The 30th of March is a remarkable day for the Palestinian; the Palestinian people commemorated ‘Land Day’ -the day in 1976 when several Israeli soldiers killed 6 Palestinians who were defending a piece of their land). In 2018, thousands of the people of Gaza walked out to the eastern borders and peacefully expressed their desire to have the lands that they had been forced to leave in 1948 returned to them. Currently, the Great March of Return tends to be a calendar day where the people of Gaza put up tents and protest. Unfortunately, the events progressively transferred to violent acts towards the people. A total of 180 of Palestinians were killed by the Israeli forces, and over 23,000 were critically injured and became permanently disabled. – (OCHHA, Dec 2018)

This fact has an enormous impact on the women and girls in Gaza: it has increased the gender-based violence, as UNFP reported.  Many men have lost their ability to practice their daily roles, and therefore have begun to apply their hegemonic masculinity by through violence and verbal and physical abuse toward their children, particularly the girls.

According to the UNFPA report 2018, mothers and girls are affected most strongly by the consequences of the Great March of Return. Firstly, the mothers of children -who were injured- were blamed for letting their children participate in protesting. In other words, this argument assumes the raising children roles is for women only. Secondly, the women who lost the breadwinner as a result of injuries are now under tremendous pressure to seek methods to feed their families. Furthermore, these women tend to live in rural areas close to the hot conflict zones, were married very young, and live with their extended families, therefore it will be hard for them to find a source of living. Thirdly, widowed women will be under community censorship and struggling with massive problems, starting with inheritance issues with the family of the dead husband and custody of children. Besides these, they must start searching for an economic resource for living. Lastly, the young females, who lost their fathers, or whose fathers were injured, now face the added burden of perhaps being married at an even younger age than is customary.

UNRWA reported in 2012, by 2020 that Gaza will be an unlivable place due to a water and electricity shortage, as well high population increases. Furthermore, the region suffers from a massive increase in the percentage of unemployment, which reached (53.7%) in 2018, according to Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics PCBS. In consequence, the women will have very little access to the labour market and few opportunities to enhance their livelihood conditions. Girls will accordingly be deprived of access to educational resources and facilities.

The efforts of protection clusters under the United Nation umbrella shall unite to provide the services for both women and gin Gaza. A woman who lost her husband due the Great March of Return said while she was crying, “We were barely able to meet the life conditions for our son, I am fully depressed of the situation, I lost my bread winner, I have been never participated in any market activity. Now I must compete with hundreds of young people- who hold high education certificates from abroad universities- while I hold a diploma certificate match with zero experience” widowed woman, under 30.

A woman whose husband was injured in the Great March of Return said her husband “participated in protecting because he was depressed and had nothing to lose. He had never thought about me or the child I am bearing in my womb, he was disappointed to be applying to jobs in vain. However, he believed protecting in peace is a method to be tried in order to get our rights returned. After his injury he refuses to speak to anyone, even me. When I serve food for him, he looks away. I am literally hopeless and don’t know what I shall do to earn money and get psychological treatment”. A wife, under 25.

Currently, the Organizers of the Great March of Return still call people to go and protest. However, the consequences of that could be death. This raises the question, do these organizers take into account the consequences of death? Do they value the result of protesting? Do they think about widows, mothers, daughters, children, and severe pain? Yes, we can pay for our land with our souls—but is this really the way to get our land returned?