Dr Faiha Abdulhadi presents "Palestinian Women Rewriting History: The Political Participation of Palestinian Women since 1930s"

The research on the political participation of Palestinian Women since the 1930s aimed to rewrite history from a perspective that recognizes the effective contribution of women, and document the experiences of women, who played a major part in history making, but did not participate in the act of writing history.

The aim also is to make women visible and to shed light on the history of women’s struggle for the benefit of future generations of Palestinian and Arab young men and women, and to enable women to actively participate in rebuilding the Palestinian archives and reproduce knowledge.Over the course of the research, the prominent status of Palestinian women, from the 1930s to the mid-1982, became evident—a status that is deeply entrenched in popular Palestinian memory. Furthermore, the research included the names of many women overlooked by written history, despite their presence in the memory of many of their contemporaries.

Narrating women’s experiences leads to an interaction with and a challenge of the dominant discourses on female vulnerability, stereotyping, and subordination, and contributes to the production of an alternative discourse, which makes women visible and gives them a voice.

Faddet Zaman (Silver from the past in Arabic) (www.faddetzaman.com) is one of Al Rowat for Studies and Research’s projects. (www.alrowat.com).
Al Rowat (Narrators) is a research institution that documents Palestinian
Social history by collecting oral testimonies of cultural value, and focuses on recording Palestinian women’s experiences as part of its vision and belief in the importance of focusing on the stories of marginalized groups whose testimonies were excluded when Palestinian history was documented. The Institution currently operates in Palestine, Jordan, Egypt, Lebanon and Chile through four projects: 1948 Displacement Project, Pioneer Women’s Biographies Project, Gaza Suffering - Aggression of 2014 Project and Faddet Zaman.

Faddet Zaman Project aims to revive the Palestinian silver heritage and keep the Palestinian memory alive.

Traditional silver pieces, which were worn, by Palestinian women and girls since the early 1900's were collected and copies were reproduced. The traditional designs also inspired other ones and new creative pieces were made connecting the past with the present.