ISRAELI OCCUPATION SOLDIERS DISPERSE WOMEN’S DAY MARCH
Ramallah, 8 Jumadil Awal 1435/9 March 2014 (MINA) – Eleven Palestinian women were hurt by tear gas inhalation Saturday when Israeli forces dispersed a demonstration marking International Women’s Day.
Dozens of Palestinian women rallied early Saturday near Qalandia checkpoint between Ramallah and Jerusalem to mark International Women’s Day. Israeli forces stationed at the checkpoint launched tear gas canisters at high velocity towards the women in response to the protest.
Israeli forces closed the checkpoint to Palestinians immediately after the crowd approached it. As Israeli soldiers fired tear gas canisters, Palestinian men hurled stones at the soldiers. One protester told that Palestinian women “want to live free from occupation in an independent Palestinian state.”
The rally was organized by the General Union of Palestinian Women. An Israeli army spokeswoman did not immediately return calls seeking comment, Maan News Agency reported as quoted by Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA).
Meanwhile, Activists from a number of women’s organizations in the Gaza Strip took part in a rally on Saturday to mark International Women’s Day.
Protesters called upon the international community to end Israeli violations of Palestinian women’s rights and to pressure Israel to lift the siege of the Gaza Strip, in a march that began at the Square of the Unknown Soldier and ended at the office of the United Nations.
Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine member Mariam Abu Diqa said that Palestinian women struggle for the freedom of their nation, the end of internal divisions between Palestinian political parties, and for full equality for women and men in both rights and duties.
Public relations coordinator for the Union of Health Work Committees Haneen Washah, meanwhile, called for international solidarity with Palestinian women, who she said “have a role in the struggle that cannot be ignored.”
Washah also called upon the international community to stand with Palestinian female prisoners who are denied their rights in Israeli prison.
Amjad Shawa, coordinator of a network of NGOs in the Gaza Strip, said that Palestinian women suffer due to the continuation of the Israeli siege and the worsening rates of unemployment. He called for serious and effective intervention to end the tragedy facing the Gaza Strip’s 1.5 million residents, who he highlighted were mostly women.
The march was originally scheduled to include approximately 80 women from a number of foreign countries, including the celebrated Algerian revolutionary Djamila Bouhired and Northern Irish Nobel Laureate Mairead Maguire. (T/P04/E01)
Mi’raj Islamic News Agency (MINA)
