Progress Amid Resistance

360 WOMEN’S RIGHTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND NORTH AFRICAaspects of the society and work together on gender-empowerment strategies.They began advocating for a future Palestinian entity with a cultureof human rights that mainstreams gender concerns in all spheres of life,leading to the creation of specialized women’s organizations and researchcenters that focus on gender-equality issues. 1The Palestinian Authority (PA) was established in 1994 to exercise limitedgovernmental authority over the Palestinian population living in theIsraeli-occupied territories, which include the West Bank, the Gaza Strip,and East Jerusalem. 2 After the establishment of the Palestinian LegislativeCouncil (PLC), the PA’s legislative body, women’s groups and coalitionsintensified their lobbying efforts for equal rights, publicly protestingdiscriminatory legislation and regulations. 3 However, political unresthindered the establishment of a Palestinian state and the resumption ofnegotiations between Palestinians and Israel, which in turn distracted thewomen’s rights movement from issues related to equality.Palestinian women currently face two major types of obstacles to theirrights: those arising from within their own culture and society, and thoseim posed as the result of occupation, war, and civil unrest. On the domesticfront, women are subjected to restrictive personal status laws, which retaindiscriminatory provisions related to marriage, divorce, and child custody.Domestic abuse remains a significant problem, and violence againstwomen has increased in recent years. Discriminatory laws and traditionsalso affect women’s inheritance, alimony, and employment opportunities,thereby reducing their economic autonomy and making them more vulnerableto poverty than men. Furthermore, some segments of society seemto be growing more conservative and returning to traditional values.Nonetheless, all discussions about Palestine’s constitution, its laws, andtheir impact on women must also address the limitations imposed by theIsraeli occupation, which heavily influences the ways in which the PA conductsits affairs, how Palestinians conduct their daily lives, and the personalsecurity of all Palestinians. The areas under PA rule are not contiguous, butare separated by numerous checkpoints, roadblocks, and other physicaland administrative barriers erected by the Israeli authorities. These barriershave significantly curtailed Palestinians’ freedom of movement, andcombined with a general lack of security, they have had a devastating effecton the local economy.The increased number of checkpoints over the last five years andthe construction of a West Bank separation wall, 4 which is over 50