Dorothy Shea: "Palestinians should be applauded for largely eliminating the gender gap in education. Unlike in some parts of the Middle East and North Africa, Palestinian girls and young women enjoy equal access to education as their male counterparts."

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http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=732403

Graduation ceremony at Bethlehem University, 2010. (MaanImages/file)

Analysis: The marathon to close the gender gap in Palestine

By Dorothy Shea

Dorothy Shea is the Deputy Principal Officer at the United States Jerusalem Consulate General.

Secretary John Kerry said that finding a solution to gender inequality is a marathon and not a sprint. I've only recently arrived in Jerusalem but I've already been impressed by how boldly Palestinians are running this marathon.

On Oct. 11, 2014, we celebrate the International Day of the Girl in recognition of girls' rights to education and the unique challenges girls and women continue to face around the world, including women and girls in the Palestinian Territories.

Empowering women throughout the world has been a long-term goal of Secretary Kerry as it was for former Secretary Clinton. Closing the gender gap will take time, but we must steadfastly move towards a more inclusive society if we want peace and prosperity.

Palestinians should be applauded for largely eliminating the gender gap in education. Unlike in some parts of the Middle East and North Africa, Palestinian girls and young women enjoy equal access to education as their male counterparts.

In 2012, girls accounted for half of all students enrolled at Palestinian schools, making up 50 percent of the primary school population and 54 percent of secondary school students. In fact, last year's statistics show an even stronger female presence in higher education, where 58 percent of students were young women. Among graduates, too, women form a clear majority -- around 60 percent in 2012. The literacy rate is 94 percent for women, one of the highest rates in the Middle East.

However, Palestinians still have a gender gap in the workplace, and this is where greater attention is needed.

In 2014, 72 percent of men were employed as opposed to just 19 percent of women, according to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics. Paradoxically in Palestinian society, employment opportunity among Palestinian women decreases as their level of education increases.

Palestinian women with 13 years of schooling or more suffer from the highest rate of unemployment, at over 53 percent. As a result, many more women than men with higher-education degrees are forced to accept jobs that are far below their qualifications. Female graduates from Gaza to Jenin to Jericho file away their diplomas and go to work in hair salons or tailor shops. They conclude they have no chance of working in their professional field, but they can contribute to their household income as low-skilled workers.

I've been fortunate in my role at the American Consulate General to witness first-hand the enormous energy, creativity and confidence that girls and young women bring to our public events. Recently, we sent two amazing young Palestinian women to Boston to participate in a leadership conference as part of the Women-2-Women exchange, and our TechGirls program is emboldening young girls to pursue professional and academic careers in science and technology.

Politically, the voice of Palestinian women is also incredibly significant and inspiring; some of the most articulate and compelling arguments regarding the Palestinian cause that I have heard come from women. Palestinians have done a commendable job in embarking on the marathon but as we acknowledge this important day we should also recognize that Palestinian women are ready for the next phase in achieving gender equality.

A whole host of data, from the World Bank and World Economic Forum to the OECD, indicates that when women are gainfully and fully employed, societies tend to function better, are more stable and prosperous. I am convinced that when Palestinian women are more fully integrated into business, journalism, and politics all Palestinians will reap the benefits. I think that the Palestinian leadership understands the transformative power of female employment and is committed to ending discrimination in the workplace and ensuring broader rights for women. Now is the time to realize this noble goal -- in the boardrooms, on the mastheads, at the summits.

Ultimately, Palestinians themselves must choose to invest in their society and better utilize the talents and education of women. Overcoming gender inequality will not come overnight, but we cannot stand still either and let time pass.

As we celebrate the International Day of the Girl, let us consider how far we have come and what is left to be done for a more inclusive society.

The views expressed in this article are the author's and do not necessarily reflect Ma'an News Agency's editorial policy.

"We Palestinians are a society, with a culture and language. We have our cause and the right to our land. Freedom of movement, speech, and press are the basics. If you’re in solidarity and you believe that, put your investment in the right place." Manar Harb

This Week in Palestine archived cover

What Are Fifteen Years?
By Manar Harb

I started my editorial career at This Week in Palestine (TWIP), and I am very proud of this fact. TWIP is a national magazine, made for the people, by the people! It may have started as a publication for tourists, but throughout the fifteen years of its existence, TWIP has acquired quite a unique archive of the Palestinian narrative. During my own experience, I was absolutely fascinated by the amount of material we received for each issue. The entire process was like soaring above the clouds with readers and writers. I was connecting with Palestinian authors from all around the world. I remember so many who reached out to us to express their thoughts and share their stories. I felt exposed to the entire Palestinian community that I was trying to connect with. Suddenly, TWIP was the only place that somewhat represented a “collective.”

The collective is an important part of the Palestinian struggle; no collective, no victory. And Palestinians everywhere need to think about a collective vision if we wish to have a future with a place called Palestine. Don’t kid yourself, we Palestinians are close to extinction. Perhaps I exaggerate, perhaps not; either way, without a complete understanding of the entire picture - the documentation and narration of what happened, and of what is taking place - there will be no justice!

Local organisations and businesses in solidarity with the Palestinians should support such a constructive medium. We Palestinians are a society, with a culture and language. We have our cause and the right to our land. Freedom of movement, speech, and press are the basics. If you’re in solidarity and you believe that, put your investment in the right place.

Finance and marketing are two important factors in the life of a magazine, and they also influence the content and final output. These are areas that we should also think about and examine. The overhead involved in printing 12,000 copies of each issue is not cheap! And yes, to sustain a magazine, resources are required.

TWIP has the capacity to reflect a part of the Palestinian narrative to an English-speaking audience, which is a pretty powerful tool. And the English-speaking audience is a broad audience. We Palestinians have not been very good at presenting ourselves in public. I mean the public media. We haven’t been very successful at presenting ourselves to each other. I find that TWIP is a healthy space for us to have these exchanges and conversations between ourselves, and yes, in English, because the world needs to know.

Palestinians will always be weak if we remain divided; we will be strong only if we are united with our Arab neighbours and allies. It is true that borders disconnect us, and that if it weren’t for the Israeli occupation, there’s no reason why I wouldn’t be speaking Farsi or Turkish. There was a point in time, not long ago, when those borders were wide open and people travelled freely from village to village, and town to town. We won’t forget what once was, but we will also look very closely at the present.

The present is the most exciting time! Some say that the present is a gift.

The best gifts are those that come unexpected. We’ve got some presents to give! With the young and the old, our voices, our energy, our fathers and sons, our mothers and daughters, we’ve got to tell our stories; that’s the only way to justice.

The magazine has survived fifteen years of wars and conflict, issue after issue, curfew or not, TWIP was published! The clarity of the vision behind TWIP is what drives this success.

I am grateful for TWIP as a model of success for Palestinians, an experience that reflects how persistence and faith go a long way. For the future of this humble magazine, I only hope for further growth. And thank you, TWIP, for capturing some of the brighter moments. (:

I am really proud of you, Sani Meo and Taisir Masrieh!
Manar A. Harb is an aspiring writer and previous content editor of This Week in Palestine.

http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=4157&ed=225&edid=225

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Al-Hayat: ATFP is a Model for Effective Arab Activism in Washington (by Hamid Alkifaey)

The following article originally appeared in Arabic in the Oct. 25 edition of the pan-Arab Al-Hayat newspaper.  

Arab Americans Seek A Palestinian State Because It's 'In The US Interests'

Hamid Alkifaey

Wednesday 13 November 2013

For the last half century, Arab politicians and intellectuals have often talked about the need to create an Arab lobby in the United States to advocate for Arab issues. Often, they attributed the weakness of the Arab diplomatic position to the absence of Arab advocacy groups that explain and clarify the Arabs’ legitimate concerns and interests in the West, particularly in the United States. Often, they attributed the strength of Israel and the unwavering support it enjoys in the US to the strength of the American pro-Israel lobby and its ability to serve the Jewish state.

There is no doubt that this is all true. It is only recently that the Arabs have realized the importance of advocacy organizations in the West, and the influence they have on politicians, particularly in the United States. There are large numbers of Arabs living in Western countries, but they lack organizational capacity. They have been unable to create pressure groups that can advocate for policies that would benefit their causes, or at least minimize the damage done to Arab interests. Instead, they remain marginal players despite the fact that they possess the requisite elements for political influence – namely votes and funds – that could potentially be utilized to further Arab causes.

The Arab publics have remained antagonistic and wary of the West. For their part, Arab leaders resorted to mixed messaging, or even double-speak, to justify dealing with the West to their angry publics. The Arabs continued to believe that the West’s positions can only be amended by force of arms, in spite of repeated, concrete proof to the contrary. Arab hawks have achieved nothing on the ground except recurring, constant defeats on all fronts, coupled with loud, screeching media statements and “million man marches” in city squares. In the meantime, Israel’s supporters worked quietly, and exploited the Arabs’ weak points and ignorance about Western politics and decision-making processes to their own advantage.

To make things even worse, Arab hardliners sought to silence all those who have chosen to follow the path of persuasion and calm work in accordance with the rules of the political game in the West. By doing so, the Arabs have squandered decades, along with tremendous amounts of energy, skills and funds in quixotic campaigns doomed to failure, self-defeat and backfiring. Meanwhile, many chose to remain silent for fear of being branded traitors or worse.

In 2003, after years of marginalization and suffering, a group of Arab Americans finally founded an organization called the American Task Force on Palestine (ATFP). They aimed to improve the situation of Arab Americans and enable them to develop an effective approach to working for the benefit of Arab causes in the United States and elsewhere. The activities of this organization gradually increased, as they started holding large events attended by hundreds of American supporters of the Palestinian cause, including Cabinet secretaries and other high-level officials.

This month marks the 10th anniversary of this organization. Many see ATFP as blazing the trail for the creation of a broad, genuinely effective Arab lobby that could advocate successfully for Arab issues, particularly the Palestinian one, and gather supporters and partners.

The founder and President of ATFP, Dr. Ziad Asali, says that Arab communities in the United States have left themselves disempowered and vulnerable. This became apparent after the 9/11 events when antagonism against Arabs proliferated among many Americans due to the ethnicity of the attackers. To defend themselves, Arabs sought protection in generic American anti-discrimination and anti-racism laws.

Asali adds, “We have learned from other Americans how to work from within the US establishment to serve ourselves and our issues. Criticizing the American system and policies from the outside is futile. We are Americans with rights and obligations. When we were able to show our fellow Americans that, just like them, we are committed to the American national interest, they listened to us.”

More importantly, Asali points out that Arabs – unlike Jews – oppose the US because of its position regarding the Palestinian issue. This antagonism, he believes, has impeded their engagement in the American political process. They have not acted as an organized bloc with clear interests, nor have they even supported Arab candidates in American elections. Arabs, he adds, generally agree on the issue of Palestine, and this can be a platform to launch serious, effective and broader Arab-American efforts. However, Arab-Americans are “still emotional and antagonistic towards the US system. They still believe that it is inappropriate to engage seriously with it.” He urges Arabs to move beyond this mindset, which has been demonstrably proven ineffective and wrong, saying, “Is it reasonable to blame a patient for neglecting his health or being addicted to smoking? Or should we treat him so that he can be cured?”

Counter-intuitively, he believes that Jewish Americans are the Arab Americans’ best ally when it comes to the Palestinian issue: “65-70% of Jewish Americans believe in creating a Palestinian state, which is exactly what we believe in. Therefore, reaching out to Jews is very important. We are not against Israel, but we are certainly against the occupation. We believe in creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel. Even Gamal Abdel Nasser, who was the leader of the Arab world, recognized this basic approach by endorsing UN Security Council Resolution 242 and the Rogers Plan. And so did Yasser Arafat.”

Asali believes that the creation of a Palestinian state would serve the American national interest. He points out that President George W. Bush was the first American president to recognize the need for a state of Palestine in 2004. The Middle East Quartet also endorsed this imperative, so that “the two-state solution has become an international demand." He adds, “We believe in dialogue. We will engage anyone who agrees with our goals. Jewish Americans who believe in a two-state solution are our natural allies since, like us, they are Americans.”

The American Task Force on Palestine recently held a gala in Washington, DC at the end of October, on the occasion of the organization’s founding. Asali says that this Gala (http://gala.atfp.net/home) is an annual occasion to showcase the achievements of Arab Americans and to celebrate distinguished members of the community “so as to show the American people the true image of Arab Americans.”

This growing effort has attracted effective talent that is active in the United States. These include Palestinian affairs expert Ghaith Al-Omari, commentator Hussein Ibish, and the Iraqi communications specialist Adil Awadh. Previous ATFP Galas were attended and addressed by Secretaries of State Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, among many others.

Arab Americans are estimated to number around 4 million, which can constitute an electoral block that can be effective if they vote in a coordinated manner, as Jewish Americans, African Americans and Latino Americans tend to do. It is worth recalling President Harry S. Truman’s reaction when asked by representatives of Arab countries why his Administration was ignoring Arab concerns. Truman is reputed to have observed, “There aren't many Arabs voters in this country”.

Asali believes that things have not changed much. Yet he is optimistic about the future. He says, “Today, our organization enjoys wide influence and exceptional access to American officials. Despite our limited financial resources, our ideas and analysis find traction in Congress and with the Administration. As Arab Americans, we seek to advance our issues, and are fully aware that the creation of a Palestinian state alongside Israel is in the interest of our country, the United States.”

***

ATFP on facebook

& on twitter 

American Task Force on Palestine

1634 Eye St
Suite 725
Washington, DC -20006
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- 202-887-0177 - info@atfp.net - The American Task Force on Palestine

A quest to preserve Palestinian heritage in the digital stacks: Sami Batrawi's struggle to open an online Palestinian Library of Congress is part of a broader effort to recover lost Palestinian intellectual heritage.

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http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/Olive-Press/2013/1004/A-quest-to-preserve-Palestinian-heritage-in-the-digital-stacks?cmpid=addthis_twitter#.Uk7UTj77q3k.twitter

Sami Batrawi, whose late father (illustrated on the left) acquired a personal library of 15,000 books, says he still prefers the feel of a real book in his hands but is turning to digital innovation out of necessity. Christa Case Bryant/TCSM 

• In Pictures The Olive Press: Finding humanity in the Middle East

"Before the 1948 nakba, or catastrophe, in which at least 700,000 Palestinians fled or were forced to leave their homes amid fighting over Israel’s declaration of independence, many Palestinians read widely and had private book collections as well as community libraries. But many of those books were lost in the nakba; to this day, some 30,000 volumes labeled “abandoned property” are collecting dust in the basement of Israel’s National Library. "

 

Christa Case Bryant

Jerusalem bureau chief

Christa Case Bryant is The Christian Science Monitor's Jerusalem bureau chief, providing coverage on Israel and the Palestinian territories as well as regional issues.

Ramallah, West Bank

As the son of a man who had a personal library of some 15,000 volumes, Sami Batrawi loves the feel of turning the pages of a book rich in history.

But after years of trying and failing to establish a Palestinian version of the Library of Congress, he would now content himself with swiping a finger across an iPad if it meant being able to access the wealth of literature about Palestinian national heritage.

“We didn’t succeed to have our traditional national library but I think now we can do something else,” says Mr. Batrawi, the director-general of the intellectual property unit at the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Culture and one of less than a dozen Palestinians with a graduate degree in library science.

So now Batrawi is trying to get the PA to approve an online Palestinian national library, which would provide digitized access not only to Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza but also to Palestinian refugees and expats spread out across the Middle East, Europe, Latin America, and the US... READ MORE

Kerry: Palestinian economic plan looks to inject $4 billion ... "We need a new model for how we are going to bring order and open up the possibilities. We need to partner with the private sector because it's clear most governments don't have the money."

Banksy-created Graffiti on the Wall intruding into the West Bank

 Kerry: Palestinian economic plan looks to inject $4 billion

US secretary of state cites experts as saying economic plan will cut unemployment, increase median wage and increase Palestinian GDP by 50 percent over three years.

 

http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=599270

AL SHUNAH, Jordan (AFP) -- US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday an economic plan to revive the ailing Palestinian economy is expected to produce around $4 billion dollars in investment.

"We are looking to mobilize some $4 billion of investment" in tourism construction, Kerry told the closing session of the World Economic Forum, held in the Jordanian town of Al Shunah on the shores of the Dead Sea.

Kerry said business experts had been working to make the project "real, tangible and shovel-ready".

He added the preliminary results of their analysis were "stunning" and showed the plan would "dramatically" bring life to the economy.

"These experts believe we will increase the Palestinian GDP by as much as 50 percent over three years.

"The most optimistic estimates foresee enough new jobs to cut unemployment by two-thirds to eight percent down from 21 percent and to increase the median wage by 40 percent," said the top US diplomat.

Since taking up the baton this year in the long-elusive search for Middle East peace, Kerry has refused to divulge publicly the details of how he intends to bridge the bitter differences between Israel and the Palestinians.

But he has entrusted Quartet Middle East peace envoy Tony Blair with the task of drawing up an economic plan to attract tourism and private sector investment into the West Bank and breathe fresh hope into the area.

Blair has already been working with Coca-Cola chief executive Muhtar Kent on ways of attracting investment into the depressed West Bank.

Blair "is shaping what I believe could be a ground-breaking plan... that will transform the fortunes of a future Palestinian state," said Kerry.

"It is a plan for the Palestinian economy that is bigger, bolder and more ambitious than anything proposed since Oslo," he added in reference to the 1993 peace accords.

The West Bank had seen moderate growth in recent years only to be set back by Israeli and Western moves to stall aid following the Palestinian bid for upgraded UN status.

Kerry said home construction can produce more than 100,000 jobs over the next three years, urging the private and public sectors to cooperate.

"The public and private sectors alike have a responsibility to meet the demands of this moment and one can't do it without the other. We need you at the table," he said.

"We need a new model for how we are going to bring order and open up the possibilities. We need to partner with the private sector because it's clear most governments don't have the money."

John Kerry makes unscheduled shawarma sandwich stop in West Bank ...Kerry is urging an economic package to boost the Palestinian economy. Perhaps as a signal of his commitment, he insisted on paying for his food.

John Kerry shows delight at his shawarma sandwich in Ramallah. Photograph: Fadi Arouri /Xinhua

US secretary of state darted into fast-food restaurant Samer's in Ramallah for a shawarma sandwich and [knafeh] dessert

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/23/john-kerry-west-bank-shawarma 

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Palestinians buy land to protect future state and generations: A son of refugees has battled with the Palestinian Authority to create hundreds of plots with title deeds for Palestinians to own

Palestinian olive farms in the hills of the West Bank. Photograph: David Levene for the Guardian

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http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/18/palestinians-land-protect-future

• Phoebe Greenwood in Farkha
• guardian.co.uk, Monday 18 March 2013

Ali and Sana Dabbagh were amazed at how easy it was to buy a piece of Palestinian land. Their parents fled in the 1948 war, leaving their homes forever. But more than 60 years later, it took just one click of a mouse for them to claim their own hilltop outside the ancient village of Farkha, looking out over undulating terraces of olive and almond trees towards Tel Aviv.

"It felt unreal. We've bought land elsewhere before but there's an emotional factor when it comes to Palestine – it was hard for me to accept that I owned land there," Ali recalled. "It had also been pretty much impossible to buy land in Palestine and guarantee that you owned it until we met Khaled."

Khaled Sabawi, the Canadian-born son of Palestinian refugees, launched Tabo three years ago. Appropriating the Ottoman term for "title deed", the business was built upon a dream of his father's to help Palestinians buy Palestinian land. It is a dream that most of the estimated 5 million scattered Palestinian refugees would consider impossible.

The conflict that Barack Obama flies into this week for the first time during his presidency is essentially an Israeli-Palestinian battle for land. It is a fight for ownership of the 10,000 sq miles (26,000 sq km) of historic Palestine claimed by both sides as a holy land and a homeland. In terms of "facts on the ground", it is a battle that Israel is winning.

In 1993, the international community witnessed Israeli and Palestinian leaders sign the Oslo agreement to divide the land into two states for two peoples. Yet, since 1996, more than 100 new Israeli outposts have been established in the future Palestinian state. The Palestinians have built one, Rawabi.

Many Israeli Jews believe they have a God-given right to settle anywhere in the biblical land of Israel. Others justify the defiance of international law on the grounds of national security or argue that Arabs cannot be trusted.

Many settlers have benefited from cheap mortgages and enjoy an enviable lifestyle. As Michael Sfard, a top Israeli lawyer advising the human rights group Yesh Din, puts it: "During the second intifada, at negotiations in Taba and Camp David, Israelis said you can't negotiate peace in one room when there is shooting outside.

"By the same token, you can't negotiate peace in one room while an unofficial land grab is being waged outside.... READ MORE