By Rawan Yousef
Over the past year, many in the global community have camped on university campuses, boycotted companies, lobbied their governments, cried in rage in solidarity with the people of Palestine.The international donor community and civil society has made an effort to pivot to respond to the ongoing and ever-changing needs of humanity trying to survive and support one another in the rubble of what remains of Gaza.
Ahead of November 29th, the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, we spoke with Palestinian women on the frontlines of relief and humanitarian efforts and asked them what international solidarity means to them.
Their responses were not what we expected.
Women peace builders and activists need trust. They want acceptance and to have their voices heard. Trust, acceptance and understanding- it sound simple, and yet we are failing them.
Doaa Ahmad a women’s rights activist and the head of programs for a grassroots organization in northern Gaza and her three boys just escaped death for the fourth time. Doaa fetches her laptop and work-related material every time she escapes. Even in genocide, Doaa says, I have a duty to help others, particularly women and girls. Without her laptop, she can’t do her work, the work of administering and accounting for the grants she has received to provide emergency services to women. A receipt is required to be reimbursed for the pack of sanitary napkins she provides. Donors question why the pack is so expensive and she deliberates on whether she has the time to explain supply and demand in Gaza. She’s extremely grateful for the support. She would also appreciate less imposed financial and operational restrictions and the feeling of being trusted.
Dina Sami, finds time to work on women protection services and support to survivors of gender-based violence. She and her team, all of whom live in a school-turned-shelter in Khan Younis, installed a tent to provide counseling for women and girls in need. Dina says, “All of our programs were disrupted and changed, all our premises were destroyed, ten of our colleagues were killed, and many of us are grieving; however, we are committed to create safe spaces for women and girls and help them with whatever tools and capacities we have left”. “We are trying our best, under the circumstances.” Without any of the tools typically available to her team, they persist, pivot, re-tool, pivot again to ensure survivors are receiving the support they need. The context changes quickly, and their programming pivots to reflect the unpredictable reality. Dina wants the people who stand with and support her to accept the ever-changing contexts in which she operates. If she can’t deliver on what she initially promised, she isn’t failing, she’s figuring out a new way forward.
Shaden Emad works in a local organization that provides pro bono legal representation services for survivors of gender-based violence in Tubas, north of the West Bank. Escalating settler attacks make commuting between cities and villages dangerous for Palestinians. Shaden’s work is heavily affected by the increase in settler attacks limiting her ability to work in courts and shelters. “International solidarity can shed light on the challenges faced by grassroots women organizations working in Area C and the Jordan Valley. International voices and donors must support us to amplify our voices in the face of the shrinking civic space” she says.
As a Palestinian in the West Bank, she feels she has to be the mouthpiece for what the international community wants to hear, or choose to remain silent. Solidarity with Palestine means listening deeply to her voice, and that of the women she lives and work with and for, and amplifying their stories, their needs and their requests.
Today, let us ask ourselves how we stand in solidarity with Palestine and whom do we serve?
The brunt of the work of survival in Gaza rests on local organizations. UN Women estimates that 83% of Gaza’s women’s organizations are partially operating or operating. Women everywhere must seek sisterhoods, we must trust, we must accept, we must foster direct partnerships with Palestinian women’s groups, and amplify their voices as per their request.
Rawan Yousef is a Palestinian human rights advocate. She has a PhD in Public Policy and an M.A in Political Economy/Development. Rawan has worked in a number of international organizations and United Nations agencies in the past 15 years.