The Role of Palestinian Female Prisoners in the Palestinian Political Organizations

Abstract

The study aimed to understand the role of Palestinian female prisoners in Palestinian political organizations. To achieve this goal, the study employed a quantitative approach, where the researcher used interviews as a tool for the study. This was done by conducting interviews with a purposive sample of released female prisoners from these organizations to gather their opinions on the study's issue. The study found that the lack of competency and the absence of advocacy and awareness campaigns are the reasons behind the absence of effective and influential female leadership in political parties. There is a variation in the roles of Palestinian female prisoners in their political organizations, in addition to a weak level of female representation in political parties, which reflects the quotas imposed by law in parliaments and municipalities. This is due to the male-oriented attitudes in Palestinian parties that largely reject real female representation. Female prisoners have taken prominent positions in organizational roles not because they are prisoners, but because personal, leadership, cultural, and self-will traits played a major role. Additionally, female prisoners have contributed to raising cultural, political, and organizational awareness in Palestinian society, especially for new female prisoners within prisons. Lastly, the Israeli occupation is considered a fundamental obstacle to Palestinian political life, which is reflected in the structure of Palestinian political parties that still maintain a formal presence of women within their frameworks. The study recommended the necessity of working on developing party structures to become more open to integrating different social energies and categories. This includes enhancing the democratic process within parties and integrating female prisoners into tools specialized in political, social, and economic issues. It also involves developing a critical strategy and policy for Palestinian political parties that focus on adopting a strategy of societal construction and change, as they are the primary agents of change in societies. This strategy should be based on all societal energies, whether male, female, youth, adults, or released female prisoners, by addressing their life issues.