Palestinian women “bore the brunt� of occupation

3/31/2005 8:30:00 PM GMT

Palestinian women had “borne the brunt” of the Israeli occupation, Amnesty International said in a report.

The human rights group said that Palestinian women are suffering intimidation and violence by Israeli forces, adding that Israeli military checkpoints, house demolitions and detentions have had a severe impact on the lives of Palestinian women and children.

Tens of thousands of Palestinians, particularly women and children, have been made homeless by Israeli home demolitions, the report said.

The rights group also said that Palestinian women in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip were the victims of both parties in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Palestinian women have borne the brunt of the escalation of the conflict and decades of Israeli occupation," it said.

The 36-page report, entitled "Conflict, Occupation and Patriarchy: Women Carry the Burden," is part of Amnesty's campaign to end violence against women.

Amnesty said that at least 3,200 Palestinians including 600 children and 150 women were killed by Israeli forces during the Palestinian uprising, or intifada.

It added that the Israeli occupation led to unprecedented levels of poverty, unemployment and growing health problems among Palestinians, especially women.

Some women have been forced to give birth at Israeli checkpoints because they were banned from going to hospitals, it added.

"Scores of women have been forced to give birth at checkpoints by the roadside and several have lost their babies because Israeli soldiers denied them passage," it said.

It mentioned the case of Rula Ashtiya who was denied access by Israeli troops at the Beit Furik checkpoint to a hospital in Nablus to give birth on August 26, 2003.

"I was lying on the ground in the dust and I crawled behind a concrete block by the checkpoint to have some privacy and gave birth there, in the dust, like an animal," she said. "I held the baby in my arms and she moved a little but after a few minutes she died in my arms."

Amnesty said the army’s refusal to let Rula pass was against the Geneva Convention, which applied to Israel as the occupying power, and demanded Israel to remove its checkpoints and ease movement restrictions on Palestinians.

The United Nations recently urged Israel to ensure the safety and rights of women in the occupied territories.

A 2003 UN report showed that the conditions of Palestinian women had "seriously declined" in 2002 and 2003 due to the Israeli occupation.