She is the quintessential woman of the land, in all simplicity, a school from whose hands heroes, teachers, engineers, doctors, and workers graduate. Before any of these, the freedom fighters are borne. She has crafted history in the past, continues to in the present, and will do so in the future.
She embodies authenticity in the roots of her olive trees and in her mountains that delve deep into history, in fact, she is history itself. She is the virgin chosen by God to carry His word in her womb.
She is the patient mother of martyrs, the key and light of Jerusalem. She is the mother, the sister, the prisoner, the martyr, and the comrade… She is life in its entirety.
The Factory of Men
Palestinian history, rich in its journey, has involved women in the struggle of their people for liberation and the establishment of an independent state. Thousands of women have sacrificed their lives, their well-being, and their freedom in this journey. It's no wonder that women were at the forefront of those sacrificing their lives, notably in "Al-Aqsa Flood," where, as confirmed by reliable international stats, the number of martyrs has exceeded twenty thousand, most of whom were women and children.
The embodiment of manhood that gave birth to and raised resistance fighters and martyrs on dignity and honor. She is the supportive sister standing behind Palestinian fighters, the loving wife embracing and struggling alongside her husband, the first spark that exploded in the face of the enemy to stand shoulder to shoulder in the struggle against occupation.
Palestinian women participated prominently in the first uprising against the British Mandate when 40,000 citizens protested in the streets of Jerusalem on February 27, 1920. Their active involvement led them to take part in the delegation that met the High Commissioner to demand the cancellation of the "Balfour Declaration".
Political and Social Struggle
Through the years, Palestinian women have played significant roles in the struggle for liberation. In 1921, the first Palestinian Women's Union was formed under the leadership of Zleikha Al-Shihabi, a prominent figure in Arab and Palestinian women's activism, almost two decades before the establishment of the Israeli occupation. She imprinted a long stage of Palestinian national work that didn't end with founding the Palestine Liberation Organization in the 1960s but continued with her forced exile from Jerusalem in 1968 following its occupation.
This union worked tirelessly to broaden its base, organize committees, and unify women's efforts to develop their social and political struggle against the British Mandate and Zionism.
In 1929, the union convened the first Palestinian women's conference, attended by three hundred representatives from across Palestine. The conference resulted in several resolutions, including international appeals to stop Zionist immigration and the injustice inflicted by the British Mandate. It also organized many events and protests against the British High Commissioner and mobilized a slow-moving motorcade of 80 vehicles that passed all the European consulates.
Confronting the Occupier
In the 1960s, Palestinian women were among the first to confront the occupier by land, sea, and air. Martyr Dalal Al-Mughrabi is renowned for her heroic epic when she declared "The first independent republic on our occupied land for three hours". There was Shadia Abu Ghazaleh, the first Palestinian female martyr after the 1967 defeat, and Leila Khaled, who hijacked the first plane challenging Moshe Dayan, asserting, "This is my land". Palestinian women have been engaged in every form of struggle, enduring the occupation, the blockade, displacement, and repression amid international silence.
In the military realm, city women transferred light weapons across checkpoints, while village women transported clothes, provisions, and ammunition to the revolutionaries in the mountains on mules and donkeys.
The Arab woman in Palestine stepped into the battlefield early, setting the highest examples of courage and sacrifice. Among many examples of heroism, we remember martyr Fatima Ghazal, who fell on June 26, 1936, in the Wadi 'Azzun battle near Lod city.
Collective Hunger Strike
Prior to the declaration of the Israeli state, there's the memory of Reem Saleh Al-Rayashi, the self-sacrificing mother from Gaza's Al-Zaitoun neighborhood, who, affiliated with Al-Qassam Brigades and a mother of two, one a baby, blew herself up among Israeli officers at the Erez crossing.
On the front of female prisoners, Israeli jails never lacked Palestinian female detainees who continued their struggle in and out of captivity, with April 1970 witnessing a collective hunger strike lasting nine days demanding an end to violent treatment, especially solitary confinement. This paved the way for ongoing protest actions up to the present day.
Prominent figures like Khalida Jarrar of the Popular Front continue to be re-arrested and remain in solitary confinement, not released whether by exchange deals or at the end of an unjust sentence or administrative detention.
Women who didn't engage directly in the resistance contributed significantly, ensuring the survival of generations that understand the meaning of homeland and carry its cause. They are the mothers, wives, and grandmothers who nurtured and passed on the story and cause of the land from generation to generation, continuing the struggle for the right to return ever since the start of the Israeli occupation in 1948.
Sacrifices and Perseverance
In the context of the "Al-Aqsa Flood", which distinguished Palestinian resistance amid a genocidal onslaught, the role of Palestinian women cannot be overlooked. They support the fighters and maintain their resilience, whether as mothers, wives, sisters, doctors treating the wounded, volunteers aiding those harmed by the war—despite their family responsibilities—or journalists standing tall before the enemy, relaying the scene from the most tumultuous and challenging areas, facing the daily threat of being targeted.
The enemy has not been able to break the resolve of the Palestinian woman, despite the killings, demolitions, and successive arrests. There will always be stories of women and girls who have sacrificed their lives to etch their names into history.
Despite the difficulties in documenting events, through her personal social media accounts, she shares both the minute and significant details in foreign languages to enlighten the Arab and international public opinion by highlighting the continuous massacres the Palestinian people endure.
Sometimes she is the steadfast mother whose faith reaches the heavens as she mourns her children, other times she is the doctor and the paramedic who refused to abandon her duties, even when receiving news of her entire family's martyrdom; she persevered. The Palestinian woman, quite simply, follows the legacy of the Virgin Mary, the woman of the earth.
