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INPRIMATU
Isabel Pérez, journalist from Gaza
"If the Palestinian power zones were in the hands of women, the situation would improve significantly"
  • Born in Ejea, in the Aragonese village near Tudela. When he finished his journalism studies in Madrid, he headed his steps towards the Middle East. After studying Arabic in Egypt and Persian in Iran, in 2013 he decided to reside in the Gaza Strip. Since then, through social media and through media work like Hispan Tv, El Mundo or ElDiario.es, many of them have become the voice and face of the world’s largest outdoor jail. It is the only person in the state that lives in Gaza, in which he resides.
Axier Lopez @axierL 2017ko urtarrilaren 17a

Why Gaza?
Here you have the culprit (pointing to her boyfriend’s partner Mussa’ab Bashir). It made me realize it wouldn't be easy. I lived in Egypt before and I thought it was going to be similar, but, of course, it has been much more difficult. In addition to the very harsh consequences of psychological persecution and the permanent blockade of the Israeli Army, Gaza society is in crisis because it is becoming more and more imprisoned every day, and people are closing themselves more and coming to religion.

Although your partner is of Gazan origin, you came to Gaza in secret.
To my regret, because I do not like closed sites, we enter Gaza through a tunnel. I thought that that journey was going to be a lot more complicated, but in the end it was a quiet two-minute walk. It was very normalized. Too normalized. Most tunnels are now destroyed. Moreover, shortly thereafter, Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi was overthrown and the consequences of the Israeli blockade were even worse.

What do you remember from your first
months?The first reports and interviews were especially hard because I realized the precarious lives of the people, always at the expense of the help of the international community that never arrives. And maliciously, I observed something else that hurt me even more. Palestinian politicians on the other side of Palestine, the West Bank, have also put Gaza aside. In addition to this, the daily consequences of the blockade must be added: habitual electricity cuts, a shortage of drinking water… To give an example, think about what it is to go in winter to make known the neighborhoods drowned by the dirty waters, go home with dirt and not be able to take a shower due to lack of hot water. However, I did not believe that people were so patient to endure such humiliating conditions.

Is there any normality or everyday life in the Gaza Strip?
“The people in Gaza are already used to it,” some say. I hate that verb. No one will ever get used to an unworthy life. The people of Gaza have developed a kind of resilience that is also being eroded.

Experts warn that human life will not be allowed in Gaza by 2020. That is true. There are many cases of cancer, a lot of women suffer from breast cancer without getting the right medication, kidney failure is common in children… Many of the diseases are closely related to deficiencies in infrastructure and the dirty water network. Much of the dirty water is poured into the sea or farmland without being treated. Aquifer water is contaminated, so it's easy to catch harmful bacteria. I myself have been suffering from typhoid salmonella for two months with antibiotics. When I went to do the blood tests, the nurse laughed and said: “I also have that, learn to live with him, nothing happens.” Today it is impossible to find someone physically healthy in the Gaza Strip.

He talked about genocide in the “slow motion.”
It's Machiavellian. I think they have looked at everything. In 2005, the Israeli Army met in the Gaza area and then the blockade was thought and established. Arnon Soffer, the geographer who designed the blockade, today a professor at Haifa University, said: “We will make even more animals.”

You've had to live war.
It was July 2014. I never informed him of the war. Friends and neighbors evacuated, out of fear that what they are going to bomb is your house or the one next door… so working is very difficult. It is essential to have a cool head.

Not many women do journalistic work like yours.
It seems that even today the media do not have much confidence in women journalists. They prefer to present the image of the woman as an unprotected or vulnerable figure in a violent area. It is a shotgun to get more public or to sell more specimens.

The Institute for Women of the University of Birzeite (West Bank) has produced a study which considers that the proliferation of sexual assaults in Palestine is closely related to the increase in violence and Israeli occupation policies.
Indeed, after the 2014 war, cases of violence against women have grown, and today their number is enormous. There are families who silence the woman or cause her very young daughters to marry. The Gaza Strip is isolated, blocked. Unlike the West Bank, in Gaza there are no entrances or exits of foreign persons, nor do the Palestinians returning from the diaspora. In addition, Gaza is the country in the world with the highest unemployment rate, according to the World Bank (WB). So how do many men drive that frustration? Violence against your wife or your children. Women in Gaza do their own thing and the other thing with very little resources to get their families moving. The men, on the other hand, you will find them sitting in the café, sorghing the shishari. If the power points were in the hands of women, the situation would improve considerably. For example, Palestine is today politically fragmented and it is the women of Gaza who are mobilizing every week before the Legislative Council in support of the unity of the Palestinian political forces.

Feminism in the Islamic world. Not known. Islamic
feminists use other new readings from the Koran to address the narrative of the Islamic patriarchate. But of course, patriarchy also uses its cards. For example, in families with one son and two daughters, it is very common that economic efforts are directed at the formation of the son, leaving aside the one of the daughters. Patriarchy based on the interpretations of a book, to fight, knowledge is the key.

If the opium of the people is football, what is religion?Religion can
be opium for many people, but it is because of the bad readings of religion. In my life, I don't follow religion, but those who have it should learn and study well, without relying on other interpretations. Thus, in Gaza and in the Islamic world in general, women would be more empowered. I've met girls who believe that the veil is essential to wear. Asked for the reason, their answer is to mimetically repeat what the father, patriarch or thigh of the family said. If these girls could read, educate and share ideas, the situation would be very different. In short, the lack of education is an instrument of control.

Where does politics start and where does religion end?
For the Muslim Brotherhood, they are the same. Hamas took on the beliefs of the Muslim Brotherhood and used them with great powerlessness. They believe that the only truth is theirs, theirs the true Islam. There is no possibility of discussion. They behave predominantly with Muslims and women who do not follow their line.

Hamas came to power without being prepared for it. If you look at their interviews and press conferences, you'll notice that their version of reality is very weak and regular. Only one of the founders of Hamas lives, Mahmod az-Zahar, already very mature. And the interest of young people like Ismail Haniyeh is to maintain the ‘poltrone’, rather than improve the situation in the Gaza Strip. It is political, as in the rest of the world.

Are the Palestinian political factions part of the solution or the problem?The factions are
not the problem, they are the people who make up them. The factions have become puppets of states that want to control the area and gain strength. Israel is also active in promoting antipathy among the Palestinian forces. For example, the 2014 war began two months after Hamas and Fatah reached an agreement on the armed conflict.

In other words, caste is not something that has been discovered in Madrid.
No, there are a lot of dinosaurs in Palestine. You have to do a deep cleaning of the seats. There are many politically frustrated Palestinians who are not represented in the political forces. They're on the left, but they don't know where to go. As in almost all countries, there is also a lack of representation here.

The armed struggle is today as pointless as the peace negotiations.

Give me your opinion on three possible ways of resolving the Palestinian conflict. First, armed struggle.
When I entered Gaza, I thought that the armed struggle served not to multiply the Israeli attacks, as a deterrent. But today I do not think it is effective, because Israel’s military capacity is enormous. The armed struggle is today as pointless as the peace negotiations. Peace negotiations are only profitable for Israel to achieve the moratorium on colonies, to stabilize impunity and to present itself to the international community as the only democratic force in the area.

Secondly, the international diplomatic route.
It's very misleading. No one believes in that today, not the people of Fatah. There is no longer a solution for both states. It's impossible. Furthermore, it is not feasible for the Palestinians in the West Bank, in cooperation with Jordan, to create a state or for the Palestinians in Gaza to join the Egyptian state. That is not logical.

Thirdly, the creation of a single State in the territory of the present Palestine and Israel.
Maybe that's the solution. I don't know how we could get there, but I'm very clear where to start. Occupation, blockade against Gaza and elimination of racism. The system of apartheid must be eradicated and hatred must be combated by educating citizens at the meeting. Perhaps one day the Israeli social movement against the occupation will be strengthened, which also recognizes the right to return to the Palestinians, and we can all live in a democratic and secular state.