Os direitos das mulheres e a sua importância

Relativamente ao futuro das mulheres palestinianas, Aya considera que está a tornar-se melhor, a progredir e que a sua voz tem “expressão”: “I think it´s getting better and better. It´s advancing. Women nowadays, they having [a] bigger voice. For example, I don´t think there´s a huge inequality between man and women in Palestine. There´s a bit of sexism under the law.

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Women are equal and I think that it´s getting better not worst, no matter what” (entrevista 1, Aya).

Laila elogia as mulheres palestinianas e explica por que considera ser melhor uma mulher em vez de um homem a fazer a gestão dos destinos da Palestina: “Oh! Palestinian women are very intelligent, very educated. There are lots of doctors, lots of lawyers, even ministers. If they were given really a chance, they would be really good. I always wanted and deep in my heart felt that there should be a Palestinian Prime-Minister, a woman not a man. I´m sure that things will work much better if it was a woman and not a man. A person to rule Palestine would be a woman, because from what I know and what I heard, I mean, I know lots of women that are really dedicated to the Palestinian story and to the Palestinian tragedy. They can do much better work than man” (entrevista 3, Laila).

Na mesma esteira, Yafa Kana´an afirma que vê muitas jovens a começar a defender e a lutar pelos seus direitos: “Honestly, I am seeing that many girls are starting to stand for their rights. These are improving everyday and there are many institutions for women, to educate them, to help victims of violence to stand for their rights and to help them to move to the institutions so they can get some help, but there are many things like obstacles specially because some girls (ininteligível) try to resist, but they are trying” (entrevista 2, Yafa Kana´an). Natalie reforça esta ideia, ao afirmar que é difícil ambicionar-se ser “alguém” num contexto em que se vive amedrontado/a e, portanto, argumenta que a docência é uma área sustentável para o futuro das mulheres palestinianas: “Even me, I´m gonna be a future one day. For Palestinian women as teachers, they will be something challenging for, for women in general, in Palestine, to be something, even teachers, or directors or anything. It´s something challenging, it´s not easy at all to be something in this country with all fears, difficult circumstances and situations. For women here, in that overall professions or careers for women, the suitable one is to be a teacher. When a woman here is a teacher, she´s even doing her best to be a good one, to be something great, to be a model to her students” (entrevista 5, Natalie). Destaca aquele que é um modelo para si, um exemplo de vida: “By the way [Hanan al-Hroub is] a Palestinian teacher. The one living in a refugee Camp. She lived with difficult life [in] very hard circumstances to live in. She faced a lot of troubles in her life but nothing deprived her from continuing and achieve her goal in life. She´s a model of all teachers and Palestinian women, here. She´s an example of the Palestinian teacher who overcome all of [these] difficult obstacles and achieve something. When we talk about a Palestinian teacher, I just remember her, how did she lived in a refugee Camp within all of these circumstances. Then she took a very important, it´s an international

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one. So, it´s something can be like a marker for her” (entrevista 5, Natalie). Essa mulher ganhou, recentemente, o prémio nobel: “It was about no more than two months!” (entrevista 5, Natalie). Semelhante percepção é-nos dada por Sarah Jamal, que nota que se está a melhorar e que a mulher palestiniana desempenha importantes papéis sociais: “I think it´s improving. Women have more important roles now as Hanan al-Hroub. [She] is the best teacher for the year. I think Palestinian women have an important tool. It is the most important to raise the children [in] certain values”(entrevista 1, Sarah Jamal). Assim, Salma almeja ver mais mulheres palestinianas formadas e independentes: “Well, I wish to see Palestinian women independent! Independent, educated. They have their full rights exactly like men and free to do what they want. That´s I want, to see women side by side with men to build the society. Lots of wome n are educated but I would like to see more women educated and independent” (entrevista 1, Salma).

Do mesmo modo, Yafa assinala que a situação das mulheres palestinianas está melhor que em tempos passados e que, paulatinamente, pode melhorar ainda mais. Diz ela: “I think it´s came much better than before and it still improving. There are very strong women comparing with women on other countries because in this case, we are talked about different situation, bad situation, conflict war all the time so, they are very strong women. When they can marry, bare, work, travel, did everything so, I think they are strong” (entrevista 3, Yafa).

Quanto à perceção da resistência das mulheres palestinianas face aos atos israelitas, Aya questiona-se se têm e, por outro lado, se devem ter: “Do they have? Well, recently, there actually been more Arab young girls going for example throw rockets and a part of demonstration which I don´t know really completely but a lot of things women are involved. Do I think they should? I think they should and they can have more power, absolutely. I think man have bigger control and it´s not fair” (entrevista 1, Aya).

Laila menciona o(s) tipo(s) de resistência(s) que as mulheres palestinianas “evocam” perante os atos israelitas: “It´s a big question. Some women resist through education, through doing good things for other women, to be able to make them a good living, to give them projects to work with to educate women so that they can survive. Some women just resist by going and doing something, I mean, like rebelling or attacking or doing suicide-bombing or something like that, too. There are two aspects of these. It´s very difficult for a woman who live also in West Bank. You can find that these women resist more than the people living in Jerusalem, because it´s very difficult for them to come to Jerusalem except with the special permits and

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things like that. The resistance is more severe than other women who are living in Jerusalem” (entrevista 3, Laila).

Aya pensa que não existe diferenciação de género no que à luta por direitos diz respeito: “Women are just as passionate about their fight such as man. I think so far the women who have done anything are the women who go out to demonstrations and, usually, they either get shoot or they get thrown to jail. It means also [that] there been a lot more women fighting young girls, specially, fighting against the Israelis” (entrevista 1, Aya).

No que diz respeito à participação pessoal no contexto de resistência sob ocupação, Aya não sente que esteja envolvida pois se assim o fizesse teria que concordar com atos violentos: “No, I don´t. Right now, I don´t feel I can do much, because if I have to do anything, I´m about maybe consenting violence and it´s something I didn´t agree with. I think I can do stuff as later on like I study or whatever. That´s I´m hoping to journalism, but not through like throwing rocks or like violent demonstrations. That´s not something that I want to be part of” (entrevista 1, Aya).

Yafa Kana´an afirma estar, eventualmente, com a resistência: “Maybe I am with the resistance. I think that Palestinian people should stand for their rights and (ininteligível) all over the world should let being hypocrites and should also demand for rights, for all humans, not only for certain countries or for certain areas” (entrevista 3, Yafa Kana´an).

Natalie reflete sobre as implicações do termo resistência e elucida as razões pelas quais palestinianos/as nele se envolvem: “All of the term of resistance is related with factions, parties and the well of the people. What they do want to accomplish, what do they want to improve their lives, they do! So, for our resistance as Palestinians, we always resist to fight to just to get our rights! To defend ourselves at the same time! Not about I want to fight, I want to force you or I want to struggle you! It´s about I want just to defend myself, I would just to regain what did you stole from me! What did you steal from me! So our resistance were participating in the Intifada and in the march´s that were organized to support prisoners. Our resistance can be found when people are one unite and they want to regain their rights, they want to achieve their goals even their goals are very far or something reachable can be reached as soon as possible. So, that depends on the people, because of the resistance is something related with people. All cases it´s about how people see things andwhat do people need and want to do in their life” (entrevista 5, Natalie).

Quando desafiada a pensar sobre o modo como contribui para a situação em que se encontra, Aya assevera que não contribui de nenhuma maneira e justifica a sua opção: “I don´t

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think I´d contributed in anyway. If I did probably in a violence form or way and I’m hoping to contribute in the future, absolutely. It´s part of my goal” (entrevista 1, Aya). Considera que existem formas alternativas de se fazer resistência sem violência: “Well, of course! I mean, making maybe a more stable government for the Palestinians or a clear voice in the media. Absolutely, there´s so many aspects to make the different for the Palestinian cause” (entrevista 1, Aya).

Laila partilha o seu contributo pessoal para a situação em que se encontra: “I contribute with my education, giving the kids telling them about Palestine, singing songs for Palestine, doing drama about it. This is the only way that I can contribute: teaching my kids that this is their homeland. We´re still looking for peace, we´re still looking forward to having our country and doing a propaganda whatever I can, if in meetings, if on Facebook, on any place telling the really truth about what´s happening. This is the only way I can give a contribute to my country. I don´t believe in anything, in struggling or rebelling or doing something bad or attacking Israelis. The only way we can do is by through my mind, and through my work and through my education. That´s the way I can contribute to my country: raising up specially women who are aware of what´s happening, who are aware of what´s going on and telling them about our culture and about what´s happening to us in everywhere, even if we are singing. I give them sometimes patriotic songs, I give them songs about Palestinian teaching among folklore so, that´s (ininteligível) we will never forget the Palestinian folklore. Even when I went to France, I mean, I took my students and they were dancing and singing folklore dance. so, at least the people in Europe would know what Palestinian´s are or what they do. This is part of my mission” (entrevista 3, Laila).

Yafa Kana´an assume uma postura crítica em relação à Palestina em vários aspetos: “Well, first of all, Palestinians are poor from many aspects. They do not have money, they do not have power, they do not have people to stand with them. They were putted in a situation where they were paralized, they could not move. I believe we took many bad decisions (ininteligível)” (entrevista 2, Yafa Kana´an). Justifica o seu ponto de vista, “Honestly speaking, I am a communist, a part of the Communist Party so I’m not sure if I agree with some decisions they have made. For example, we live in terrible circunstances economically, but still there are many Israeli products in the palestinian market which I think it is terrible for the palestinian products. These things and these decisions I am against and with the accords that the Palestinian government signed and putted the Israeli government totally against them” (entrevista 2, Yafa Kana´an).

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Natalie afirma que a contribuição de palestinianos/as para a situação em que se encontram é fraca: “Actually our contributing in this situation is even very weak, I see that the over on controlling is a form Israelis and foreign powers or forces, there is no significant rules for a Palestinian Nation or a Palestinian Government. They just keep in their thoughts. At the same time, there is nothing that can be useful, there is nothing working with our situation and Israelis, they just keep annoying and hurting Palestinians. In all of our contracts, our treatment, all of our treatment that we have did last time, everything was an account or in the side of the Israelis. They were very excellent for Israelis but for Palestinians, they were not” (entrevista 5, Natalie).

A Sarah Jamal diz que a situação em que se encontra não é culpa sua e reafirma que nasceu com nacionalidade palestiniana naquele território: “I´m witnessing the situation and I was born a Palestinian. It´s not easy, it´s not my fault. I was born a Palestinian with this nationality and this land and someone come from Europe and tell me to go out? It´s not so nice to witnessed such situation, really see identity conflict, nationality conflict, existence conflict but, I think it never has to do with religion; it´s only with the nationality or the existence” (entrevista 1, Sarah Jamal).

Salma considera, por outro lado, que contribui para o desenvolvimento da sociedade palestiniana: “Well, I´m saying yes! Of course! Yes, I consider myself I contributed to the situation. I´m one of the Palestinian women, I´m independent, I´m, well-educated. Some women are more educated than me, they are more independent than me. I´m contributing to the society, yes” (entrevista 1, Salma).