"Army of Roses"

            Is to be in equal in death the same as to be equal in life? As international terrorist Leila Ahmed states, “When the religious leaders say that women who make these actions are finally equal to men, I have a problem. Everyone is equal in death—rich, poor, Arab, Jew, Christian, we are all equal. I would rather see women equal to men in life.” (64) It seems as though the ideal “feminist” or “liberated” Palestinian woman is one who dies—equal to her male counterparts, as they are both seen as martyrs for religious and nationalistic purposes. A survivor from Sabra and Shatilla camps said to Barbara Victor, “You American women talk constantly of equality. Well, you can take a lesson from us Palestinian women. We die in equal numbers to the men.” (2)

            After the beginning of the Intifada on Dec. 11, 1987, Palestinian women had to take charge of their lives and their families’ lives emotionally and financially, as men began to go to jail and curfews were in place. It was then that women were attempting equality. As the fighting began, religious factions warned against women participating.  Militant Islamic groups like Hamas and Islamic Jihad “took a position against women participating in violent demonstrations.” (11) “Women were ordered to resume their traditional roles as wives, mothers, and homemakers, a demand that was eventually obeyed.” (11) Because nationalist goals were more important than gendered ones, women were silenced. If there were to have been a protest, secular and religious factions would have begun to split, allowing for Israel to more easily fight against Palestinians.

Later on, factions realized that they could use women to their advantage. They could more easily pass through security and could hide bombs under their jilbab. Women, in turn, began to feel as though they were becoming more equal to men, as they were fighting together. “Not only did Palestinian women believe that by doing these actions they were maintaining their equality, but the leaders of the various factions also realized that as long as women were dressed in the proper attire, they could be used more effectively to penetrate security and transport weapons.” (14) In order to keep afloat politically and to join forces with the terrorist/religious groups that were beginning to take control, Arafat gave a speech for the women of Palestine. “On the morning of January 27, 2002, more than one thousand Palestinian women came to hear Yasser Araft speak in his compound in Ramallah. It was an address intended specifically for them…he made it clear that women were not only welcome but expected to participate in armed resistance against Israeli occupation. ‘Women and men are equal,’ he proclaimed with his hands raised above his head and his fingers forked in a sign of victory. ‘You are my army of roses that will crush Israeli tanks.” (18-19) He made a bold statement, claiming equality for women and men, but in actually he was hoping for equality with regard to death. He claimed, “You are the hope of Palestine. You will liberate your husbands, fathers, and sons from oppression. You will sacrifice the way you, women, have always sacrificed for you family.” (20) A few hours later, Wafa Idris blew herself up in a downtown Jerusalem shopping mall and the first female suicide bomber had completed her mission.

Is this new phenomenon truly a “new brand of feminism”? Is this really the equality that women are striving for? At first, secular groups such as Fatah were the only ones that would allow for women to participate in terrorist action. At one point even Sheik Ahmad Yassin states, “A man who recruits a woman is breaking Islamic law. He is taking the girl or woman without the permission of her father, brother, or husband, and therefore the family of the girl confronts an even greater problem since the man has the biggest power over her, choosing the day that she will give her life back to Allah.” True, the man does have power over the life of another, a woman at that. But eventually, even religious groups such as Hamas and Islamic Jihad began to support female suicide bombing. Is this because they were supportive of equality for men and women? Doubtful. Since these male-powered factions realized how effective women could be when attempting to sneak past security, they have promoted female suicide bombing. In order to encourage more women to do the job, these factions have cloaked this suicide in religious and equal terms: men and women are equal, every man or woman who dies by the hand of the enemy or kills the enemy is a maryr and will go straight to Paradise with Allah. Nationalism, gender equality, and religion are obviously very significant within Palestinian society. Yet it appears as though secular and religious organizations have collaborated in order to save their own asses, as it were, by convincing women that they are somehow equal only in death, and by their act as a shaheeda they can not only save their own souls, they can also save their families, be a religious leader and feminist.