'If only I were younger'

The Palestinian Women's Union in Cairo has long been known for its embroidery work. Rania Khallaf investigates the possibilities of a more challenging role
photo: UNRWA archives
A third week of massacres by the Israeli occupation forces has left hundreds of Palestinian civilians dead. With Palestine's official political leadership in captivity, the relentless attacks have put Palestinian civil society on the spot. Where are the NGOs? Why are they not lobbying more vigorously?
The Palestinian Women's Union (PWU), headed by Samira Abu Ghazala, is one organisation that plays a role in preserving Palestinian identity. How controversial its activities are is another matter.
Abu Ghazala lives in Mohandessin, and on the way over it was difficult to know what meeting her would be like. Should one feel guilty? Should one offer condolences for the slaughter, or pretend that nothing was wrong?
She was ten minutes late, which offered time to collect one's thoughts. Only when she opened the door did she remember the appointment but, after protracted apologies, her mind was on a more pressing matter: "What is the latest news? Are they in Jenin? Oh Lord, they want to kill us all..."
Born in Nablus in 1929, Abu Ghazala, established the PWU in Cairo 34 years later. She also helped create the General Union for Palestinian Women in 1965, was the first woman activist to be chosen as a member of the Palestinian National Council, and in 1985 became a member of the Palestinian Central Council.
Since the establishment of the PWU, Abu Ghazala has acted as a messenger, bringing the Palestinian cause to the fore time and again in the international arena.
During the 1980s and '90s, however, the PWU was known for a more traditional role: organising displays of traditional Palestinian costumes, concerts, and conferences. How have the dramatic developments of the past 18 months changed its agenda? "Last week, we launched a campaign for the benefit of the PWU in Ramallah. We collected LE17,000 and $2,000. We have also concluded an agreement with MobiNil, which is donating profits from one minute of calls per day to the victims of Israeli repression," said Abu Ghazala.
Along with Vodafone Egypt, MobiNil is also granting the PWU free lines allowing volunteers to contact Palestinian children traumatised by the daily horrors of the Israeli invasion. "A team of 10 young psychologists have volunteered to help us in this new service," Abu Ghazala explained.
Despite such promising initiatives, however, the PWU has apparently failed to develop a new generation of leaders who could take it to a new stage of activism. The ideas Abu Ghazala outlined were mooted during just one recent meeting that brought newcomers and volunteers into the union's framework.
Although the PWU is a member of the International Union for Women, the Afro- Asian Union for Women and the Arab Women's Union, it has established very low-level relations with international organisations, including international feminist groups. Abu Ghazala, indeed, admits that the PWU has failed in this respect; but she puts the blame on Palestinian women, especially those of the Diaspora, whom she accuses of not doing enough for their compatriots. "They should have benefited from the powerful role played by NGOs in Europe. I have been urging Palestinian women settled in European countries to set up similar unions, but they have not done so," she said. Powerful associations in the West would have strengthened the Palestinian position on the international scene, and especially in the media, she noted.
"We failed because from the very beginning we chose to concentrate on developing the social status of Palestinian refugees in Egypt. Although our budget is limited, the PWU has extended social services to Palestinian refugees in such areas as Dar Al-Salam, the Pyramids and Ain Shams," Abu Ghazala explained. "The second reason for this failure is institutional: we depend on the General Palestinian Women's Union (GPWU) in Gaza, which is affiliated directly to the PLO, and they have missed out on very good opportunities to establish stronger relations with similar international organisations," she admitted.
The most important task facing the Palestinians in the Diaspora, Abu Ghazala believes, is promotion of the Arab cause in the Western media. "Israel managed long ago to win the support of the American media. It has put across certain images of Arabs and Muslims that serve its own policies." Why did the PLO not do the same? She blames Arab leaders who "have the money, and spend it on useless pursuits."
Besides the union's headquarters in Gaza and the Cairo office, there is another PWU in Amman.
After the Action Plan of the fourth world conference on women was endorsed in Beijing 1995, efforts were made to draft a national strategy for Palestinian women, taking into consideration capabilities and women's priorities in Palestine and abroad. New associations were formed to achieve that aim and the GPWU, in its capacity as the representative of Palestinian women everywhere, created follow-up committees in the West Bank and Gaza. All these efforts, however, have been turned to dust by Israeli attacks, which have destroyed the infrastructure of the areas formerly under PA authority.
Israeli checkpoints have further increased the obstacles to the union's activities in Gaza and Ramallah. "The union now has no headquarters, and work has stopped because funds are lacking," Abu Ghazala explained. "The West Bank is divided into 64 fragments. My sister lives in Jerusalem, and she has not seen her daughters for four months," she said.
Palestinian women in the occupied territories may have suffered more than the men from Israeli violence. Having lost fathers, brothers or sons themselves, some have now turned to suicide bombing to defend their families. "Palestinian women, besieged in the occupied territories, desperately need our help," Abu Ghazala said. "International feminist organisations must help us, for instance by appealing to the media. Women everywhere have to unite." If she were younger, she states emphatically, she would gladly have become a martyr herself.
Abu Ghazala graduated from Cairo University's Faculty of Arts in 1956. She spent a few years working as a teacher in Jerusalem, then returned to Cairo. "I heard that Egypt was to participate in an international conference for women. I went to Amina El- Said, the head of the delegation, and asked if I could attend. I wanted to tell the world about what was happening to Palestinian women, how the situation was deteriorating. El-Said told me she would speak on my behalf. That is when I decided to establish the PWU."
With refugees scattered among so many different countries, the union's primary objective was "to preserve Palestinian identity. One of our major concerns was to preserve the legacy of our people. We gave underprivileged women jobs making traditional Palestinian costumes, and every couple of months we would hold special charity days to sell what they had made." Other achievements included a residence for Palestinian students, and a children's choral group called Abbad Al-Shams (Sunflowers) that performed in concerts and recorded traditional Palestinian songs.
The PWU established links with women's groups in Egypt like the Hoda Sha'rawi Association, but official organisations have not helped as much as they could have. Communications with the National Council on Women are deficient, for instance. "I heard they were about to hold a session to discuss the situation of Palestinian women in the occupied territories. Why were we not invited? We expected a more forceful attitude on their part -- but anyway, we rely on ourselves, and are not waiting for anybody to act on our behalf," she concluded decisively.
Nor does she have much faith in the Arab women's summits, which she describes as little more than exercises in public relations, unlikely to pass effective resolutions.
Abu Ghazala is one of the five million Palestinian refugees dispersed in Arab and Western countries. She has not lost hope of returning home; in fact, she becomes more adamant every day that she will see the land of her birth before she dies. "Defending our occupied land is not terrorism. The Israelis are the terrorists," she said. "We have been fighting the occupation for half a century, and we will not surrender."
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