The context of the occupation has shaped a map of unconnected Bantustans with various forms of oppression that affect rural women living in an urban area or women of different generations, educational backgrounds or in different areas segregated by Israel differently. These 12 stories are therefore intended to form a collective narrative that shows the different vicissitudes that challenge the lives and rights of Palestinian women.
Abeer Khateeb
Palestinian activist, leads different initiatives to help the most vulnerable families and empower women in different areas. Abeer has a degree in Law and is a cancer survivor
Iman Nafe
An activist for the rights of Palestinian prisoners, she is the wife of the world's longest-serving political prisoner. With a degree in English literature and a diploma in nursing, she has been imprisoned three times and sentenced to fifteen years in Israeli prisons. She was detained again days after this photograph was taken and sentenced to 4 months in prison.
Suheir Barghothi
Former Palestinian political prisoner. Her house and those of her children have been demolished by Israel several times as punishment. The Israeli army killed her son Saleh and has imprisoned her other sons Asem and Muhamad. Her husband spent 30 years in occupation prisons.
Widad Barghothy
Journalist and professor in the Department of Media at Birzeit University, she has been detained and imprisoned by Israel. She has over 20 works and manuscripts in the fields of research, poetry, novels, folk tales, theater, translation, and feminist journalism. Due to her work as a journalist, Israel ordered the demolition of her home in 2009 and placed her under house arrest along with her son.
Tayeed Dibie
She lived through the first and second intifadas in the old city of Nablus, a stronghold of resistance fighters. This experience shaped her character, and she now dedicates herself to helping abused and vulnerable women through her work in the Women's Department of the Ministry of Social Development. Tayeed is also a writer and legal researcher and holds two master's degrees and a bachelor's degree in law.
Nisreen Jahaleen
Originally from the Bedouin community of Al-Khan Al-Ahmar, 20-year-old Nisreen faces Israeli threats of ethnic cleansing of her land. Nisreen dreams of completing her studies in early childhood education and working in the community school to teach the children and nurture their future and hopes.
Samiha Huraini
Founder of Sumoud Youth, a youth organization working in the mountains of Hebron and the Musafer Yatta area, they provide protection and advocacy against settler attacks faced by the Palestinian population working on lands threatened with confiscation. In 2020, Samiha received the International Human Rights Defender Award from the NGO Front Line Defenders.
Dalal Awwad
Young Palestinian shepherd, she lives with her mother and brother in Khirbet Tuba, one of the Bedouin communities in the Masafer Yatta area, daily exposed to attacks and threats from settlers trying to force them to leave the area, especially after the capture of her four brothers by Israeli soldiers.
Ola Nabil Ahmed Heji
A survivor of the genocide in Gaza, she gave birth at 8 months to a premature baby who had to be taken to Al-Shifa hospital in an incubator. She was never able to visit him: the hospital was besieged and massacred by Israel for weeks with hardly any survivors.
Mazyouneh Al-Azeh
Mazyouna, at 80 years old, is revered and acclaimed by all as the 'mother' of the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. Her son, Nasser Abu Srour, is imprisoned and sentenced to life in an Israeli prison. Nasser wrote a book while in prison and dedicated it to his mother, who hopes to one day embrace her son outside the bars.
Sanaa Amira
Known activist and healthcare worker, she lives in the Aida refugee camp in Bethlehem. A nurse by profession, she actively works in the social field of the refugee camps, where she has launched many initiatives such as providing oxygen devices, medicines, and treatments during Covid-19, as well as support for the families of prisoners.
Aya Khalaf
Palestinian artist originally from the village of Jat, she currently lives in Jerusalem, where she studied music education and oriental singing. She is the founder of the initiative Yalla Lafa (Let's take a round), where they work to document Palestinian identity through traditional songs and create new tracks incorporating current rhythms as a form of resistance against the memoricide of Palestinian history.
