athism,

arxism,

nd ll

he est.

owwe

have

housandsf

mouths

to

eed,

undredsfwounded

o

are

or.

e've alked

nough

ow et's

o

o

worknd

avewhat e

an

f

he alestinian

eople."115

The

emphasis

n

saving

ifecarries

hrough

n

women's

rganization.

By

and

large,

women

rganize

round

n

extension f

their

urturing

role.

Any

roblemouching

n

the ife fthe

amily,

chool

urriculum,

ood

or

needy amilies,edicalare, ecomeshe omainftheArabWomen'snion,

whose

ctivities

he

uthorescribes.

omen's

osition

hifts

rom

eing

he

ran-

tor

f

ife

n

their

maternal

ontext,

o

becoming

he

rotectors

f ife nd

family

concerns

n

the

olitical

ontext.

owever,

t

s

incorrect

o assume

hat

omen

have

no

ideological

iews.

Although

heir

pproach

s

basic nd s

concerned

with

urvival,

omen's

rganizations

lso

belong

o

different

deological

actions

withinhe

PLO,

and thenature

f

their

nvolvement

s

influenced

y

their

views.The ArabWomen's

nion onsists

f middle-class

omen,

nd is

mainly

charitable

rganization,

hile ther

rganizations

re more

nvolved

with ocationalrainingndselfhelp. awil lsoprovidesome nformationon

young

omen ho

oined

he rmed esistance.nnumerical

erms,

ow-

ever,

heir

articipation

s

marginal.

ar

greater

umbers

oin

demonstrations,

sit-ins

nd

actsof civil

disobedience.

In

the

above

passage,

t is

clear

that

Tawil

expects

he nationalist

nature f women's

ork o

provide

form

f

protectiongainst

raditional

norms.Women

learly

eel that he

violation

f

traditional

oundariess

justified y

the

very

nature

f

their ationalist

oncern. his

attitudes

typified

n

a remarkmade

by

a

foreignournalist

s

reported

n

Tawil's

book: traditional

iddle-aged

omen

eel free

o lift

up

their kirts

o

showhim hebruiseseft n their odies ythe oldiers,uiteunbothered

by

traditional

orms hat

equire

much

reater

odesty.

n

time,

women's

participation

n

Amal

l Watani

asearned hem

reater

reedoms.

n

the

intifada

most of the members f the

committees

esponsible

or

providing

food and

other

taples

for

familiesn need are

young

women with fewer

restraints

laced by

families

n

their

mobility

r their

egregation.

The broad

ines

of the

work

discussed bove shows

that ome

tradition-

al

values,

especially

nes

that

pply

to

women,

unwittinglyooperate

with


8/11/2019 466520

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Palestinian

Womennd

the

ntifada

78

the

objectives

f

occupation ampering

he mobilization

ffortsf half

thepopulation.n theother and, raditionalalues hat ictateenerosity

and

support

xtendedo one's

neighbor

n

times f

need,

s

in

the

ase of

Abu-Saber,

ay

well

be

responsible

or

maintaining

he fiber

f

society

under

ccupation.

he texts

onsidered

o not how

direct

hallenge

o

the

central

atriarchal

aradigm.

atfer,

n

theireminist/nationalist

pproach,

he

three uthors

eek

to

incorporate

heroleof women

nto

henational

ic-

ture.

t

is doubtful

hether

more irect

onfrontation

ill

take

place

at

a

time

when

alestinians

re

faced

with

n immanentutside

anger.

any

women n

the

West ankGaza have oiced heir

ope

hat

he

ains

made

y

women ndtheirontributionsillbecome platformor egotiationsnce

political

olution

s

reached.

omen's

emands

ill

then

eceive he

same

priorities

s the

multiplicity

ffactionsithin

he

umbrellaf the

LO.

NOTES

1.

On

theWest ank

lone,

here re

hirty

ix

registeredrganizations

hat

ffer

iteracy

programs,ewing rograms,

nd ocialwelfare

rogramsroviding

ood,

lothing

nd

helter

for

hose ho eed t.

he

are ow xtended

o

ne's

neighbor,

n he

orm

f

growingegetable

gardens

o

nd omestic

nimals

o

be sharednd

xchanged

ith

ommunity

embers.

lmost

all

alestinianhomes

n

ural

ettingsrow vegetablepatch

nd are

or

chicken

oup,

enerally

tended

o

by

women.Women's

esponsibilities

avenow become

symbol

f

community

cooperation.

inally,

treet

emonstrationsnder heJordanianule nd he

sraeli

ccupation

were

arried

ut

armore

requently

y

women's

roupsrecisely

ecause

he uthorities

end

o

be reluctantouseviolence

gainst

omen.

2.

Kumari

ayawardena,

eminism

nd

Nationalismn the hirdWorld

New

York:

Holt,

1979).

3.

Raymonda

awil,

My

Home

My

rison

London:

ed,

1986).

4. Sahar

Khalifeh,

ild

horns,

rans. revor e Gassick nd

E.

Fernea,

irst

ublished

n

Arabic

n

1976

London:

l

Saqi

Books,

985).

5.

Sahar

Khalifeh,

badAl

hams

Beirut:

LO

Press,

980).

6. Thework f

hese

wo uthors

an

best

e

understood

gainst

he

work

f

ioneering

gyptian

feministsikeMalakHifni assif1886-1918) howroten heegregationfwoman,eiling,nd

marital

roblems

nd

udaSharawi

1886-1918)

hosemany

ccomplishments

ncluded

he

ounding

of

he

gyptian

eministnion

imilar

n ts

bjectives

o he

rabWomen's

nion hich as

perated

on

he

West ank ince

967.

7.

Soraya

ntonius,

he

ord

New

York: olt,

986).

8.

Soraya

ntonius,

here

he

inn

onsult

London:

amish

amilton,

987).

9.

ThirdWorld

iteraturen

he

raof

Multinational

apitalism,"Socialext,

all

986,

p.

5-88.

10.

Aijaz

Ahmad,

Jameson'shetoric

f

Othemess

466520

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