As Israeli forces continue to attack military camps in Gaza, seventeen years after its withdrawal from the contested occupied territories, Palestinians are finding ways to not only survive but thrive.
One woman has opened up a restaurant just for women — offering a refuge for them in the male-dominated space of public dining and culinary practices in the Gaza Strip.
Founder of “Sabaia VIP”, Reham Hamouda, wanted to create a comfortable and safe space for Palestinian women to come together and enjoy a meal.
“The idea stemmed from our need to have something private, where we can enjoy our independence and our privacy, a place only for women,” Hamouda told Reuters.
Her all-female staff dish up light meals such as sandwiches and pizza, with some preparing the meals at home before bringing it to sell at the restaurant.
One of the eight female staff members is Amena Al-Hayek – a trained chef, who started out working without being paid at a hotel restaurant. When she eventually applied for a paid position there, she was turned down.
“The administration rejected (me),” she told Reuters. “They said they wanted a male chef, not a female.”
Hayek said she was not considered for a leadership role at the hotel restaurant because of entrenched sexism.
“It’s a masculine society, that does not allow women to lead a team of chefs in Gaza,” she said.
Now, as the head chef at Sabaia VIP, she can exercise her creativity and innovation.
“We proved to the world that we were able to open a restaurant and succeed without a man’s supervision,” she said.
Recent calculations made by the International Labor Organisation revealed that only 17.2 per cent of females over 15 have paid employment in Gaza and the West Bank.