The Role of Feminist Elites in Achieving Gender Equality and Women Empowerment in Palestine during the Period 1993 – 2019. Women in Palestine Liberation Organization Case Study رسالة ماجستير

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the role of feminist elites in achieving gender equality and empowering women in Palestine during the period between 1993-2019 (women in the Palestine Liberation Organization as a model). For this reason, the study adopted the descriptive analytical method and used the questionnaire and interview as tools since the study community consists of active women in the political, feminist and societal fields, and women in the Palestine Liberation Organization. The researcher used the simple random sampling method, and the number of valid questionnaires for analysis was (50), and an intentional sample of 7 Palestinian women leaders was used. The study reached a set of results, the most important of which are: that the feminist elites are keen to achieve gender equality in the Palestinian society because of its impact on the empowerment of women in the Palestinian society. The women's elite in the PLO also reflected the ability of women to participate in politics alongside men, as they made many achievements at the level of government and at the level of municipalities as well, and women held high political positions as minister and deputy in the Legislative Council. This is evidenced by the approval of the study sample members on the role of the female elites in the PLO in achieving gender equality, which came to a medium degree, as the arithmetic mean of all axis paragraphs was 3.25, while the relative weight of all axis paragraphs was 65.02%. The results showed the approval of the study sample members on the challenges facing the women elites that stand in the way of achieving gender equality and empowering women in Palestine to a high degree, as the arithmetic mean of all the axis items was 3.85, while the relative weight of all the axis items was 77.02%. Where there are challenges related to society's ignorance of women's rights and their importance in developing them, in addition to challenges related to the stereotypical VI image of women "in the second place with a relative weight (80.8%)". The results of the study showed that women constitute a minority in the political system and the role, due to patriarchal attitudes towards them, although there are opinions that go towards believing that Palestinian women do not constitute a minority within the political situation, and the social/stereotypical view through the role; An obstacle to women's access to leadership positions and participation in decision-making. The study recommended the Palestinian government to address and remove all the challenges facing the feminist elites that stand in the way of achieving equality and empowering women at work in the institutions of the Palestinian government, so that competence is taken into account as a basis for opportunities, not gender, in addition to the need to work to strengthen the role of feminist elites in the PLO for her serious work in achieving equality between women and men.