The Women of Hamas

Six of Hamas' 74 seats in the new Palestinian Parliament are held by women. But judging from the most prominent among them, their election does not appear to advance tolerance and opportunity for women to choose their role in society. I have no quarrel with women wearing headscarves or being modest in appearance, or segregated from men, as long as it is their choice. It does not seem a very workable model for women who want to work outside the home, which would normally involve working alongside men. And it would force Christian women and women with a less strict belief in Islam to adhere to this grim set of strictures. The NY Times:

The model will be Islam: women in Hamas wear head scarves and follow strict rules for social segregation from men.

And one of their role models — one of the few women in Hamas well known before the election — has a pedigree particularly troubling to many in Israel and the outside world.

She is Mariam Farhat, the mother of three Hamas supporters killed by Israelis. She bade one son goodbye in a homemade videotape before he stormed an Israeli settlement, killing five people, then being shot dead. She said later, in a much-publicized quotation, that she wished she had 100 sons to sacrifice that way. Known as the "mother of martyrs," she was seen in a campaign video toting a gun.

Now she is one of the six women who are Hamas legislators, elected on the party list. The election rules had quotas for women for all parties. She was swamped this week at a Hamas victory rally at the women's campus at the Islamic University by young, outspoken, educated women who see no contradiction between religious militancy and modernity.

"She is a mother to every house, every person," said one of the students, Reem el-Nabris, 20, who kissed and hugged Ms. Farhat.

Ms. Farhat, 56, who had not been active in politics, said she hoped she deserved their praise as a role model. But she said her role should not be the only one for Hamas's women.

With more than a whiff of Marx:

"It is not only sacrificing sons," she said after the rally. "There are different kinds of sacrifice, by money, by education. Everybody, according to their ability, should sacrifice."

But it may be women who sacrifice the most, and not by choice.

The really sad thing is that some women are forced into this by the fact that they are widows of suicide bombers:

In nearly two decades, the top tier of Hamas's leadership has seemed very much reserved for men. But supporters of Hamas, as well as those of Fatah and other specialists, agreed with Ms. Shameli that Hamas had earned strong support among women. In fact, studies and results from municipal elections show women support the group in higher numbers than men.

If the men's most visible role has been fighting Israel, Hamas's social programs have attracted the loyalty of women. Hamas offers assistance programs for widows of suicide bombers and for poor people, health clinics, day care, kindergartens and preschools, in addition to beauty parlors and women-only gyms.

One of the many good results of our taking on Osama and the Taliban in Afghanistan was that women were allowed to work again. There were many women widowed by the war with the old USSR or by fighting between warlords, which had gone on for years. Under the Taliban, if you were a widow you were forced to rely on the kindness of friends, or work somehow in secret, running a school or baking bread.

Hamas has helped women attend universities:

Yet Hamas encourages, and in some cases pays for, the education of these women. Sabrin al-Barawi, 21, a chemistry student, said she had grown up with Hamas programs for women: social groups, leadership courses, Koran classes.

"It's not only religious," said Ahlan Shameli, 21, who is studying computers. "It's the Internet, computers."

But so far the women glorified by Hamas as role models are mothers or widows of suicide bombers, not seen as individuals with lives of their own. Not a hopeful sign.