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Palestinian Women in Terrorism: Protectors or Protected
Palestinian society and its national struggle
Palestinian women’s participation in terrorist activities needs also to be understood
in the context of the Israeli-Arab military struggle, which dates back to the
establishment of the state of Israel in 1948. 8 Since the War of Independence
between Israel and its neighboring Arab countries, and the subsequent creation of
Israel, the Palestinian Arabs have continuously been involved in terrorist activities
with the aim of annihilating Israel. The issue of whether and how women can
contribute to the military struggle has long preoccupied Palestinian political and
religious leadership, presenting the women who wish to participate with paradoxes.
Nationalist movements (e.g. Yuval-Davis, 1997), including the Palestinian
resistance movement and its leaders, have historically emphasized women’s
domestic contributions to national causes. 9 Until recently, women were seen as
contributing to the national struggle primarily through their domestic roles--bearing
children (particularly sons) 10 and caring for their families, the central organizing
unit of the nation. Islamic tradition, to which most Palestinian women subscribe,
explicitly limits females’ participation in the public domain (e.g. Israeli, 2004).
With the escalation of Palestinian resistance efforts, and the concomitant tightening
of Israeli security procedures, the value of women for successful implementation of
operations has been recognized, causing a shift in the rhetoric toward greater
acceptance of women in terrorism. Palestinian women have been invited “to
participate more fully in collective life by interpolating them as ‘national’ actors:
mothers, educators, workers, and even fighters” (Kandiyoti, 1996, p. 9). 11 One
Palestinian female leader reflected this shift at a rally honoring female suicide
bombers, suggesting that the “new” Palestinian woman “is the mother of the
martyr, sister of the martyr, daughter of the martyr – and now she is the martyr
herself” (Hasso, 2005, p. 34).
The changing rhetoric notwithstanding, Palestinian society has continued to
endorse traditional gender boundaries (Peteet, 1991; Rubenberg, 2001). Although
women are increasingly called upon to assume active resistance roles, they are also
pressured to articulate their gender interests within a traditionalist framework (e.g.
Ali, 2006). Palestinian women are thus expected to balance their desire to partake
in the national struggle with the continued pressure to fulfill their familial roles and
to preserve Arab/Islamic constructions of femininity. 12 As observers of Palestinian
society have confirmed, militancy and violence have been critical for the
construction of masculinity, but not for affirming female identity (Hasso, 2005, p.
29). Consequently, Palestinian women responding to the call have faced a paradox:
enacting their nationalist identities by resisting the occupying forces 13 has
threatened and contradicted their femininity and womanhood as dictated by
hegemonic patriarchy (Ali, 2006).
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