Changes in legislation obtained - abandoned children can now be adopted by anyone, not only Moslems. The work week for women has been reduced from 48 to 42 hours. Women are now able to obtain passports without the consent of their husbands, fathers or brothers . Women who marry can retain their maiden names. Maternity leave has been extended from 4 to 12 weeks.
Women now have equal access to credit.
In order to bridge the generation gap, the young women work together with older women in the villages. We discussed the accusation, often reported in our press, that Palestinian women are sending their children to die in the Intifada. We were told that two conferences have been held in Ramallah and Gaza in which the women themselves participated. We were taken to visit Jalazoun, near Ramallah by Elham, the WATC Coordinator for Lobbying and Advocacy Programmes. To reach the camp we had to leave the main road which was blocked by the army to be used only by Israelis.