WEST BANK: WOMAN MAKES MARK AS TRUCK DRIVER IN MALE-DOMINATED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES

Record ID: 564761

  • Title: WEST BANK: WOMAN MAKES MARK AS TRUCK DRIVER IN MALE-DOMINATED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES
  • Date: 23rd August 2004
  • Summary: (L!1) HEBRON, WEST BANK (AUGUST 23, 2004) (REUTERS) KAWKAB DARAWISH DRIVING TRUCK VARIOUS OF DARAWISH DRIVING TRUCK CLOSE OF DARAWISH'S FACE CLOSE OF DARAWISH'S FEET VIEW OF ROAD FROM TRUCK (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) KAWKAB DARAWISH SAYING: "At the beginning it is difficult (to drive a truck) but later, like with other professions, after some practice, it becomes easy, easier than driving a small car." VARIOUS OF DARAWISH DRIVING TRUCK DARAWISH SPEAKING WITH WORKER AT QUARRY VARIOUS OF TRUCK LOADING GRAVEL ONTO DARAWISH'S TRUCK DARAWISH IN HER HOUSE, WATERING FLOWERS IN GARDEN VARIOUS OF DARAWISH SITTING IN HOUSE WITH HUSBAND AND BABY (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) ABU NADIM DARAWISH, HUSBAND, SAYING: "At the beginning, when people saw a woman driving a truck, everyone talked. They would say 'why is she driving a truck, why and why and why' but if you are going to listen to what people are saying, you will never get anything done. If you are convinced with what you are doing, then there is nothing wrong with doing it." CLOSE OF DARAWISH'S SON (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) KAWKAB DARAWISH, SAYING: "The owners of the quarry respect me. At the beginning, I didn't have to stand in the queue. I would just get the material. That way, they encouraged me more, showing that they respect my profession. Thank God, I have now become even more ambitious. Now, I have the wish to drive a bus." DARAWISH PULLING UP AT PETROL STATION IN TRUCK CLOSE OF METER CLOSE OF DARAWISH'S FACE DARAWISH GIVING MAN MONEY DARAWISH DRIVING AWAY WITH TRUCK
  • Embargoed: 7th September 2004 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: HEBRON, WEST BANK
  • City:
  • Country: Palestinian Territories
  • Topics: Business,Industry
  • Reuters ID: LVA6QQ2T8NORSPR5F10DMP1MLBTV
  • Story Text: A first in conservative, male dominated Palestinian Territories: a woman truck driver.
    It is still an unusual sight in much of the industrialised world. In the conservative, male-dominated society of the Palestinian Territories it's a truly exceptional one: a woman truck driver.
    But that is what Kawkab Darawish has been doing -- raising eyebrows and causing a stir as she hauls dozens of tonnes of gravel and sand in her 20-tonne truck around the southern West Bank town of Hebron -- a devoutly Moslem city where women normally do not work at all -- and least of all in a "man's" job.
    For years, Darawish has been fascinated by trucks and has always wanted to drive one. When she told her husband at their wedding that she wanted to be a truck driver, he probably brushed it off as a joke. But 15 years later, she has achieved her ambition after working her way through taxi, driving instructor and truck instructor licenses.
    In a part of the West Bank where working women are a very rare sight, Darawish's husband's attitude is fairly unique.
    Abu Nadim Darawish says he supported her through her training and encouraged her in the face of criticism and frequent surprise. And the extra income is useful since there is nothing in Moslem religious laws forbidding women from working, he adds. There are some perks associated with the status of being the only woman truck driver in the Palestinian Territories, Darawish says.
    Because she is a woman, she goes straight to the front of the queue and doesn't have to wait in line for her truck to be loaded with gravel at the quarry.
    Many in the Arab world would frown upon Darawish's job.
    But she points out that women in neighbouring Israel work in all kinds of heavy work.
    Darawish's ambitions won't stop with trucking.
    Eventually, she wants to become a bus driver. And she's already working on that license.
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