Progress Amid Resistance

palestinePALESTINIAN AUTHORITY ANDISRAELI-OCCUPIED TERRITORIESby Suheir AzzouniPOPULATION: 3,933,000GNI PER CAPITA: US$1,519COUNTRY RATINGS 2004 2009NONDISCRIMINATION AND ACCESS TO JUSTICE: 2.6 2.6AUTONOMY, SECURITY, AND FREEDOM OF THE PERSON: 2.7 2.4ECONOMIC RIGHTS AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY: 2.8 2.9POLITICAL RIGHTS AND CIVIC VOICE: 2.6 2.7SOCIAL AND CULTURAL RIGHTS: 2.9 2.6(COUNTRY RATINGS ARE BASED ON A SCALE OF 1 TO 5, WITH 1 REPRESENTING THE LOWEST AND 5 THEHIGHEST LEVEL OF FREEDOM WOMEN HAVE TO EXERCISE THEIR RIGHTS)INTRODUCTIONPalestinian women have been socially active since the beginning of the20th century, forming charitable associations, participating in the nationaliststruggle, and working for the welfare of their community. Originallyestablished in Jerusalem in 1921, the General Union of Palestinian Womenorganized women under occupation and in the Palestinian diaspora so thatthey could sustain communities and hold families together.The character of women’s involvement shifted in the late 1970s, asyoung, politically oriented women became active in the fight against Israelioccupation, as well as in the establishment of cooperatives, training centers,and kindergartens. They formed activist women’s committees, whichwere able to attract members from different spheres of life and create allianceswith international feminist organizations. Women also played anac tive role in the first intifada, or uprising, against Israeli occupation in1987, further elevating their status in the society.Soon after the beginning of peace negotiations between the Palestiniansand Israelis in 1991, which resulted in the 1993 Oslo Accord, women’sorganizations formed a coalition called the Women’s Affairs TechnicalCommittee (WATC) to advocate for the equal rights of women. By this time,women throughout Palestine had started to push against discriminatory359