HUMAN RIGHTS | Defending human dignity
10 March 2008
Trailblazer Opens Doors for Palestinian Women
Nibal Thawabteh demonstrates life is full of possibilities
Washington -- By having the courage to be a trailblazer, Nibal Thawabteh has shown Palestinian women that life has possibilities beyond their limited dreams.
She fought hard to overcome rejection by council members of the very conservative Bethlehem village to run for a seat on the Beit Fajjar Village Council. She appeared on radio and television talk shows, wrote articles in the papers and visited ministries. She felt it was her duty to persevere to avoid “closing the door to every Palestinian woman.”
After a year of intensive campaigning, she won her struggle. She was accepted as a council member by her colleagues and served for seven years.
To make similar achievements easier for other women, Thawabteh developed a training manual and spent more than 200 hours teaching Palestinian women how to campaign for elected office. The effort paid off: Nine women in her town ran for seats on the municipal council in the 2005 elections and three were elected.
Three years ago Thawabteh founded Al Hal (The Situation), a monthly newspaper at the Bir Zeit University Media Institute. She is both editor in chief and a major contributor. Each issue of Al Hal features 15 opinion articles and 30 investigative reports addressing political and social issues, including many topics -- incest, polygamy, honor killings, illegal marriages, lesbianism and the plight of the poor -- that often are hidden from public view in Palestinian society.
In addition, her paper routinely reports on sensitive political subjects, including Israeli settlements and the activities of Hamas, and these reports have triggered threats of physical violence against Thawabteh. Nonetheless, she perseveres, because the investigative reports, which name names and make Palestinian society aware of issues and injustices, generate positive change.
Thawabteh has written a number of television screenplays dealing with local social issues, such as the plight of illiterate women in villages who are tricked into selling their land because they cannot read. She also has written and produced documentaries on topics such as the separation wall (between Israel and the lands controlled by the Palestinian Authority), Palestinian cities and suicide among Palestinian women.
To encourage others to follow her lead, Thawabteh has taught investigative reporting and creative writing at Bir Zeit for five years and soon will be teaching investigative reporting at Bethlehem University.
Like any trailblazer, Thawabteh has had to overcome numerous obstacles and harsh criticism, but her example has given courage to many and advanced the cause and image of Palestinian women.
On March 10 she was honored with the International Women of Courage Award. In its second year, the award is the result of Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice’s desire to recognize women around the globe who have shown exceptional courage and leadership in promoting women’s rights and advancement.
Thawabteh was joined by seven other women who received this award at a ceremony at the U.S. Department of State. The other awardees, drawn from Fiji, Kosovo, Somalia, Pakistan, Paraguay, Iraq and Afghanistan, were selected from 93 nominees submitted by U.S. embassies worldwide.
