Voice of Women
Issue no. 300
30 October 2008
In this issue:
- Comprising one third of the society, Palestinian Youth Aspiring to Immigrate & Suffering from High Unemployment Rates
- In Gaza, the Hysteria of Immigration Invade the Minds of Women.
Comprising one third of the society
Palestinian Youth Aspiring to Immigrate & Suffering from High Unemployment Rates
By: Ola El-Hilo
Translated by: Sophie Shiber
Dr. luay Shabaneh , Head of the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics-PCBS, stated that the youth which compose one third of the Palestinian society is wishing to immigrate to other countries due to the hard economic situation and high poverty and unemployment rates. Dr. Shabaneh pointed out that statistics show that one third of the Palestinian youth think of immigration (45% males, 18% females). Researching the reasons behind that, PCBS found that the major reason was the economic hardship (96% males, 66% females), next came the lack of safety and security (80% males, 73% females), then came the political factor (62% males, 33% females), and the social factor (48% males, 45% females).
It is noticed that when we speak about the Palestinian youth, our speech usually combines optimism and fear; optimism about the future and the possibilities of positive change brought by youth, and the fear of political, economical, social and cultural burdens put on those youth.
Dr. Shabaneh indicated that the population estimate in the Palestinian Territories is 3.8 million (51% males, 49% females), while the male-female ratio is 103:100 (103 males, 100 females). The percentage of youth segment comprised one third of the population-27 %-( 40% teenagers and 60% youth).
The Palestinian population is a youth one; the pyramid of the Palestinian population is a wide-based one, which means that for the upcoming years the population will be under the influence of the relatively-high normal population increase, despite the fact that the rate of population increase is declining and that the fertility rates were declining during the past few years.
The statistical indicators show that the average marriage age for males is 25 while the average for females is 21. The indicators also show that 78% of youth feel that the best way to choose their partners should be personal (not through parents, the old traditional way), and that the difference in age between the husband and wife should be between 3-5 years.
The indicators show that Palestinian youth prefer to have 4 children on average, with a preference among males and females to have male children. This preference leads to a decrease in the population increase in the upcoming years.
The statistics available show that 46% of the population aged 5 and above are enrolled in educational facilities, 75% between the ages of 15-19, and 20% in age group of 20-29.
The average school years came up to be 10 years for adolescents and 12 for youth (20-24 years old) and it is higher among females than males.
About youth and public health, the statistics show that 17% of the unmarried youth smoke, and that 13% of the youth sector describes their health condition as being between medium and bad.
As for the priorities of the Palestinian society that the youth should pay most attention to, in order to build and motivate the Palestinian society, the statistics show that 26% of youth think that the number one priority is to stimulate social, professional, civil and political participation, 14% think that the number one priority is provide social networks and social support, 21% think that enforcing and strengthening values and common vision is the #1 priority.
Whether the youth trust the society institutions or not, 33% say that they have medium to high rates of trust in the political parties, 48% say they don’t. 45% trust the Palestinian National Authority while 36% don’t.
73% trust the local newspapers as opposed to 15% who don’t. 80% of the youth segment trusts the educational system while 13% don’t.
In Gaza
The Hysteria of Immigration Invade the Minds of Women?
Gaza-Hanan Abu Dghaim
Translated by: Sophie Shiber
It is not uncommon to hear somebody wishing to immigrate for good from the Gaza Strip, but what is not easy to imagine that somebody might build their futures on the idea of leaving Gaza and never coming back.
Got Married to Be Able to Immigrate
I known her as a lady with dreams that did not cross the boundaries of the city she was born in, until she was engaged to a man from Ramallah. This is when she started to fantasize about living in a foreign country, and when I started to doubt her reasons behind getting married to a person she met once, and barely known anything about his personal life.
Tahreer, 26 years old, graduated from the Islamic University three years ago, with a major in computer science. Her education opened doors for her and was employed in a respectful company where she excelled, until this man proposed to her. He was a member of the Palestinian forces who were moved from Gaza to settle in the West Bank. Up to this stage nothing was unexpected until she surprised me with the idea that she and her future husband are preparing to immigrate to Bulgaria.
Tahreer says: “I am sick of life in Gaza, we do nothing except eat, drink and sleep, and our social life in ruined by divisions in our society plus our economical situation is no longer as it used to be”.
Tahreer adds: “when the family of As’ad came to ask for my hand for their son who lives in Ramallah, I hesitated a lot, I don’t know the guy, I will be married to him on paper, then leave to see him without knowing him, I almost said no up to the moment when his mother said that he is planning to immigrate to Bulgaria. This is when I almost lost my mind of happiness and I said to my self this is the moment I have been always waiting for, so I said yes on the spot”.
Tahreer does not know what the future hides for her but she says: “even if things go bad it is not going to be worse than life in Gaza, we live in a prison, no matter how brutal life will be outside Gaza, the freedom is enough for me”.
Got Divorced to Immigrate
Tahreer got married and will leave in a few weeks without return-as she aspires and plans.
But leen, 24 years old, got divorced to be able to travel to one of the Arab countries. Leen, who is finishing her last year at university, says: “I came to Gaza from Saudi Arabia to study at the university. Three years ago I got married and I accepted to live away from my parents, I love my husband a lot but the bad economy in Gaza turned things around. For a while, I nagged my husband to leave with me to Saudi Arabia but he totally refuses the idea and wants to stay with his family”.
Leen adds: “when things got bad between us and the problems escalated I came to the conclusion that I can’t take it any more, I can’t live here any longer and that I need to be separated from him. My husband does not work and I still receive my tuition from my parents, so nothing is left for me here: no family no decent life and what encouraged me more is that we did not have any children”.
Leen is waiting to finish her last year at university and waiting to go leave to Saudi Arabia, she lives for the time being with a friend of her mom until she graduates.
Looking for a Groom
To marry or divorce somebody for the sake of immigration is logical-in a way, but to spend hours and hours chatting with guys living abroad in an attempt to find a groom is a little bit unsound.
Nisreen El-Sheikh Khalil (33 years old) says that her friend (A) sits daily for more than 5 hours chatting with guys from different Arab countries-whether they were from Palestinian origins or not-and the motive for her is to find a guy to marry and leave to join him in his country. Nisreen adds: “one of our colleagues at work married same way, she met a guy from Egypt on-line, and when the borders opened he came to Gaza where they married in two days and she left to Egypt with him. Since that story my friend (A) is obsessed with the idea of finding a groom who will be able to take her out of the swamp of Gaza”.
I Had to Lie
Taghreed, 27 years old, looked for a reason to convince her parents to allow her to travel. Taghreed says: “since I graduated from university I worked in several places and I never stayed in one position for a long time for different reasons, now I can’t take it any more, for a while now I have been thinking of leaving to another country. When conditions worsened in Gaza, the idea of travelling became more and more appealing. And as it is known, any parents will not allow or approve of their daughters to immigrate”.
Taghreed adds: “so when things maxed out, I decided to claim that I want to finish my Masters degree in another country so that I will be able to convince my parents to allow me to leave. I am preparing myself to leave as soon as I get any chance through Rafah border”.
When asked if she would come back to Gaza, Taghreed said that she will finish her Masters degree, look for a job in any other Arab country and settle there.
If he Thinks of Immigrating…I Will Ask for Divorce
The latest poll of the Near East Consulting says that 40% of Gazans in the Gaza Strip think of immigrating. Males comprise the vast majority of this percentage, and this imposes more pressure and tensions among families, since some women disagree with the idea of leaving Gaza for various reasons.
Rania Sa’dooni, 37 years old, says: if my husband thinks of immigration I will leave him, I will stay here where my family, my roots and my children are. Rania adds: why leave? What is destined for us we will see, whether we live here or in the other side of the world”.
Zaina Badaro, 27 years old, says: “my husband thinks a lot of immigration; I am not against the idea of travelling for work, leisure or education. But to leave my county with an intention of not coming back, this is impossible, even if I had to let my husband leave alone”.
Zaina adds: “regardless of all the negatives of life here, this is our country, if I immigrate, and my husband does, and you do, who will stay in the country? Leave the land to whom? We should diagnose our problems and try to fix them instead of running away and looking for another homeland. No matter how hard we look, we won’t find another homeland to contain us”.
