Palestinian women left job on settlement to work as DJs

 

Nisaa FM: - Tired of working in Israeli settlements, a group of women in the village of Zubeidat on the West Bank have generated their own income by becoming female DJs.

 

When the only alternative is working on settlements

Ibtesam Zubeidat dedicated almost 25 years of her life working on settlements. She was responsible for harvesting, cleaning and packing fruits and vegetables on the farms. She witnessed violence and experienced work days of up to 15 hours under the scorching sun and on one meal a day.

“We used to start work at 5am. We were not allowed to leave until all of the work for that day was finished,” Ibtesam says. “You couldn’t object to anything or the [Israeli] boss would fire you, and you would never be employed again.” 

The settlements are built on land which before 1967 was used for agriculture by villagers in Zubeidat. Israel’s control of water resources prevented the few Palestinian villages that can prove ownership of their land from productively cultivating it. Palestinian villages are forced to purchase water from Israel’s water company while Israeli settlers have no limitations.

So limited job opportunities and water inequality have forced the villagers to work on the farms as cheap labourers. Palestinian workers earn around 10 shekels (around $3) hours with no social benefits, while the Israeli minimum wage is almost triple this.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) has reported that Palestinian children as young as 11 years old can be found working in the settlements all though Israeli law prohibits children under the age of 15 from employment.

 “The settlements here have ruined opportunities for our children,” Ibtesam says, adding that children in Zubeidat and surrounding villages often drop out of school at young ages. “Now we have each generation becoming more uneducated, and at the same time they are becoming more dependent on the settlements.”

 

Challenging social norms and becoming role models

One day some three years ago Ibtesam Zubeidat saw an opening for a change. She thought; at gender separate weddings the hired DJs hired were always male, catering to only the groom’s section. Meanwhile the women’s section depended on speakers for music. This prevented women and even the bride from choosing their own songs or interacting with the DJ during parties.

Women and Media Development (TAM), a local NGO that works to support women-led businesses in the West Bank, arrived and in 2014 a group of local women received training and assistance to develop skills in DJing, photography, filming, and other crafts.

However, the daring new project was met with rejection by family members and the larger community. “Our community is used to women working in the settlements. For years, this is all we’ve known. But a woman DJ was seen as something strange. It had no connection to our traditions,” Ibtesam explains. Many said that their work violated customs and traditions.

However, Ibtesam continued to fight for her dreams, and split her time between farming in the agricultural settlements and working as a DJ on the side. Once her family realised how determined she was and the positive benefits of refusing work on the settlements, they gradually began to support her. Their project soon became normal in the community, and most residents now eagerly support them.

Navine Zubeidat, the group’s 23-year-old camera woman, worked for some four years in the settlements. Since leaving her job there, she says she is now relaxed and free. “It feels nice to make your own money. And I smile every time someone calls me a camera woman.” Navine’s father still objects to her work and has attempted to stop her working with the other women, but she refuses to quit. “Now I’m not afraid of my father, and I fight with him each time he tries to stop me.”

“We have seen a complete change in our community,” DJ Wafa Zubeidat tells. “Now we have an income away from the settlements and other women want to be just like us.”

Since 2016, the women have been able to live independently, staying away from work on Israeli agricultural settlements.

 

Source: www.middleeasteye.net