Middle Eastern women, including Palestinians in Israel, are influenced by patriarchy in different spheres of life: the family, nation, religious community and the state. However, they do have informal power. Sa’ar (2006) argues that resourceful
117 Letter, 26 Nov 2005.
118 Pastor-B, Aug 2015. He mentioned the same idea in another email sent to ABC in Dec 7, 2005. 119 Pastor-C, Jul 2015.
Palestinian women in Israel, who are commonly referred to as qawiyyi (strong;she also offers the term ‘feminine strength’),120
are preoccupied with modernity, cultural morality, and collective identity; they are heroic, informal, individualistic and not radical. They are not feminists, but are strong in dealing with two feminine positions: the traditional and the modern-normative; while balancing between conflicting powers, they are ambitious to oppose cultural norms without losing cultural consensus. This is usually made possible when they have a supportive husband, father or family.
The Palestinian Baptist Church in Israel continues the legacy of many Baptist churches in the world, and the Middle Eastern Church in particular, in being patriarchal.121 Although in the Congregationalist system women have the right to vote, at most, women may have small roles at church – such as children, women or charity ministries.122 Lately, however, some evangelical churches have allowed women to have positions such as membership on church committees.123
I argue that women were a further factor (alongside theology, culture, church building and economic) in shaping the way church conflict played out. I found two scripts of femininity: wives of pastors represent one script and activist female members represent another. This can be seen in the following examples.
In relation to pastors’ wives, in case-A most interviewees felt that Pastor-A’s wife had a significant influence on decisions involving her husband. For example, the unofficial record says that she believed that Pastor-A should remain in his position and should not leave the pastorate of church-A. Interviewees said that while Pastor-A’s wife
120 There is literature that examines different viewpoints of the lives of Palestinian women in Israel, including the duality of subordination and empowerment (Ginat 1982; Kanaaneh 2002; Herzog 2004). 121
There are also Baptist churches and Protestant denominations in the West, such as Anglicans, Methodists, and Lutherans that now accept female ordination, although within these streams there are individual movements which continue to reject female ordination.
122 In the ABC, between 65% and 75% of church attendees are women. 75% of the people who are active at church are also women.
123 In the beginning of 2017 in Lebanon two Lebanese women were ordained as pastors in the Presbyterian Church.
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was away abroad Pastor-A and the deacons proposed making George his replacement, but when his wife returned from her trip Pastor-A seemed to change his mind, claiming that the Lord revealed to him he would remain the Pastor as long as he can serve God. Pastor-A’s wife felt that, the deacons tried to manipulate Pastor-A and brought George without consulting him. She believed that she received confirmation for her theory through visions and dreams, and she therefore held a level of power as someone who claimed a high spirituality. In Sa’ar’s terms we can refer to her ‘feminine strength’,
which was supported by her husband and son. In case-C, the wife of Pastor-C provided a different type of influence, as after the split she gathered a group of women, praying and fasting for the reconciliation that eventually took place a year later.
Activist, opinionated and professional females were identified in each of the three
cases. In case-A, three young educated women with presence and influence had stopped attending the church six monthsbefore their husbands (church leaders) decided to leave. Rima explained, ‘It became impossible to attend church-A because of the ongoing
conflict; on Sundays we leave the church sad and frustrated. I told my husband I would stop attending the church for now.’124
We can argue here that the women’s attitude influenced that of their husbands, as well as had a direct influence on the community. They had agency since they were also clearly communicating to other couples. Along with other factors, this attitude probably affected their husbands’ decision to leave.
Another example of ‘feminine strength’ was displayed when some women from the group that left church-A complained they would not have a Christmas service as they did not belong to any church. These women convinced their husbands to initiate a Christmas service. This service initiated the idea of founding a new church. One year later, church-A2 was founded. Similarly, in case-B, this type of female power was also identified during the conflict and after the split when leaders’ wives put pressure on
their husbands to initiate reconciliation with Pastor-B after their children left the church. In case-C, Shirin, a young influential leader, was involved in many church activities. Five years earlier she had also been a church attendee and observer during a church split and was therefore determined that church-C2 would not also experience a split, having seen the sorrow and pain the split caused both sides. Shirin was the unofficial mediator between church members and Pastor-C; when she herself struggled with Pastor-C’s attitude she sought guidance from the Canadian pastor who mentored many church members during the conflict. We can argue that Shirin’s attitude (along with other factors) influenced church members’ decision not to engage in church split. These were examples of ‘feminine strength’ (qawiyyi).
Another type of female power was identified in the cases, namely the ‘powerful’ woman. Sa’ar (2006) classifies this kind of strength as having obtained ‘masculine power’. The ‘powerful’ woman differs from the strong woman (qawiyyi), in that her energies are invested mostly in the public domain (career/social life) and she resists any attempts to either break her power or devalue her femininity (2006:404).
Nadia is a talented well educated woman with a very strong personality. She served inside and outside the church. Many interviewees said she was the pastor’s right hand woman, very helpful and protective of the pastor. A few interviewees claimed the problem was that Nadia started to see a gap between her spirituality and her pastor, she left church after a conflict with him. Immediately after Nadia left, some church leaders decided to stand beside her; intensive meetings took place to convince the pastor to bring her back. The pastor, who felt that they should support him, was not happy with these endeavours and he did not cooperate. A month later the split took place and a new church, church-B2, was established. The council of this church included Nadia.
A few years later, Nadia left the church and decided to begin her own new ministry. Nadia is the on-site leader of this ministry and, as preaching is forbidden for
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women in Evangelical Palestinian Churches, she preaches in conferences for women within the same ministry. This ministry is not well accepted among pastors as it is accused of not coordinating its work with them. Nonetheless, it attracts many members to its meetings.125 Nadia told me the Convention of the Evangelical churches in Israel boycotts her ministry, ‘They have a problem with a woman leading a ministry by herself, but they have no problem with women cleaning tables.’126
At the time of our interview, she continues to lead her successful ministry preaching to women. We can conclude that Nadia is a ‘powerful’ woman who confronted pastors publicly in a patriarchal community and continued to achieve her goal despite the obstacles.
In sum, women’s informal influence extended throughout the conflict and the
process in the cases, even though they did not hold formal leadership positions. There was a significant shift in women’s position, style, and influence in the passage between
the three cases; this is also closely tied to generation and education.