Israeli and Arab feminists scared the platform at the five-day international Tribunal on Crimes Against Women. the first gathering of its kind, which closed here yesterday. The tribunal. attended by about 1000 women from 28 countries, adopted among its res- olutions, one introduced by Marcia Freedman, a member of the Independent Socialist faction in the Israeli Knesset, which called on Israeli and Arab women to recognize jointly that “our oppression is by men and not by opposing nationalities.”
Ms. Freedman said her motion was backed by the few Arab women attending the conference. One of them, who refused to give her name, took the platform yesterday to speak “of the oppressive and barbaric treatment suffered by Arab women.” The speaker said she had been asked by the organizers of the Tribunal to represent Egyptian and Saudi Arabian women who had been prevented by the authorities in those countries from coming to Brussels for the conference.
She said that from the day they were born, Arab girls were regarded as inferior to men. “The birth of a female child is not welcomed in Arabic custom.” she said. She noted that Arab women could not choose their husbands and had no rights to divorce, property or basic medical care. Ms. Freedman attacked what she termed male domination in Israel.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
