Between Colonialism and Patriarchy: The Role of Agency Among Palestinian Women in the West Bank and East Jerusalem

ABSTRACT Departing from the literature examining female agency within the developing world, this paper analyzes the specific exercise of agency for women within a colonial context, more specifically, the Palestinian territories under Israeli occupation. In understanding this unique context, we observe the role of female agency not only within the traditional gender roles but also through the logic of opposition to colonial structures restricting their existence as natives on the land. Here, we assume that Palestinian women deal with the realities of colonialism and occupation before truly understanding their sense of agency within what is known to be a conservative, traditional Arab society. We observe Palestinian women's agency from two separate angles: (a) within the traditional Arab culture and (b) within the colonial structures of occupation. We interviewed 20 women from rural and urban West Bank and East Jerusalem towns to analyze these themes. These interviews illustrate the nature of the nonmonolithic Palestinian woman's experience and attempt to demonstrate that through the context within the Palestinian territories.