Silent victims and brave voices

Gulfnews tells us about the Missing women of Gaza
“During August, six women were killed and that is a very high number with regards to the Palestinian society. Al Mizan Centre for Human Rights in the Gaza Strip revealed, from its latest statistics, that 12 women were killed anonymously, 30 women were victims of domestic violence and 72 received various injuries all in the space of one year,” added Shomor.The last victims were three women who were killed and buried in pits in a cemetery in the Gaza Strip. Had there been no witnesses, nobody would have known about these women. Al Mizan Centre for Human Rights in the Gaza Strip strongly condemned the surge in crimes, the mystery that surrounds these crimes and the absence of serious investigations to identify the criminals and bring them to court.

Who is to blame?

Shomor attributes the disturbing increase in the number of violence to many reasons; the most important being the unstable political situation that the Palestinian people live in, as well as the Israeli occupation and the security chaos. During crisis and war, women and children often pay the price.

Ah, and the Israeli occupation. Right. You know, I would be hard-pressed to find any good words for the occupation, but is it really helpful to blame everything on it? By clinging to the absolute victim stance, Palestinians are dis-empowering themselves. Honour killings, tribalism, militia law – these are Palestinian issues, and the responsibility for addressing them is Palestinian. Israel can’t solve them for you, and if it could – would you want it to?

Apparently, Said Suirki is saying the same, and many people in Gaza tend to agree:

GAZA CITY In the dock are rival Hamas and Fatah leaders standing in anticipation of the judge’s verdict on their vicious internecine conflict that pit the Palestinian against one another; but this time in a satirical drama. “All are guilty of killing the people and the nation,” ruled the judge after a passionate and stormy debate on the Shawa cultural centre in Gaza, the setting of the audacious “Al Watan” or the Nation play.