Prof Karen Gabriel Reflects On Conflict In Gaza And Its Implication On Women

On October 7 2023,  the entire world was 'notified' about a brutal international armed conflict that had actually unfolded much earlier. The violence and gruesome political tactics that followed were met with quick resistance and feeble diplomacy. It also unlocked the age-old warfare custom of rampantly violating women's safety, health and body. To shed light on various constituents of how and why women bear the brunt of violence not just since the Ukraine-Russia conflict or the Israel-Palestine war but since time immemorial, we interviewed Professor Karen Gabriel. She is the Vice Principal, Head of the Department of English and Director of the Centre for the Study of Gender, Culture and Social Processes at St. Stephens College, University of Delhi.

Excerpts from the interview below

Since time immemorial, women have been kept away and marginalised from social and political decision making yet they are the ones who bear the brunt of the violence. Why does this continue to happen even today in conflict and war zones, vis a vis the violence in the Gaza Strip. 

The transhistorical and cross-cultural patriarchal exclusion of women from social and political decision-making may well be one of the reasons why forms of violent conflict have been integral to history, and why so little attention is paid to women and their concerns. I would like to begin addressing this by looking at three key and intricately linked reasons for conflict per se. Then I will address the issue of why women and children get targeted in conflict situations. And finally I will remark on the unique situation of Gaza. The first reason for violent conflict relates to issues of ownership over land, resources and people - poorer men, and women and children in general – and the control over their labour and minds.

The second reason pertains to the organisation of kinship, family and sexuality, and the third, is linked to the identification of women as bearers of culture.It is now well-established and clearly evident that there are vast inequalities in the world.

The 2022 World Inequality Report informs us that between 1995 and 2021, the top 1% captured 38% of the global increase in wealth, while the bottom 50% managed only a dismal 2%. Please note that men own most of the global wealth. We need to understand that this situation of (gendered) disparity and inequality applies in both national and geopolitical contexts. Look at the many contexts of settler colonialism and neo-imperial expansionism. We have seen this in the many wars and proxy wars that the West – particularly the US and its allies – have waged across the Globe in the 20th and 21st centuries. We also see it ongoing in the Middle Eastern regions for decades now.

Now, women as a group own extremely little land and property compared to men, and most women of colour are much poorer than white women. Further, they have less access to or say in institutional decision-making, whatever the level. Notwithstanding global and local efforts to enhance women’s ownership rights, women as a group – whether in urban or rural contexts – remain significantly poorer than men.

One key reason for this is the coordination between patriarchies, race, political and economic formations. The emergence of the heteronormative nuclear family and the sexual division of labour which effectively excludes women from meaningful participation in the public sphere, coincided with the advance of capitalism, the reorganisation of labour regimes and the emergence of the sentimental idea of the ‘home’ (as opposed to the economic unit of the ‘household’). However, it must be noted that there is no separation between women and work; only a separation between women and wages. Ordinary women continue to do intensive unwaged work within the home.

The social and cultural meanings of these gendered entities – men and women – are different across the world. Precisely because women are key to biological and social reproduction and because they are understood as embodying the cultural values of a society, they are seen as crucial to the future of a society. It is for this reason that they are closely surveilled by the societies to which they belong and also become targets of violence – particularly sexual violence – by those attacking the communities to which these women belong. Nothing has changed very much over time, in this regard. Women continue to be attacked during conflict or violent outbreaks.

Palestinian women – specifically those who are encountering the violence being unleashed in Gaza – are in a unique situation. They are living in territory that has been illegally occupied by Israel for over 50 years. Like all settler-colonialists, Israel has formally instituted structural violence and apartheid: Palestinians are denied human and political rights, basic resources, proper medical facilities, mobility, access to facilities, spaces, and educational and employment opportunities, among other things. Gaza has been blockaded for over 16 years and its occupants have faced extreme deprivation and violence for decades.

The continued and active complicity of most governments of the Global North in Israeli violence, especially those of the USA, Britain, Europe, Canada and Australia (all imperially inclined and ethnically white countries) with this situation has rendered even the UN, the ICC and the ICJ effectively toothless.

What function and role do women play in Palestinian society as well as the ongoing war? Does it affect their socio-economic and political standing?

Since the 1918 British Mandate, but especially since the Nakba (catastrophe) of 1948, women have been struggling with the loss of country, home, loved ones and the precarity of refugee status. The PLO-linked General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW) created in 1965, found that social inequalities had to be dealt with in the context of the occupation, especially after the 1967 Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza strip. The sudden influx of Israelis into Palestinian villages and even into Palestinian homes, had a profound effect on women who were physically and psychologically abused. Thus, unarmed Palestinian women have always had to confront the Israeli military authorities and deal with the loss of their children and access to all resources.

Towards the end of 1987, the Palestinian uprising or intifada saw the Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip making a resolute effort to resist Israeli occupation and the political, economic and cultural oppression that came with it. Israel’s refusal to comply with International laws, such as the 4th Geneva Convention, international humanitarian law, human rights and UN resolutions, and the USA’s continued protection of Israel despite its illegalities and barbarities are key reasons why the condition of women is likely to worsen.

The protracted crisis created by Israel and its allies, continues to have a devastating effect on the psychosocial well-being of women and families. Palestinian women are regularly strip-searched in front of male Israeli soldiers, female and now male and child detainees continue to be raped and sexually assaulted with impunity by the IDF.

The recent unprecedented mass destruction of housing and precarious tent living conditions have disproportionately impacted women and girls, including on their personal security and privacy. After the Israeli massacre that followed October 7 2023, at least 35% of Gaza is a pile of rubble. 1.7 million people are internally displaced, and 1.1. million are projected to face catastrophic levels of food insecurity. Moreover, hospitals are being destroyed, there are no beds and medical resources.

Consequently, an estimated 50,000 pregnant Palestinian women and 20,000 newborn babies remain at unimaginable risk. UN experts have noted that over 183 women per day are giving birth without pain relief and in terrible conditions, while hundreds of babies have died because of a lack of electricity to power incubators. Miscarriages have risen by 300 percent, and 95 percent of pregnant and breastfeeding women face severe food deprivation.

According to UNFPA, around 155,000 pregnant women and new mothers are struggling to survive and access basic health care. Further, approximately 690,000 women and girls in Gaza have no access to menstrual hygiene products and some are resorting to contraceptive pills to avoid the unhygienic menstrual conditions. Deaths from lack of hygiene and medical facilities are rising. It is clear that Israel’s genocidal policies and actions have created an unprecedented humanitarian and political crisis in the region, but it has also created a moral crisis for the global community, as we watch a live stream of the genocide with helpless outrage.

Conclusion

Women who have carried and created civilisations and societies have succumbed to gruesome violence. They have been bruised not just by scars on their bodies but by the institutionalisation of patriarchy in their lives. It is only by questioning ourselves constantly that we can remove the veil of ignorance and see beyond the politics of power. Does true strength really emerge by tearing women’s clothes? Does the virtue of power truly lie within massacring and raping women? While injustice prevails and women continue to bear the brunt of violence that was once started by men, we shall find our hope in resistance, persistence and coexistence.