The First Palestine Arab Women's Congress, also First Arab Women's Congress, or the Palestinian Arab Women's Congress was a women's rights conference held in Jerusalem on 26 October 1929. It was organised by the Arab Women's Association of Palestine and was their inaugural event. Intended to act as a political catalyst for women in Palestine, it marked a turning point in their political determination. It was attended by 200 women. The congress established that Palestinian women had a range of concerns, but those of highest priority were their opposition to the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

, opposition to

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

immigration to Palestine and opposition to the violence of British police. The congress sent a delegation of participants to present their concerns during the conference to the High Commissioner of Jerusalem, travelling to his residence in vehicles. The congress was highly organised, with the press alerted to its convening and actions in advance. They emphasised peaceful demonstration and means of protest, such as

sit-ins A sit-in or sit-down is a form of direct action that involves one or more people occupying an area for a protest, often to promote political, social, or economic change. The protestors gather conspicuously in a space or building, refusing to ...

and using

telegrams Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

to share their demands, rather than violence.{{Cite journal , last=Kuttab , first=Eileen S. , date=1993 , title=Palestinian Women in the "Intifada": Fighting on Two Fronts , url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/41858974 , journal=Arab Studies Quarterly , volume=15 , issue=2 , pages=69–85 , jstor=41858974 , issn=0271-3519

References

1929 conferences Events in Jerusalem Women's conferences 1929 in women's history Palestinian women 1920s in Jerusalem British Mandate period in Jerusalem