Women lawyers of Palestine advocates of women in the face of conservative religious leaders

In its edition of today, The Daily Star newspaper featured the phenomenon of women lawyers in Ramallah, who presently almost outnumber their men colleagues. The newspaper spoke to two women in the legal profession and advocates of women’s issues in a world still dominated by patriarchal mindsets. Lawyer Rima Shamasneh underlined her struggle for gender equality through helping women claim their rights. Khulud Faqih, a woman judge at the Sharia Court of Palestine, also revealed to the newspaper, her compassion for women issues, particularly in relation to right to divorce, alimony and children custody. On the other hand, the head of the Sharia Court of the “West Bank”, Mahmud Habash, told the Daily Star that Shamasneh’s pleadings in court, like other fellow women advocates, might very well “contribute to the breakdown of society, because women and men are different in nature, and therefore should be ruled by different laws,” as he claimed. Similarly, Sheikh Mahmud Faqih, the imam of the town mosque, said that while he respects lawyer Shamasneh and her colleagues, yet he does not agree with their demands for equal rights in marriage and divorce. He said he is against the presence of Faqih in a sensitive position, “for a woman who cannot ask for her own divorce is no help for other women who want to divorce.” In conclusion, the Daily Star, citing a study by Pew Research Center, indicated that only one third of the Palestinians support the right of women to seek a divorce. (Daily star 31 October 2016)