Promoting Democracy. Manal A. Jamal

      In the pre-Madrid and pre-Oslo period, the most important and uncontested achievements of the Palestinian women’s committees were their ability to recruit large numbers of women from different sectors of Palestinian society, including remote villages, and to involve them effectively in decision-making structures. These committees had radical democratic structures, in which the members were directly involved in choosing their immediate leaders and the types of projects and programs that they implemented. The ability of the various women’s committees to forge horizontal links with grassroots constituencies and directly involve them in decision- making laid the groundwork for what could become an effective civil society that could contribute to democratic development in Palestinian society.

      By the mid-1980s, all four women’s committees had amassed a substantial following, with a visible presence in terms of projects and activities in the public realm. Despite the fact that the exact membership of these committees was difficult to verify, all four committees claimed to have a membership base in the thousands, covering most geographic locations of the West Bank and later the Gaza Strip. By 1986, the members of the FPWCA claimed to have over 5,000 members.73 At the height of the Intifada at the end of the 1980s, one organizer estimated that their membership had reached 15,000 individuals.74 Also, there was a high level of participation, as demonstrated through the daily activities of the Intifada such as sit-ins, marches, and neighborhood committee meetings. The UPWC estimated to have about 5,000 members up until 1994,75 and by 1990 the WCSW estimated that its membership had reached 12,000.76

      The official policy of these committees, especially those in the leftist-leaning organizations, was to recruit members from all geographic locations, especially rural areas, which were considered the most in need of organizational support. One entry strategy into the villages was to establish nursery schools and kindergartens.77 Other activists initiated collective recruitment drives in which organizers would meet with women in a village. A representative from the steering committee of an organization would visit an area and help set up a local committee. The women would discuss some of the activities they wanted to initiate and then they would hold an election. Although each committee was responsible for its own local projects, it was also part of a nationwide network in which it participated by electing a representative to a regional committee, which in turn elected a national executive and steering committee. The women in the village would continue to meet on a regular basis, and regional organizers would visit the respective location every three to four months

      Most of the women I spoke to discussed the consensus decision-making approach used in the various locations. When women were not able to reach a decision by consensus, they would often vote on the particular issue. One grassroots coordinator explained, “We used to meet with women in the villages every two weeks. We would put together a needs-assessment list based on what the women wanted. Then we would vote to prioritize what they wanted to see accomplished.”78 Though the respective political organization might have had some general suggestions regarding the types of programs being implemented, the women also had a direct say in the projects and programs that were being carried out. Another grassroots women’s committee organizer explained, “When we met, the women told us what they wanted. There was a lot of autonomy in decision-making and in choosing events.”79 Moreover, the political organizations knew that increasing membership in these women’s committees was contingent on satisfying the women’s demands and needs.80 Hence, ideas and initiatives flowed both ways between the local committees and the executive. The WCSW differed in this respect because it never aspired to organize the masses per se, but rather sought to gain their support through charisma and patronage.81

      Although there was some competition and political disagreement among the different women’s committees, there was also a degree of cooperation. In 1984, the women’s committees set up a mechanism to facilitate informal coordination, especially related to consciousness-raising programs, and in the activities to protest Israeli occupation.82 The lack of overt and acrimonious competition between the different women’s committees facilitated their ability to recruit members in such high numbers.

      In reminiscing about this period, all of the activists recalled with nostalgia their commitment to the committees and the important roles they played in shaping their programs and in meeting the needs of women in Palestinian society. In “Feminist Generations,” Frances Hasso traced the impact of women’s previous involvement in these committees on their later life choices, and demonstrated how the activists had developed a higher sense of self-efficacy and were differentiated by their gender egalitarian ideology.83 Indeed, women who were involved in the committees were likely to make life choices that reflected their greater sense of self-empowerment.

      Programs

      Although the specific programs and activities tended to vary from one region to another, especially between the rural and urban areas,84 many of the programs dealt with women’s practical needs such as literacy classes, health education, small-scale vocational training, the provision of childcare, and the establishment of ventures, such as cooperatives, for producing goods.85 Consciousness-raising was also central to the activities of the women’s committees in both the rural and urban areas. The members usually chose the committees’ topics for the consciousness-raising programs. Health-related topics were also very popular and included family planning, prenatal and postnatal care, and preventive medical treatment for children, such as the importance of immunization.

      All the committees were involved in enhancing women’s economic self-sufficiency, especially through the development of productive ventures such as co-operatives. Some of the goods produced in the co-operatives included baby food, engraved brass, embroidered clothes or linens, hand-woven rugs, knitted sweaters, concentrated fruit juices, frozen vegetables, and bakery products. Members of the FPWAC even established a carpentry factory. At one point, the UPWC managed ninety cooperatives in the Ramallah area alone.86 Most of the committees also took part in the organization of annual cultural bazaars. These activities had two goals: to promote women’s productive capacity87 and to increase reliance on Palestinian domestic goods in place of Israeli and other foreign imports.88

      To facilitate women’s integration into the public sphere, the committees also established nursery schools and kindergartens. By the late 1980s, the FPWAC managed between thirty and thirty-five nursery schools and kindergartens,89 the UPWC managed eighty-six nursery schools and kindergartens, and the WCSW managed fifty kindergartens90 throughout the WBGS. Along with Islamist institutions, the women’s committees were among the main providers of nursery schools and kindergartens in the WBGS.

      The types of program and the related goals espoused by the women’s committees played an important role in the empowerment of its members. By incorporating women and providing them with fora to identify their immediate needs and the opportunity to develop programs to address them, women’s committees helped to equip its members with the skills that are critical for the development of an effective civil society that can contribute to democracy.

      Resources and Funding

      The various committees supported their activities primarily through membership fees, small income-generating activities, occasional seed money from solidarity organizations, and funding from the parent political organization. Because all the committees had more or less the same access to resources, especially through their membership fees, they operated on a more or less equal playing field. The funding discrepancies between the different committees were not significant. Few, if any, of the activists were paid for their involvement in the women’s movement; this ensured that the spirit of voluntarism was the driving force behind civic and political participation.

      The committees created a number of income-generating activities and programs. They all hosted annual bazaars and earned profits from the products they sold. The UPWC hosted occasional fundraising dinners, and also sold agendas, planners, and calendars for profit. Some of the women’s committees also ran cooperatives in the hope they would generate income for some of the women involved. In most cases, however, the cooperatives were not very successful or economically viable.

      The women’s committees also received minimal funding from different donors, including Western foreign donors, often in the form of seed money for specific projects. During the mid-1980s, for example, the UPWC received seed funding to help in the establishment