Huda Naeem: Any Structure is Incomplete Without Women Participation

In an interview with Palestinian Information Centre, Member of the Palestinian Legislative Council, Huda Naeem said that by winning the elections Hamas was harvesting what it has cultivated since its launch. About the participation of women she said: “Any building is incomplete without the participation of women…”

Asked about the reasons behind the landslide victory of Hamas in the recent legislative council elections, Huda Naeem said that Hamas has harvested what it had cultivated noting that Hamas has adopted the agenda of resistance all along with its leaders and their children in the forefront of struggle and martyrdom against the Israeli occupation.

She added that Hamas’s pioneering institutions in the educational, health and social fields and its hard work in support of the Palestinian question and the service of the Palestinian people in the most difficult of times have all contributed to make this victory inevitable.

She pointed out that the Palestinian people’s support for the Islamic and resistance path of Hamas, the failure of the negotiations path, the miserable reality that people had to endure due to corruption, bribes and security chaos that prevailed under the previous Palestine national authority have also contributed to people’s determination for change and reform.

She said that Hamas’s agenda has dealt with all problems of the Palestinian society, reflected their aspirations and put forward realistic solutions depending on the resources and potentials of the Palestinian people.

About the challenges facing Hamas movement, Naeem said that the biggest challenges are represented by the American and European pressure being practiced against Hamas to force it to make concessions, change the agenda it was elected for, accept agreements signed with the Israeli occupation and negotiate with Israel away from Palestinian legitimate and national considerations.

She added that some Arab countries are unable to support the Palestinian people and its elected government due to certain foreign policies.

She underlined that the European role, which we hoped would be strong, free and independent from the American destructive policy, turned to be so similar to the American and Israeli roles.

At the internal level, she said that the deeply rooted corruption in the authority and security institutions represents one of the major challenges for Hamas noting that many are trying to mislead and destroy files and evidence of corruption.

About the role of Palestinian women, Naeem said that the presence of women in the legislative council will enable them to participate effectively in the decision making process noting that every one believes that the participation of women is not only their right but also a necessity and that any construction without the participation of women would be incomplete.

Naeem said that the position of any minister in the upcoming government will be a tough job given the size of the inherited corruption as well as the over staffing and mismanagement of government departments. Therefore, Naeem added, any minister appointed in this government has to be ready to take up the challenge and work hard to make his mission successful.

About the scarcity of ministerial positions usually assigned to women, Naeem said that our society still perceives that women can fit in ministries directly related to women’s affairs only. She expressed hope to see Palestinian women having more choices and occupying non-traditional ministerial positions. She pointed out that women still have a lot to do through awareness programs to convince the Palestinian citizen of giving a fairer role to women.

About the concepts that she would like to inculcate in the minds of young Palestinians, Naeem noted that the intifada era had consolidated factionalism amongst the youth but in many cases this orientation has taken a counterproductive course and was exploited by Israel to incite factional sedition and trouble among Palestinian factions. Therefore, Naeem expressed the hope that educated people will reshape the concepts among the youth to be loyal first to God, then to the homeland and finally to the party or faction.

She added that she hoped that the younger generation will adopt the culture of love, respect and acceptance of one another. She said that she will encourage the society to be aware of the importance and vitality of women’s abilities and participation in society through workshops, educational institutions, mosques, schools and media.

She emphasized the necessity of providing more attention and care to children through concerned institutions who would embrace them and help lessen the negative influence of the barbaric actions practiced against them and against their families by the occupation forces.

Naeem said that Hamass’s victory in the elections has exposed the mendacity of the Western democracy and that was obvious through the negative reactions of Europe and the United States [to the results of the Palestinian elections].

She noted Europe and America are launching a media war and exerting political pressures against Hamas and decided to punish the Palestinian people by stopping economic support because the Palestinian people did practice democracy.

She said that the cartoons insulting prophet Mohammad (PBUH) in a Danish newspaper and the re-publishing of these cartoons in more than one European newspaper indicates that the western democracy is irresponsible since such a democracy hasn’t respected the democratic choice of the Palestinian people and has offended more than a billion Muslims.