Violence against Women: The Analogy of Occupation and Rape “The case of the Palestinian People”

By: Rana Nashashibi, Director

Palestinian Counseling Center

(November, 2003)

Introduction

In her famous book “Bananas, Beaches and Bases,” Cynthia Enloe first introduced the concept of “The Personal is International.” While feminists before had already arrived at the conclusion that the personal is political, Enloe took us one step further by stating that political encompasses not only the national but the international spectrum. Politics, in turn, is the term used to describe how the world is governed, and therefore, actually means the exercise of power in the public realm. Thus, power, or actually unequal power, rules all our relationships from the very private to the national and the international. Feminism as political practice necessitates critical engagement between struggles for liberation and pedagogical practice. The centrality of violence in the experience of the Palestinians has not entered the writings of feminists, no real connection was made between Israeli colonization, gender and violence.

In this paper I will attempt to draw the analogies between the Israeli Occupation as a colonialist power and rape. It is my effort to free our discourse from the compliance to imposed terminology to using our own narrative in description of our experience.

First a definition of Colonialism: it is the rule of one country by another, usually based on conquest, that it is the sense of being colonized which affect most aspects of ones life and personality, "not only thinking, but passions and conduct. This relationship destroys and recreates the two partners of colonization into colonizer and colonized: one is disfigured into an oppressor, a partial being, uncivil, cheating, uniquely preoccupied with his privileges and the defense of them at any cost; the other into an oppressed, broken in his Colonization denies [the colonized] any part in war and in peace, in any decision that contributes to the destiny of the world or his own, any historic and social responsibility."

A definition of Rape; which is the crime of forcing the other to submit to sexual intercourse, and the seizing and carrying off by force. Although historically Rape was also used to mean the seizing by force of land and other valuables.

The attempt here is not to sexualize the argument as much as to use the word rape in a more metaphorical manner. Colonization in the sense of how it rapes a whole nation of its powers to stand up and take control of their lives because one party the colonizer deems itself superior, and rape as a male supremacy to enforce guardianship and control. This analogy is important as it shows again that all relationships of unequal powers should not be tolerated and that unless we as women make the connection between all the different manifestations of power relationships,, then our struggle will be partial, and not comprehensive.

Another element is the lack of discourse in feminist literature about occupation as a (power relationship which affect women) though the comparison is drawn easily with fundamentalism and especially Islamic fundamentalism.

The Analogy

Violence is defined (Amir,1982) as a premeditated offensive act of one party using power to inflict hurt or damage on another party. Political violence is a term used to describe practices committed by a state, political regime or political organizations against individuals and groups in order to inflict hurt and damage and guarantee domination. Whether we are talking about rape, abuse, occupation, colonization or new world order there is one thread that weaves through them and that is the exercise of power in a violent way. Domestic violence, political violence and war are all constructs of the same concept, which is the exercise of power to control and subordinate.

Profiles

The Abuser/Rapist

• In domestic violence the perpetrator tend to minimize the seriousness of their violent behavior to themselves and others. Tend to see their lives as externally directed, accept no blame for their violent behavior but blame their partner for it. Have a great need to control situations and people. Make frequent "promises" for the future, that are never fulfilled.

Abusers have in common the following features:

• Domination: Abusers expect and demand complete control and submission on the part of their victim.

• Manipulation: The manipulation of the victims world through isolation from the social support system and economic means which can lead to independence.

• Obsessed with weapons: Many abusers are infatuated with weapons. They will collect certain weapons, spend countless hours talking about weapons, and participate in events which give them the power to use weapons.

• Denial: In many cases, the abuser will act as if nothing happened, in order to excuse his/her behavior. If they do admit their actions, it is always the fault of the victim. They justify their actions by claiming that they were provoked.

Israeli Violence

The political violence of Israel as a colonialist power is a combination of physical force with psychological terror and fear.

Like the abuser\rapist Israel always tend to blame others for its action and never own up to the problems they cause . The cause is the Palestinian Terrorism , the Arab countries belligerence, the UN and its animosity to the state of Israel and so on so forth. In an article by Steven Neville entitled The Israeli- Palestinian conflict who’s to blame, he writes how it is the 22 Arab countries for all the miseries that the Palestinian are facing and that they can give billions of dollars to the Palestinians so as to improve their economic situation, then he continues I quote: “The same strategy is employed for Palestinians! Every effort is made to project them as the downtrodden underdogs. The ‘dog’ part of the description is very appropriate! These mindless dogs don’t realize how they are being manipulated. Their mindless activities in the latter months of 2000 have brought them to the brink of starvation. With rioting and sniper bullets they have tried to keep the Israelis out of Gaza and the West Bank, yet by their actions they have prevented the marketing of their own produce.

It is the tendency to externalize the blame, no inward looking or insight which is crucial for taking responsibility which is a pre requisite to change.

To look at the tactics they use, basically how Occupation resembles rape:

Domination: Palestinians for the past twenty-seven months have been living in a prison with a continuous threat on their life. People are living under siege, terrorized, subjected to systematic humiliation daily at army checkpoints and within their neighborhoods. There are seventy permanent checkpoints in addition to dozens of temporary checkpoints that are put at random and in a sporadic way.

Manipulation: social isolation; There is no social relations as people are confined to their homes, and every town and village is cut from the other and completely isolated. There is a disintegration of family and social relations. Economic deprivation: A large segment of the population is starving and in need, the economic situation is dire, and therefore, people can barely survive.

According to a recent World Bank report the national domestic product declined by 40%, unemployment reached 50% in the Gaza Strip and 63.3% in the West Bank, and thus, people living under the poverty line increased by 65% (The poverty line defined by the World Bank is an income of $ 2.00 per person per day). The inability of workers to reach their place of work because of the closures, the difficulties associated with the marketing of products, and the inability to obtain raw material have resulted in the dwindling of the economy.

Obsession with Weapons/Military power: Arbitrary measures, shooting at people sporadically as they cross checkpoints, invading towns and arresting people in the middle of the night, leaving the subjugated people confused, not knowing what to expect, and therefore, living in continuous fear.

 Total number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces and Jewish settlers are: 2,229 (children 433, females 129, medical personnel 18, journalist 8, internationals 6).

 People assassinated by Israeli death squads: 309 of those, bystanders killed during Israeli assassination operations: 114

 Total disabilities (both partial and permanent) in the West Bank and Gaza Strip: 2500.

 Physical injuries: 41,089.

 Houses demolished during Israeli incursion: West Bank: 2700,

 Gaza Strip: 2315 before the latest incursion to Rafah and Gaza.

 Demolition due to no license 635

 Damage to Public buildings: 118.

Denial: There are many other examples proving the impunity that Israeli soldiers enjoy. The murders they commit are not just random mistakes, but rather a supreme state policy that considers killing a Palestinian not a crime for which a soldier ought to be punished. Take, for example, the situation where four moshav and kibbutz residents tied up and tortured two Palestinian youths who they claimed stole tomatoes from their fields. Both youths were seriously injured. One had cigarette burns on his neck, and was unable to walk because of injuries to one of his legs. But after questioning the four Israelis were released without further charges. The judge determined that "There were no evidence.”

What is expected to happen to the Victim?

Subordination and Domestication

Thereby relenting control to the perpetrator with no objection. The abuser does not even believe that his victim will fight back or do anything. He expect her to take it as something that she deserved. There is no acknowledgement that there has been any violation committed against the other.

Michael Shurkin (2003) writes in an article entitled Is Zionism Colonialist? about an encounter with a friend of his from a settlement in the West Bank, he writes, “As we stood at the edge of the settlement and looked out across the barren valley to an Arab village, I asked her what she wanted Arabs to do. Her answer was 'nothing'." Arabs should submit to Israeli authority, resign themselves to having been bested, put up passively with Jewish settlement, and do nothing. In other words, she would condemn Arabs to an existence with no stake in the future of the country in which they lived.

Disorganization of Thought and Emotions

The vast literature on abuse especially sexual abuse stresses the fact that this trauma where a person body is violated and is existence is threatened has an overwhelming effect on cognition and affect and leads to a disruption of the organization of self. It also effect the thinking processes like the secondary process thinking ( analytical, reasoning, imagination and creativity). In addition to the inability to form healthy relationships with other.

The consequence on the personality is:

a) fluctuating nature of acute and/or grief reactions that can lead to complex character logical adaptations.

b) A disturbed regulation of affective arousal that can ward off emotions, somatic sensations and alternating intrusion and numbing feelings about the catastrophic stress and event.

c) The impaired capacity for cognitive integration of experience (dissociation)

d) The impairment in the capacity to differentiate relevant from irrelevant information.

Thereby resulting in the victim being in a state of impending annihilation and utter helplessness.

The Continuous oppression of occupation on Palestinians causes devastation and trauma. A person whose overwhelming concern is to survive and gain his/her daily bread, protecting him/herself and his/her family against hunger, or for securing his/her and his/her family’s basic needs, loses the drive to improve his/her situation and status not only in his/her own eyes, but in the eyes of others also, when subjected to humiliation tactics, and becomes a person whose sole purpose in life is literally to just exist. This means that such a person’s reasoning loses its thoughtfulness and logic, becoming more reactionary and unbalanced.

Degradation and Debilitation

The abused is rendered in a position of debilitation where it is unable to take care of herself and therefore need to be under the guardianship of someone else.

How many times have Zionists leaders written about the failure of Arabs to develop natural resources, work the land, and improve their lot?

When the Palestinians are made a people with limited capabilities, it then becomes easier for both the Israeli military establishment and the western world to see them as inferior beings, easily led, beaten and kicked. This image is considered legitimate and prescriptive, and both Israel and the West justify their oppression to the Palestinians by convincing themselves that the Palestinians “are not advanced human beings like us, they have limited capabilities, they live outside the civilized world, and therefore oppressing them is legitimate.”

The Long term Effects of Private and Public Violence

The impact of political violence and domestic violence on the whole population and its specific impact on women will be addressed from sociopolitical and psychological perspectives. Back to Cynthia Enloe with her reversible formula “ The personal is political”, which can also be read as the “political is Personal,” and international in the definition of political, The methods are different but the pretexts are the same. analogies can be drawn between the patriarchal structure in a household where the male does anything to gain complete domination and power, subjugating the female, and the colonialists, the occupiers, the defenders of the New World order of the world (the Patriarchs) whose show of power and control through violence to gain superiority.

Therefore Israel justifies its occupation under the pretext of protecting the Palestinians from themselves (the protector), or acting as the guardian, again the protector of the civilized world from the savages who cannot be trusted. It claims that it is the protector of individual’s rights and women’s rights (it being the only democracy of the Middle East).

Such a discourse is intended to lead to two levels of alienation, one alienating the Palestinian society from the world (as they do not have the rite to passage). And alienating the forces of progressiveness in society. Consequently leading automatically to more subordination of women as it allows the regressive forces of society to take control under the pretext of defending “the National interest.”

Zakia Pathak and Rajeswari Rajan describe as the creation of "an alliance between protector and protected against a common opponent from whom danger is perceived and protection offered or sought, and this alliance tends to efface the will to power exercised by the protector. These discourses constitute gendered and racialized subject positions in the very act of making the violence visible. The metaphor of home is gendered; it is the main location of women, and it is served to define the modern notions of family as well as nation. As a spatial metaphor it stands both for the inside, which is protected from the outside, and a place of emotionality and affection. In the context of the nation-state, while submission to normative respectability is fundamental for all members, gender notions assign particular positions to men as protectors and to women as protected.

Analyzing Israeli psychopathology and its repercussions on the Palestinian society is imperative. It is the oppressors’ mentality of the supremacy of the race or gender which creates a culture of violence in which to a large extent determine the direction of any society. Coming to grips with that allows us to be more in control and able to counter these effects, in contrast to believing that controls are outside of us.

Meeting the Challenge

Public discourse is careful to avoid making the connection between public and private violence. The silencing of dissidents in this time of militant patriotism has provided the “state” with an immense power to promote their militaristic, sexist, and capitalist agenda.

Dealing with the violence of colonization and occupation is the same as dealing with domestic violence. One should not be tolerant with the aggression regardless of the shape, form or color which it takes. As the male systematically undermines the women in his life so as to justify ownership and control, so does the occupation. Women who are victims of domestic violence lose faith in themselves for a while and lose confidence in their ability to fight and in anyone’s ability to help them out. Their energy is reserved for survival and therefore an ability to organize and scheme is minimal.

Women’s organizations and the women’s movement in general have to stand up to the organized violence of globalization and occupation as we have stood up against domestic violence. It is up to us who understand how these power relations work to organize and confront it. It is true that under situations like the Israeli occupation or another abusive situation one is incapacitated and frozen because the trauma is beyond ones’ ability to take. Nonetheless, we have to break the silence. What is needed for victims of organized violence, as with victims of rape and domestic violence, is a reconfirmation of meaning in the world, trying to build what has been systematically destroyed, to empower, to build solidarity and to connect to the people of the world who share the same value system of real democracy and justice. The need is to mobilize on the ground and give strength to the people to take matters in their own hands.

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