Gaza – The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP): Women leaders and representatives of civil society organizations have called for the immediate and urgent implementation of the reconciliation agreement. They demanded an immediate halt to all forms of political arrests and summons for investigation throughout Palestine. They further stressed the need to reunite families affected by the division and ensure the return of those forcibly displaced by the division to their places of residence. They also advocated for freedom of movement and travel between the West Bank and Gaza without politically motivated restrictions.
Furthermore, they called for the abolition of security bans on issuing passports, asserting it as a legally guaranteed right. They also demanded fulfilling the needs of women directly affected by the division by compensating them for their losses, restoring their dignity, and obligating the National Consensus Government to implement reconciliation agreements, ensuring the active participation of women in the committees being formed, especially the Social and Popular Reconciliation Committee. These demands were voiced during the “Palestinian Women and National Reconciliation” conference organized by The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP), with the support of the German Heinrich Böll Foundation, attended by 256 women leaders, journalists, and directors of women’s and community-based organizations.
Participants also recommended reviewing laws and decrees issued in both the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, submitting them to the legislature for a decision. They urged accelerating the preparation for elections in accordance with the rule of law, enhancing the political role of women by reinstating them in public positions, promoting their participation in elections, improving women’s economic status, and opening new job opportunities. They further emphasized achieving legal demands by enacting new legislation that guarantees justice and equality, especially the Family and Penal Codes, and providing mechanisms to protect women in government jobs and prevent their early retirement, which limits their presence and effectiveness.
The conference opened with a speech by Islah Hassaniya, Chairperson of the Board of Directors of The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP), who noted that the Heinrich Böll Foundation has been a key supporting partner of the center since its establishment. She added that numerous projects have been implemented, benefiting women in the sector at both the advocacy and awareness levels.
She added that this conference came after the signing of the reconciliation agreement, expressing her hope that reconciliation would materialize on the ground in all its legal and social components by enhancing women’s participation in political and national decision-making in all its dimensions, especially since they were the first to be affected and pay the price of division, making the reconciliation decision a top priority.
Joachim Paul, Director of the Middle East and Arab World Office at the German Heinrich Böll Foundation, said: “I am pleased to participate in the first conference that examines the issue of women and reconciliation. Our foundation’s participation comes as a political network that operates with complete independence in its programs, and their participation today represents an application of one of our most important political programs, primarily promoting equal opportunities for men and women in all bodies.”
Zainab Al-Ghunaimi, Director of The Center for Women’s Legal Researches, Counselling and Protection (CWLRCP), presented a paper entitled “Women and National Reconciliation,” in which she stated that reconciliation was like a dream, as political rivals and armed groups were not thinking about reconciliation as much as they were thinking about consolidating their positions. She described the signing of the reconciliation agreement as a real miracle, but she raised several questions about the seriousness of this reconciliation and whether it really came as a necessary and national need, or whether it came as a result of the decline in the role of political forces and regional changes, or whether the adversaries recently realized that internal consensus is the only safe haven for everyone.
