A radio episode on the paper «How women take part in Palestinian elections»

With the approach of the coming Palestinian elections and the raising of women's representation rate to 26%, the researchers Waseem al-Khalidi and Areej Jareed wanted to shed light on the mechanisms of strengthening women's participation within the Palestinian elections in their research paper, to raise communal awareness of the equality of the two sexes' electoral rights — within the project “Research writings in gender and feminism”, funded by the Government of Canada, in a radio episode during the programme “Youth Creations”, broadcast on the local Zaman radio.

The professor of international law at the University of Gaza, Dr Samia al-Ghussein, said: “There were demands from rights institutions to raise women's representation rate to 30%, and there is also a decision from the Central Council of the Liberation Organization to raise women's representation rate by 30% — yet the President's decision raising women's representation by 26% is disappointing because it is insufficient, and it opposes the Central Council's decision.”

She pointed out that the elections are a fundamental right not open to discussion, and that the division has affected the Palestinians negatively and the coming electoral options. Everyone must give the national interest precedence over private interests.

For her part, the researcher Areej Jareed pointed out that the rate of women's participation in decision-making positions, according to the data of 2019, is: 5% of the members of the Central Council, 11% of the members of the National Council, 14% of the members of the Council of Ministers, and 11% the proportion of active women ambassadors in the diplomatic corps; also, there is one woman occupying the post of governor — of the Ramallah and al-Bireh governorate — out of 16 governors. As for the local elections, the first for a woman came in 2019, in the Jenin governorate, with the election of a woman to head the village council: the communal activist Kifaya al-Zaqzouq was elected.

She noted the absence of any Palestinian political party led by a woman, and women have not seriously enjoyed leadership posts in the first rank of the parties or factions.

Jareed made clear that the amendments President Mahmoud Abbas passed to Law No. 1 of 2007 concerning the general elections included increasing the women's “quota” to become 26% instead of 20%, and its ordering in the candidacy lists.

As for the impediments that limit women's participation, the researcher Waseem al-Khalidi said: “There are several impediments, among them: the legal obstacle — and this calls on the Palestinian parties to raise the rate of women's candidacy on the lists, whether in a partisan or non-partisan form. And also the political obstacle: in the 2006 elections only women at the partisan level won, and no independent woman succeeded.”

But what are the mechanisms available in order to strengthen women's participation in the coming elections? Al-Khalidi answers with the necessity of communal and political support for the national plan to domesticate Resolution 1325; the Palestinian parties raising the rate of women's participation in the elections on the lists, whether their candidacy is partisan or non-partisan; raising popular awareness of society's need for women to take part in decision-making; and strengthening women's presence in the advanced positions in the political parties (the political bureau — the central committee) so that they are influential and effective.

He concluded by saying: “And the second step is strengthening women's presence and participation in the medical and general syndicates, and their being present within the administrative bodies and organs, and their election to head the leadership of the syndicates.”

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