POLITICS: Palestinian Women Win Big in Elections, page 1

posted on Dec, 28 2004 @ 12:27 AM

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Despite pressure placed on them not to run, the big winners in the Palestinian elections are the female candidates. Fifty percent defeated male opponents despite the conservative nature of their society. All told women won 51 seats in the elections, and 32 of them were won outright and did not require them to claim a seat reserved for the under law.

story.news.yahoo.com[/ url]
YABED, West Bank - Women faced pressure not to run as candidates in the Palestinian local elections. But they did � and they won, with more than half of them defeating their male opponents in this conservative, traditional Arabic society.

Palestinian women won 51 seats in Thursday's elections, 32 of them winning their place outright without having to claim a seat reserved for women by Palestinian law.

Maisoun Badarneh, a 44-year-old teacher elected as an independent candidate to the council in the town of Yabed, said she faced intense opposition from relatives and neighbors who argued it was unacceptable for a woman to hold a position requiring daily contact with the public.

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I think this will make an interesting discussion. This discounts a lot of opinions that women have no role in Arab society. This type of election victories makes a huge statement about the roles of women within Palestine. Clearly women�s right needs to be improved dramatically but these results are quite a pleasant surprise.

[edit on 12/28/04 by FredT]

Thinker

posted on Dec, 28 2004 @ 07:24 AM

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Point less Judean's, Israelies will never give away 50% of their ancerstoral home to the arabs.

flycatch

posted on Dec, 28 2004 @ 11:45 AM

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Are these the same women who turn there children into suicide bombers?

[edit on 28-12-2004 by flycatch]