NISAA FM may be the call letters of the only public radio station dedicated to Palestinian women, but the station's manager is happy to attract male listeners and also employ them. “Social change does not happen unless women and men work together,” believes Maysoun Odeh, whose station employs a staff of five women and three men. “We are a mature society. Both men and women deserve a chance to be free of the oppression we are facing today, so that we earn our deserved roles.”
NISAA began broadcasting in June 2010 and today an estimated 40 per cent of its listeners are men, though the station's most sizzling broadcasts are focused on women. Alaa Shatira, who hosts the radio show ‘Women's Break', devotes a section of her programme to issues that affect Palestinian women and has invited on-air experts on women's issues to help spread awareness of their rights. Another popular programme, ‘Coffee Mazboot', discusses Palestinian women's formal and informal work in Israeli settlements and across the Green Line, which marks the boundaries between Israel, the West Bank and Gaza.
In an occupied land where men exert overwhelming media control, the station offers a unique forum for such subjects as polygamy, domestic violence, family and work matters, says Palestinian journalist and film producer Saad Aruri. “Having a women's radio station in Palestine that touches on issues of concern to women across the Middle East is critical and very positive,” he says. “So I hope it will continue to develop.”
He added that NISAA FM plays an important role by advising women in the Arab world about their rights and providing an example of the Palestinian community that supports gender equality.
According to Odeh, among Palestinian women, the topic of polygamy is particularly popular. “It is beginning to surface here more than any other community,” she says. Palestinian women widely believe that the introduction of a second wife into the family home will destroy her life and that of her children. Many non-governmental organisations have picked up their cause and are calling for an end to polygamy. But the practice is so entrenched in Palestinian culture and tradition that most segments of society, with the exception of educated women, still consider polygamy completely “natural”.
While the station pays particular attention to Palestinian women, it also tries to reach the broader audience of Arab women, addressing topics such as so-called honour killings and domestic violence.
Odeh wants to go further though. She dreams of setting up an investigative unit and broadcasts that reach women and men across the Arab world. “I want NISAA FM to be heard in every city and town in Palestine and in other Arab countries.”
(By arrangement with Women's eNews / WFS)
courtesy: The Hindu
