Middle East women
By Micah D. Halpern
Israeli-based Micah D. Halpern, is an educator, theologian
and historian. He lectures frequently, both in the United
States and Israel, on issues relating to intellectual history,
popular culture, religious studies, the Holocaust and
inter-religious communication. He is the founding director of
the Jerusalem Center for European Study
Women have emerged as central figures in the conflict between
Palestinians and Israelis. The role these women play is an
issue of uneasy curiosity for me.
Each of the sides in this conflict has utilized women in ways
that are unique to the culture from which they spring and ways
that are unique to any conflict. True, the United States sent
women soldiers along with men to the shores of Muslim
territory during the Gulf War and one female helicopter pilot
was even taken a prisoner of war, but for the most part -
against their say - they were kept hidden from the public eye.
In this conflict, they are front and center.
On the Palestinian side, the obvious example is the female
suicide bomber. A trend has begun. The female willing to blow
herself into smithereens has entered with a blast. The
Palestinian woman dressed in a bomb belt considers herself a
fighter, a martyr for the cause. Israeli women in this
conflict are also dressed in uniform, the uniform of the
Israeli Defense Forces, the IDF, defending their nation.
For the Palestinians it is a self-motivated desire to further
the cause, for the Israelis it is a public relations tool.
Let's begin with the Palestinians. The number of young women
who have joined the ranks of suicide bombers has grown
exponentially over the past few months. What was a sensation
has become more the norm. What was an object of speculation
and disbelief has become the expected. Some of these suicide
murderers are young and single, relatives of other male
suicide bombers.
And then there are the mothers. Women who choose to sacrifice
themselves, who know they will die, and leave their children,
who, because of their deaths will also become heroes. They are
the children of a shahida, the grammatical feminine of a
shahid - a martyr and a somewhat problematic term in Arabic
and for the Arab male ego and psyche.
It is far beyond my powers of comprehension. How can a mother
kill herself? How can a mother kill herself, especially in a
society where men do not raise children, the traditional
Muslim Arab society? They hope for total solace with Allah in
heaven, total peace, not 70 virgins like their male
counterparts. Is that enough, is that what it takes?
The most traditional and male oriented of the terrorist groups
have rejected women as suicide bombers. Hamas and Islamic
Jihad have both come out with clear, unequivocal
pronouncements declaring that women are not welcome in their
ranks. This is man's work. The support of women and girls is
welcome, but not their presence. Females are not to be allowed
into the inner circle, the inner sanctum of the future shahid.
They are not to participate in a mission, they say. A woman's
place is not in battle.
Fatah, on the other hand, is more welcoming to women. Less
religious in orientation and ideology than Hamas and the
Islamic Jihad, the Al Aqsa Brigade and the Tanzim have
accepted women, allowing them to go out and blow up.
Actually, several of the women - those who killed themselves
and those who were caught along the way and interrogated -
acknowledged that they first approached Islamic Jihad and then
Hamas, only ending up in the ranks of a Fatah operation after
being rejected from the other more extremist and Muslim
groups.
The non-religious Muslim groups jumped at the opportunity to
use this new secret weapon. They knew all to well how much
easier it would be to get a woman into a crowded location.
They costumed them as pregnant women to allow for even greater
ease of movement and less invasive security checks. Israel
security has never really, effectively, tackled the issue of
how to search a religious, Muslim woman. A pregnant,
religious, Muslim, woman inevitably raised less of a flag for
Israel's security forces. Until now.
As for Israel, Israel has placed women directly in the war
zone. The military war zone and the media war zone. For
Israel, women are the Trojan Horse - springing forth against
the Muslims and their traditional view of women.
Most of the briefings about Operation Defensive Shield were
given by the head of a military intelligence branch of the
army that interprets field operations. Colonel Eisin. Colonel
Miri Eisin. Ms. Eisin. Yes, she happens to be the head of a
military intelligence branch, but the operative term here is -
she.
In the past the IDF always used spokesmen, emphasis on the
men, to brief and to go on the record with statements and
reports. And most intelligence briefings were strictly off the
record.
Why, then, did the IDF push Miri Eisin to the center of the
parade ground?
To get in their face. The Arab world, the Palestinian
leadership, monitors the Israeli press and Israeli press
representatives very closely. There she was, in charge and in
control, coming down strong on the Palestinians - and CNN and
CBS and BBC were all watching.
The Israelis took it even further. Not only was Col. Eisin in
the studio, but she was also out in the field. Gone was the
well-pressed, two-tone, dress uniform. There she was, in a
field near Jenin, in fatigues with maps in hand and a small
M-16 slung over her shoulder.
What message is Israel sending? Israel is playing the sexist
card to the Muslim world.
There's more. As the Jenin operation was winding down a group
of women serving as members of a tank unit were filmed - with
their tanks and their rifles, patrolling the outskirts of
Jenin. Once again, a clear message.
And then there was press coverage of initiation marches by
women entering into the Engineer Corps and the Border patrol,
two elite army corps. Given any other year these ceremonies
would have received minimal coverage in the Israeli press.
This year the women were interviewed, dirty and sweaty and
tired after a 40-mile hike talking about their contribution to
the defense of Israel.
The message here - Israel is free and democratic.
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