Women in Palestine

On day 3 we learnt about women in Palestine.  We were told among many other things that although women achieve better results in education than men, unemployment among women is higher than among men.

We heard from a woman whose son has been jailed for an unknown reason and he is yet to be charged.  Visiting is allowed infrequently and no physical contact is permitted.  For this lady, it was the 4th time her son now 35, had been in jail since he was 15 and it was obviously very distressing for her and her family.

We were told the very distressing news of a young 23 year old mother who was recently shot and killed as she stood up to close the window to shield her young son from a tear gas bomb explosion.  

We heard from another woman who was delighted to have a hospital visit in Jerusalem (on the other side is the wall) so that she could visit her parents as the hospital visit was a permitted reason for visiting Jerusalem.  If any family members were in jail a visit to Jerusalem, on the other side of the wall was not permitted.  This lady also sang a beautiful song to us.

We then had an engaging discussion listening to our hosts discuss the various ways to make Makluba, a Palestinian dish made with meat, spices, rice and potatoes.  A dish that I will experiment with in due course.

A very interesting evening, revealing the many strains and stresses of women living in Palestine.  Yet somehow they still manage to laugh and joke and put on a brave face.