Last update - 00:00 12/12/2007
First Palestinian policewomen deployed to direct W. Bank traffic
By The Associated Press
Palestinian pedestrians gawked at the unusual sight of women directing chaotic Ramallah traffic on Wednesday, the first batch of women to venture into a job traditionally reserved for Palestinian men in the West Bank.
The women, dressed in uniforms of navy blue pants and light blue shirts, directed traffic and ordered people to use white-striped crosswalks in the center of town, an area crammed with honking cars and pedestrians. Many of the women also topped their uniforms with navy blue headscarves, a sign of Muslim modesty.
The women belonged to the first class of Palestinian policewomen who recently complete a European Union-sponsored training program, part of a broader EU makeover of the demoralized and ill-equipped Palestinian law enforcement agencies.
Their duties include traffic patrols, house searches and security checks on women at prisons and institutions like universities.
The effort is part of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' attempt to impose law and order across the chaotic West Bank and wrest control back from militants and petty criminals. Abbas has beefed up police forces in West Bank towns, confiscated stolen cars and cracked down on thugs demanding protection money from shop keepers.
Male police officers sneered at the women as they directed traffic and kept pedestrians from jaywalking on Wednesday, their first day in their new jobs.
Roles of authority for women are widely frowned upon in conservative Palestinian society, but several bystanders said they were impressed.
This is wonderful - watching Palestinian women enforcing law and order, said Fuad Murar, a 59-year-old man.
Ashjan Abu Srour, a 23-year-old policewoman, wore an Islamic headscarf as she coaxed an elderly couple to walk on the sidewalk, not on the road.
"I was a little afraid in the beginning, because our society imposes a certain lifestyle for women," Abu Srour said. "But now, after spending some time in the street, I am not afraid."
According to the most recent EU count, the overall number of females in the Palestinian civil police service was only 500, compared to more than 18,000 men in the service. These women were confined mostly to clerical and administrative duties.
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