Conclusion of the Coalition's Seventh Conference in Istanbul

Under the slogan “The Pioneers of Al-Quds Create Its Victory”, the Women's Global Coalition for Quds and Palestine's seventh conference kicked off its second day with a symposium entitled “The Reality of Palestinian Women and Solidarity Mechanisms to Support Their Resilience,” which was presented by a number of researchers and academics specialized in the Palestinian issue.

In her intervention entitled "The Reality of Women from Al-Quds", Zeina Amr, a Murabita from Al-Quds, said, “The pain is afflicting the Jerusalemite woman and increases with the passage of time. She suffers from all aspects: political, security, economic, and social.” She wondered: How can a woman from Al-Quds bear the sight of her home being demolished by her husband under pressure from the occupation? She emphasized that women from Al-Quds are the ones most prone to pressure, as they are the ones who raise their children and try to protect their homes alongside their husbands. They prepare their entire homes to be martyrs for the sake of Allah. Amr expressed her fear of weakness creeping in among young people in Al-Quds in the face of the pressures of the occupation, or the collapse of the popular culture of resistance. She said: "It is easier for me to receive my son, Muhammad, covered in blood than to see him fall into the clutches of workers."

Amr stressed that day after day we are certain that the young men and women of Al-Quds are achieving victory and their steadfastness greatly supports this, and victory is closer than ever before. She added that women, despite all the pressures, are the most steadfast and the most courageous, and we find them persistent and steadfast, certain that Allah’s promise is true. Women today have come to realize that we are at a decisive stage in which we are about to achieve victory, and these women now have full awareness and a new culture, which is the culture of victory that she implants in the hearts of her children.

Amr stressed that "The Women of Al-Quds suffer from daily humiliation and pressure exerted by the occupation forces in all aspects of life, from the moment they leave the house until they return. This return is not guaranteed, and the possibility of arrest or martyrdom exists at any time." adding that the women of Al-Quds carry their souls on their palms as they await their families and loved ones to come to her as conquistadors (Fatihoon) and liberators if Allah wills it.

In turn, Prof. Rehab Shabeer, the official responsible for the Gaza Strip in the General Secretariat of the WGCQP, said that the suffering that afflicts Gazan women is the same as that faced by their sisters in Al-Quds, whether in terms of the siege, poverty, or non-stop battles and attacks on Gaza.

Shabeer pointed out that the percentage of women in Gaza is half, stating also that 35.8% of women who are the main breadwinners for their families feel constant anxiety.

Dr. Saida Abu Al-Baha spoke on the reality of women in the West Bank, stressing that many social, economic and cultural factors and causes have played an important role in demonstrating the role of women in the national and historical struggle. The social reality of Palestinian women was affected by two main factors: the cultural heritage and the political reality. It had a pivotal role in most historical moments of struggle starting from 1917 and before, including the strike of 1936 during which took the lives of ten female martyrs. The Palestinian woman was also directly affected by the Palestinian reality that arose, whether after the British invasion or afterwards, and Israel pursued a racist policy towards women, who were the main component of it.

Abu Al-Baha continued her speech, stressing that the formation of the Palestinian Women’s Union affiliated with the Liberation Organization is the first institutional step to organize the work of Palestinian women, and it had a major impact on feminist work in the West Bank and abroad.

Abu Al-Baha saw that there were four central roles in which the Palestinian woman was clearly prominent in: the educational role, the economic role, where she was the manager and breadwinner for her family, the national role, where she was a preserver of memories, identity, and heritage. Finally, there was her role in struggle, where she was a resistance fighter and clasher with the occupier.

Abu Al-Baha also said that the first intifada in 1987 had a major role, which remarkably strengthened in the second intifada in 2000. This intifada recorded a qualitative change that led to changing the stereotypical concept of Palestinian women and resistant women.

She stated that there are 31 women still languishing in occupation prisons. The percentage of education among females exceeds that of males, and this is not only basic education, but also postgraduate studies such as master’s degrees, where 60% of Palestinian women hold a master’s degree. As for the practical reality, the unemployment rate was 43% among women, and 52% were offered maternity leave. Regarding the role of women in the official field, the percentage of women’s contributions in the global field reached 47%, but women’s leadership, such as the level of director, was 14%.

Abu Al-Baha added that women’s intellectual trends were two trends: leftist and secular before the Islamic trend emerged in the eighties and strengthened in the nineties, to control the role of women in general. But Oslo influenced the ideologization of intellectual trends, which ultimately resulted in a political and geographical division and turned into an intellectual and political division. This in turn affected the role of women, who, instead of being a unifying factor, also became divided among themselves, and their struggle role was transformed into an enhanced role in the issue of division.

Abu Al-Baha recommended the need to deepen the national content and concept in education curricula, which enhances the role of women and overcomes the controversy over the role of women in the Palestinian struggle. She also recommended complete encyclopedic work that chronicles women and their role, the need to adopt national-type dialogues between women and build bridges between different intellectual orientations, and the need to enhance openness to others, especially political parties.

On Palestinian women in the diaspora, Dr. Hanan Abu Hussein, a social researcher, said that the occupation had planned, since the beginning of its control over the land, to terrorize Palestinian women on one side and expel them from their land on the other. This is because women are the pillar of the home, its basic foundation, and revolves around the family based on blood kinship. To the extended family of humanity, and throughout history, the woman’s greatest helper has been the woman herself. She stressed that the role of Arab women in supporting Palestinian women is stronger than countries themselves.

Abu Hussein recommended the necessity of preserving the identity and cohesion of the family, stressing that the concept of long-distance family can be overcome if the family is interconnected, so that it is possible to communicate periodically and continuously and build and weave the relationship between family members, which creates a cohesive, intimate relationship despite the distance. Also, the largest part of our income should go to our people in Palestine. Finally, we should make dua for them in our Salat and Qiyam, so that we bond with the people in Palestine financially, morally, and emotionally. We should also work to spread awareness and hope to the emerging generation in the diaspora.

For his part, Dr. Jamal Amr, Quds-resident researcher, said that Al-Quds is for everyone who it lives in, not just for those who live in it. Amr stressed that our entry into Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Quds will come early if Allah (SWT) wills it, expressing his deep belief in achieving this result, which is now close, as he described it.

The seventh session was devoted to the Offset of the Ummah project, which is a platform through which a number of projects supporting the Palestinian cause were presented. Projects were presented from the State of Qatar entitled “Victory Coffee” while the State of Bahrain presented the “Palestine Volunteer Platform” project. Indonesia presented project to sponsor orphans and Algeria presented a project entitled “Generation of the Ummah Academy” to prepare children and raise them to love Palestine. Other projects include “Young Women’s Academy” (Palestine), a play titled "Hakiman and Friends" (Lebanon), a barber workshop, the proceeds f which will go to Palestine (Malaysia), a project to encourage the memorization of the Holy Qur’an and to devote tolerant Islamic rituals (India), “My Grandfather Canaan and the Palestine Encyclopedia for Children,” (Jordan), the Al-Aqsa Annual Party Project for Children (Morocco), and an educational platform titled "Arsa Academy" (Egypt).

The WGCQP devoted a number of workshops that mainly centered around the issue of normalizing relations with Israel and the role of the Ummah's women scholars, young women and parliamentarians in supporting the Palestinian cause.

Anas Shaheen, Director General of the Coordination of Resistance to Zionism and Normalization, stressed that his message is to mobilize these communities in order to enhance the role of women in resisting normalization.

"Our vision is a unified pioneering action in the fight against Zionism to strengthen steadfastness, establish the existence of the Palestinian people, and protect the Ummah from the Zionist project. Therefore, we propose the “Women Against Normalization League” project, so that these women will be members of the League".

Shaheen announced that 2022 is the year of resistance to normalization, which is the goal that the Coordination of Resistance to Zionism and Normalization is working towards.

For her part, Professor Heba Zakaria explained that the young women’s workshop aims to mobilize young women and motivate them to work for the cause of Palestine in a systematic manner within the framework of future projects, activities or institutions, and also supports communication between them.

The workshop attendees discussed the reality of the Palestinian cause and the role of young women in stabilizing it, suggesting the development of this role. The participants also provided an overview of the reality of the Palestinian cause in their countries in various fields, such as media follow-up, interaction on social media platforms, organization, participation in public work, charitable work, and the political, cognitive, and academic role, highlighting each time the weak points. And the strength of each, while highlighting the opportunities and challenges that young women face in these fields.

A framework to establish a project for Arab and Islamic women parliamentarians working for the Palestinian cause was launched under the umbrella of the WGCQP through the Women Parliamentarians’ Workshop, which has been working to highlight the role of women parliamentarians in supporting the Palestinian cause and the mechanisms for utilization. It was also agreed to launch an international campaign emanating from the conference to release the prisoner Israa Al-Jaabis and to begin preparing the legal paper in accordance with the international regulations and agreements of each country.

At the end of the conference, Prof. Rabab Awad, Secretary-General of the WGCQP and Head of the Conference Preparation Committee, affirmed that the conference represented a real victory for Al-Quds and Palestine and that its slogan had been achieved, expressing her joy at this large gathering that came together for the love of Palestine.

Awad thanked everyone who worked to complete the conference in order to support the Palestinian cause. Workers from various partner countries of the coalition had come together to make the conference a success.

For her part, Dr. Zuraida Kamarrudin, Minister of Agricultural Industries and Financial Commodities, stressed that it is very important for all this number of leading female figures and ministers to meet in order to support the coalition in addition to supporting the Palestinian cause in general. Kamarrudin called for the gathering of millions of women to join the coalition and unify forces, as she put it.

For her part, Mrs. Aziza Mashara, a mother of two prisoners, explained that her children did not let captivity prevent them from writing a book about life in prison, and that their time is occupied with memorizing and teaching the Qur’an, and studying history and politics.

The winning projects were "Youth in the Service of Palestine" and the "Palestine Voluntary Platform", which were presented during "Offset" by Indonesia and the State of Bahrain respectively. The second prize was obtained by Lebanon and Qatar for their respective projects: the play "Hakiman and Friends" in Al-Quds and “Victory Coffee.”

The conference concluded its work with several recommendations, the most important of which is the necessity of establishing a global action for young women to organize their efforts to work and support Al-Quds and Palestine at all media, cognitive and public levels.

Another is adopting the initiative to establish a "Women Against Normalization" League, in addition to forming a framework for women parliamentarians within the WGCQP and networking with Parliamentarians forAl-Quds, in addition to launching a global campaign in support of Israa Al-Jaabis until she obtains her freedom.

It was also agreed on the necessity of starting to form a comprehensive institutional work among Turkish institutions. The consensus was to establish a global coalition of women scholars and preachers for Quds and Palestine, and pledge to translate the individual biography related to Palestine for every women scholar and preacher, with the aim of creating role models for the Ummah’s women.

At the end of the conference, some countries displayed some of their traditional heritage and some popular folklore, such as a fashion show for the participating countries and the presentation of traditional clothes for each country within a theater and identity segment.