Introduction

Women in Palestine find their situation particularly challenging and sometimes disillusioning. While some women have been able to push through the forces that would suppress them, others have been caught up in them and been silenced. In the midst of a chaotic world of oppression from occupation, societal patriarchy, and legal inequality the effects of a women’s rights movement have been limited. Should women patiently forgo their rights and freedoms until the vision of a free Palestine is established? Have they the power to decide this for themselves or has the culture in which they live and the Israeli occupation determined their status for them? What has been the cost to women for this delay of rights and voice? What has been the cost to society? What is changing within the society that may show a more equitable future?

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