In the Shadow of Occupation

Presented by:
Randa Siniora

Al-Haq

To: Sanabel Committee in support of Palestinian women and children

29^th April, 2003

In the Shadow of Occupation

"Our children have learned about their right to life by instinct, without having to study the Universal Declaration of human rights….our children have not learned about children’s rights, yet through experience, they have claimed their right to play: they excelled in creating games around the tent and in the alleys of the refugee camp, or in the narrow rooms of their houses and streets….our children are mere children".

Our right to life

 I am pleased today to have the opportunity to reflect to you some of our daily encounters under military occupation. There is much more than what we daily see on televisions, newspapers and the media. While what is being reflected addresses direct human rights violations to which all Palestinian men, women and children face under occupation, there is the indirect and long-term social and psychological impact of the occupation on our daily lives that is subtle and does not receive enough media attention. Sufferings of the Palestinian people generally, and those of the more marginalized within the society, such as the elderly, the disabled, women and children are not given enough attention and care. I believe what need to be emphasized here is that our sufferings should not only be reflected in numbers and statistics. It is quite important to put a human face to it, after all we are human beings with feelings of happiness and sadness, and we, like others long for a better future for us and our children.

 Some of us have lived most of their lives under occupation, while our children knew nothing beyond the occupation and the daily sufferings entailed due to the violations of Palestinian rights by the military occupation; on daily basis our children witness the killing and injury of their beloved ones, the demolition of their homes, the restrictions on their movement to and from schools, the imposition of the curfew for over long periods (three months last year) depriving them of their summer vacation, the arrest and detention of their beloved ones, and the list is endless. When the child Kifah Wishah was selected to meet Mr. Kofi Anan during his visit to Gaza…when Kifah was nominated to reflect on her sufferings and deprivation due to arrest of her father and the fathers of many other children, Kifah called Mr. Kofi Anan "father", and told him that she had not felt what it is like to have a father since she was two years old when her father was arrested…Kifah told him in a simple language:

"when the occupation stole my father

they stole my toy

my laughter

my happiness

my hopes and dreams

the warmth of life around me

they stole the word ‘father’ and held it captive behind the bars"

 On behalf all other Palestinian children, Kifah pled with Mr. Anan to return to them all what has been stolen from them.

Palestinian Women and Children are direct Victims of the Occupation:

 Palestinian women and children, like all other members of the Palestinian society were a target for the military occupation. Palestinian women were also killed and injured by the military occupation while in their own homes taking care of their children and the household, on their way to or from their work, and often while undertaking some errands for the family and their children. Aida Mousa Daoud, 43 years old and a resident of Al-Bireh, was shopping happily with her 12-year old son Mouhammad for Eid Al-Adha in March 2001, when she was shot and killed by the military. Nada Srouji and Fatima Abu-Jeish were shot dead while returning home from work, while Areej Jibali, 18 years old was shot on the roof of her home while carrying her daily housework tasks.

 Children were also direct victims of the excessive use of force by the military. Of the almost 2500 Palestinians killed during the intifada around 451 were children under the age of 18 (19%) of those killed. Many were in their schools, as was the case with Gazala Jaradat, 14 yrs old who was shot while on her way home from school. Others were at home and not in demonstrations or at the forefront of confrontations as is often claimed. Ubeih’s sister, Jamileh tells us how her eight-and-half year old brother was shot…she says: "it was about three o’clock in the afternoon, and my little brother was playing in his room. A few seconds after we heard shots….the murderers killed him for no reason whatsoever. He did not shoot at them, or throw stones or Molotov. He was only a little boy, 8 and a half years old, beautiful, energetic, cheerful, innocent. His only fault was playing in his room. I will never forget his face or the mood he created in our home."

  Of about the 41,000 Palestinians injured during the second intifada, 36% were children who were mostly shot in the upper parts of their body 64%). Around 2,500 Palestinians have developed permanent disabilities, 500 of those are children. The five-year old Nicola from Beit Jala had his left arm amputated…he was born after six girls, "he was born to bring happiness to the heart of his parents who longed to have a baby boy. He was God’s gift to his family" his mother thought…" just like most of the traditional families in our society…the birth of a boy is "precious valuable donation from the Lord".. but Nicola was hit by a cannonball from a helicopter when holding his mothers’ hand on his way back to his home…

Women in prisons:

 Like others, women and children were detained and arrested. 66 Palestinian women are currently in Ramleh prison inside Israel. Some of them have given birth in prison, and the new borns are accompanying the mothers. Others are sick and need medical care, but are still kept in detention, often only to pressure their "wanted husbands" to submit themselves. Around 200 children are currenly in prisons and detention centers under very difficult living conditions.

All are victims:

 All members of the society, are victims of the occupiers’ violence, all are victims of the collective punishments imposed on the whole society, closures, curfews, house demolitions, arbitrary arrests…etc. but to women and children such practices have a unique impact and other negative implications which are not felt or appreciated.

Indirect Violations of the Occupation on Women and Children:

(1) The negative implications of closures, military siege and checkpoints affect every person in our society. We all suffer from the checkpoints which isolate cities from each other, villages from the surrounding cities and towns, and even checkpoints and barriers which isolate nearby villages from one another. All the Palestinians are now living in big prisons and in isolation. A trip from Jerusalem to Ramallah 15kms away which needed 20 minutes at the most, these days takes around two hours or more. A trip from Jifna village, or other nearby villages to Ramallah only 6-8 kms. away might take an hour or more. People often have to find their way up the hills on rocky and muddy roads and if they are lucky enough they would reach their destination. However, often people are caught , shot at and detained.

 These restrictions disrupted our daily life tremendously and at all levels. Working opportunities became limited. The income of the family was thus affected. Unemployment rates reached unprecedented numbers. 65% of Palestinian families currently live under the line of poverty (i.e. less than 2$/day according to the World Bank.)

 The provision of health services deteriorated for all, but specifically for pregnant women and infants.. Mothers who are entrusted with the caring of the children and the well-being of the family, were over-burdened with additional responsibilities. They are not only expected to care for their well-being. Within a traditional division of labor in our society, they are the sole persons responsible for the well being of other members of the family, whether the elderly or the children. Women are to be blamed if vaccines are not given on time to children, they are to be blamed if the children suffered from malnutrition or diseases. This is what I call "blaming the victims." often women, out of their love to their children, and due to the pressure from the extended family, (the husbands and other men within the family) and the society as a whole, are expected to risk their lives, cross check points, reach medical centers. They even deprive themselves of their basic needs for the sake of providing the needs of the children and the family as a whole.

Incidents of births on the checkpoints are countless. Due to long delays and restrictions on movements, many women were unable to reach hospitals safely, with the necessary medical care needed. Others were less fortunate and have lost their newborns due to births at the check points. In other incidents the fathers have lost their lives in the process of driving their wives to hospitals during closures and curfews. In one such incident the father was driving the car when soldiers shot at him, at his father sitting beside him and the pregnant women sitting at the back chair suffering labor pain. The father was killed, while the mother and the father in-law were transferred to hospital, and the new-born baby was orphaned before his birth.

Death of the fetus due to the use of tear-gas grenades on check-points and residential areas are common, but are also unrecorded. The children are deprived of their right to life before they are even born. I remember the story of the mother Jehan Qanan, 20 years old, from Khan Younes in the Gaza Strip. During the shelling of her neighborhood from the nearby Jewish settlement of "Neve Dicalim", she has been directly shot in the womb: the hand of the fetus was amputated, the leg broken and the fetus was also hit on the right side of his face. After a three-hour operation, the fetus was removed dead.

Long curfews imposed within the occupied territories imply that all members of the family are entitled to stay locked in their homes. Additional household responsibilities are entailed on women, in order to provide the needs of the family during times of financial constraints and limited resources. The "private domain", the home, often perceived by our society as the "women’s domain" is no more regarded as such. Husbands are left without jobs and immobility due to closures. They are therefore restricted to their homes due to curfews. This results in their intrusion on the private domain of women depriving her of her already limited power of decision-making within the household.

Psychological and Emotional Support expected from mothers:

During the emergency situations when shelling of residential places takes place, the safety and security of all is endangered. Mothers, however, are expected to provide psychological and emotional support to their children, sometimes in situations when they themselves are in desperate need of help and moral support. I will never forget the traumatized mother, Iman Greieb from Beit Sahour near Bethlehem, when she was on her own with her four children while the shelling of her neighborhood from the nearby military base started and lasted for over five hours. While terrified herself, she was expected to comfort her children and appear strong and confident, in order to calm them down and convince them that they were safe and secure. In her own words she told me:

"the shelling of my home where I was with my children has affected me deeply; it has taken part of my heart. I no more feel capable of happiness, whatever may happen to me and my family."

 Other burdens entailed on women, are those related to providing the basic needs of the family should the situation deteriorate further. Under the traditional division of labour, women who are responsible for households and for the children within a society, are also expected to undertake additional tasks to provide for the basic needs. They are expected to prepare the needs food, clothes and school materials should the family be forced to flee their homes in search of their well-being and safety.

 Women are expected to guarantee the safety of their children to and from schools. They have actually been blamed by some western media, as being heartless and irresponsible. Palestinian mothers were described as heartless mothers who throw their children at the forefronts of confrontations with the military occupier leading to their death and injury. Those who spread these rumors have forgotten that Palestinian mothers are like other mothers in the world who love and care for the safety of their well being. They have also forgotten that Palestinian children are children like all other children in the world who have the right to play, go to school, enjoy their childhood in a safe and secure environment. Those who accused Palestinian mothers wanted to  "blame the victims" and have forgotten that the root of the problem is in the military occupation. They have forgotten that the role of the international community is to abide with its legal and moral obligations and end the Israeli occupation. They accused Palestinian mothers as being "evil". They  simply forgot that the "military occupation" and its violations of human rights is the actual evil. 

Palestinian mothers suffer the loss of their martyred children. They have to cope with the "separation anxiety" which has long-term psychological impact on her life. The mother of the eight and a half year old Ubai will never be the same after the loss of her child. "The wound in her heart has created silence within her, solitude and isolation. Everything around her remind her of her son and her only consolation is his picture and the smell of his clothes. Sometimes she looks out of the window towards the ‘Psagot settlement’ as if to find her son’s killer and ask him why he took her son., and left her a body without a soul".

Palestinian mothers are also expected to deal with the Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders (PTSD) of their children who were traumatized from the shelling of their homes, the killing and/or injury of their beloved ones in front of their eyes and the demolition of their homes and the witnessing of other violent practices by the military occupation. According to studies undertaken by the Gaza Center for Mental Health, about 54.6% of Palestinian children living in areas that were bombarded or shelled started to develop acute PTSD symptoms. It was also discovered that 13.3% of children are suffering from other mental and behavioral problems such as sleep disorders, hyperactivity, speech disorders, lack of concentration and aggressive behavior. In addition, 36% of the children living in areas of clashes and bombardment suffer from bedwetting.

The Palestinian woman and mother is expected to care for the family and play the role of the father and the mother when the husband is arrested. Iman Shalalda, 32 years old of Hebron tells the story of the arbitrary arrest of her husband by an administrative detention order for three consecutive times. Iman says: "this measure leaves family members in tension, endless pain and doubt about the future of the detainee: nobody can tell when will the detainee be released. In other words, the end of the detention could mark the beginning of another detention period. The feelings of bliss and relief that mark the day of expected release, soon turn into tears, more suffering and uncertainty". Mothers are expected to look for the mental well being of the family, but also provide the bread-winning of their children.

Palestinian women and mothers are expected to take care of the sick and the wounded. They have to provide the love and support as well as the care for those beloved ones with temporary or with permanent disabilities. The 2500 Palestinians with permanent disability are mainly an additional responsibility and an additional burden on women. She is expected to take for their needs. Here is the example of Nicola and his mother. As mentioned earlier, Nicola’s arm had been amputated. Nicola is a traumatic child who became constantly nervous, stressed, aggressive and incapable of concentrating. In on of his play therapy sessions, it was noticed that the toy of his choice were soldiers. Once he took a plastic knife and with much anger and aggressiveness he took the arm of the soldier. His mother says, "at first we could not face the bitter reality… We believe that somewhere in this worldwide someone is capable to lend a hand to Nicola…someone can fix or even plant an artificial arm to our some simultaneously. We realize that this is an unreachable dream much further behind modest means." 

The sufferings and pains of women and mothers have become hidden and invisible. Even when they appear on the surface trying to speak out, their voices and pain are silenced!!  

I might have filled you with emotions, and have perhaps aroused your sympathy and pathetic feelings towards the daily sufferings of my people, especially women and children. However, giving the human face to our daily encounters, requires action and not words. In my opinion the Palestinian people have human rights. The international community through the numerous resolutions adopted over the years have approved of our right to self-determination.. Palestinians do not need humanitarian assistance as much as they need to practice their rights and humanity. We have to be provided with the international protection granted for us by international humanitarian law. We have to be given the chance to live under the sovereignty of our state, where we can practice all our rights, civil and political, as well as economic, social and cultural rights all enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and other international human rights treaties, including the Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women. 

The children of Palestine are throwing their stones in air not only to protest against the continuing occupation, but also to send messages on every stone calling for their rights which they have learned by instinct. The want to tell you that they have the right to life and security, they have the right to health, education and to family and shelter. They are desperately in need of a life with dignity, after all, Palestinian children are mere children!