Abstract
Nahda Y. Shehada highlights the ways in which Palestinian women operate within the parameters of their culture. In the story of Salha she shows how women involved in a familial conflict operate as social agents even under the most constraining circumstances. She gives an insight into the struggle of every day life in the unique situation of the escalating and continuing violence of today's Palestine that often, in the name of broader political need, silences knowledge of gender struggles.
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Notes
Taking a dispute to the courts is not an easy choice for women or families to make because of the negative connotations attached to intervention by public institutions in familial (private) conflicts. It is still considered shameful for families to use formal institutions, whether they be the courts, the police or any other ‘alien’ institution.
The main conditions for child custody are related to the mother's remarriage, work and travel. For example, if the mother's new husband is not of a prohibited degree of relationship to the child (a mohram) her right of custody lapses (Welchman, 2000). With regard to the mother's work, the law specifies that the child should not be deprived by the fact of her being otherwise occupied; but in practice, the religious courts do not deprive a mother of her custody rights on the basis of her being employed unless her in-laws provide the court with proof that her employment is depriving the child of the necessary care.
In this context, I do not deny that the structure of symbols and meanings (the man: powerful, wise, the rescuer, the provider of justice) are constructed to serve the dominance of the powerful in the framework of gender analysis, but the significance of Salha's case is her ability to use the same symbols to her advantage.
In Islamic law, as Rosen (1989: 31) notes: ‘the party who claims [to be]…injured should be favoured over the one who denies that harm is occurring.’
Unfortunately, space limits do not allow me to elaborate here on this significant trend, which is an important part of my PhD dissertation.
Entering the Maga’ad is an honour assigned to the clan's members who reach maturity in terms of age and behaviour.
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Shehada, N. Uncodified Justice: Women negotiating family law and customary practice in Palestine. Development 47, 103–108 (2004). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100006
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.development.1100006