Gaza men choose family councils but keep women out
There have been no elections in Gaza since 2006, but family groupings in the enclave have started holding votes for a leader and board to administer family affairs.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Is it a sign of grassroots democracy in an authoritarian social structure, or yet another sign of the exclusion of women in a patriarchal society? In the Gaza Strip, a family held elections to designate a family head and a board to manage family affairs, but kept the family's women out of it.
This Palestinian family is huge by Western standards. Even though women were not allowed to vote or be elected, more than 450 cast ballots for the family head and his “management" board. Males over age 16 carrying the same last name — Khadri — were able to vote.
“Palestinian society is a patriarchal community and there is no place for women [to take up a leadership position],” Dardah al-Shaer, a professor of sociology at Al-Aqsa University in the Gaza Strip, told Al-Monitor.
“Despite the shortcoming [the exclusion of women], the family election is a good way to organize the ties between family members and to preserve good relations with other families and tribes,” he said.
