Today, 8 March 2008, marks International Women's Day.
The occasion represents a call for people to pause and remember women's suffering from injustice and oppression throughout history.
This occasion is also a chance to renew the invitation to promote the gains made by women in various fields.
This day comes at a time when Palestinian women live in extremely harsh conditions.
From one hand, they are victims of gross human rights violations by the Israeli government.
Since the outbreak of Al Aqsa Intifada in September 2000, the IOF killed 180 women in the Gaza Strip alone.
The Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) also forced about 142,000 Palestinian women in the Gaza Strip to evacuate their homes, which were destroyed partially or fully.
During this period, the IOF bulldozed agricultural land that affected the livelihood of 22,182 women.
The latest military operation that targeted northern Gaza Strip between 27 February and 3 March 2008 killed six women and five girls.
Severe unemployment has left the majority of Gaza's women without a source of income, either because they or their husbands lost jobs.
The Israeli siege created unprecedented socioeconomic conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territories (OPT).
Women shoulder a heavier burden from these harsh conditions, as they are forced to adjust and manage their households in light of lack of income.
Women are forced to work despite the fact they might lack education or training; therefore, when it comes time for their paycheck, they are exploited.
In order to make a living, women must do work previously unacceptable for them.
On the other hand, women's suffering is compounded by widespread security chaos and absence of the rule of law in the Gaza Strip.
They endure the loss of their sons and husbands.
Forty-one women were victims of internal armed clashes in 2007 alone.
Furthermore, honor killings claimed the lives of fourteen women last year.
Al Mezan congratulates Palestinian women in their celebration of International Women's Day.
The Center expresses its solidarity and support for the struggle of Palestinian women to achieve their social, economic, and political rights in their communities, and to confront all forms of discrimination directed against them.
Al Mezan calls for greater equity in the laws for women and for the law to be applied positively, especially with the regard to their political representation.
It also demands the deposed government in the Gaza Strip and the Palestinian National Authority (PNA) in the West Bank to end their policy of indifference towards crimes committed against women and their continuing failure to investigate such crimes.
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