Adversaries: Naila Ayesh

Naila Ayesh (1960-present) is a grassroots organizer who demonstrated for Palestinian liberation during the First Intifada in the late 1980s. She endured detention and torture to protest Israeli occupation in Gaza and the West Bank win freedom, and she continued to fight for freedom and opportunities for Palestinian women. 

For Further Reading:

• Naila and the Uprising (2017)
• A life in resistance: Naila Ayesh and the women of the First Palestinian Intifada  
• How the Oslo Accords Betrayed the Palestinian Women Behind the First Intifada
• 'My story is one of many': The Palestinian women behind the First Intifada | Middle East Eye   

This month we’re talking about adversaries. These women fought against systems, governments and – sometimes each other to break barriers in their respective fields. They did unthinkable and sometimes unspeakable things to carve out their place in history.

History classes can get a bad rap, and sometimes for good reason. When we were students, we couldn’t help wondering... where were all the ladies at? Why were so many incredible stories missing from the typical curriculum? Enter, Womanica. On this Wonder Media Network podcast we explore the lives of inspiring women in history you may not know about, but definitely should.

Every weekday, listeners explore the trials, tragedies, and triumphs of groundbreaking women throughout history who have dramatically shaped the world around us. In each 5 minute episode, we’ll dive into the story behind one woman listeners may or may not know–but definitely should. These diverse women from across space and time are grouped into easily accessible and engaging monthly themes like Educators, Villains, Indigenous Storytellers, Activists, and many more. Womanica is hosted by WMN co-founder and award-winning journalist Jenny Kaplan. The bite-sized episodes pack painstakingly researched content into fun, entertaining, and addictive daily adventures.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Before we get started, a quick warning that today's episode
contains mentions of violence and miscarriage.

Speaker 2 (00:06):
This month, we're talking about adversaries, women who fought for
their place in history. Whether they fought to get to
the top of their sport against how society perceived them,
or fought with each other to be champions. We're talking
about women who broke barriers and sometimes did seemingly impossible
or unspeakable things to carve out their place in history.
This episode of Womanica is brought to you by the

(00:28):
all New Toyota Camry.

Speaker 1 (00:31):
Today we're talking about a woman who risked her life
and family to fight for Palestinian and women's rights. She
led a historic group of women in protest and boldly
stood up against the government she resisted. Please meet Nila
Aesh Nyla was born in Jerusalem in nineteen sixty She
grew up in the outskirts of the city in the

(00:52):
Palestinian village of Lifta. In nineteen sixty nine, Israeli military
forces destroyed her family's home during fighting over Kan control
of the West Bank in Gaza. Nila was eight years old.
She grew up during a time of violent conflict between
Israel and neighboring Arab nations. Military searches and patrols were
part of the fabric of daily life. She later said,

(01:17):
this is normal for children to grow up hearing bombing,
tear gas checkpoints. It is unlike any country in the world.
As a young woman, Nyla attended the Academy of Science
in Bulgaria on scholarship. There she met her husband, Jamal,
who was also Palestinian. They moved to Gaza after finishing
school and got married in nineteen eighty six. During this period,

(01:41):
Nyla became increasingly politically active and joined the Democratic Front
for the Liberation of Palestine. This was a risky choice.
The Israeli government criminalized political organizing among Palestinians that brought
into hatred or contempt or excited disaffection against Israeli authorities.
The people behind that organizing, like Nyla and Jamal, were

(02:04):
closely monitored. Nila was pregnant when she was arrested for
the first time in nineteen eighty six. Israeli forces detained
her for forty five days, and Nyla suffered through interrogation
and torture. During that time. Her family didn't know where
she was being held. When Nyla began to bleed heavily,

(02:24):
she repeatedly asked for medical treatment that she did not receive.
After she was released without being charged with a crime,
Nyla learned she'd had a miscarriage. In nineteen eighty seven,
the First Intefada began, a Palestinian protest movement against Israeli
occupation in Gaza in the West Bank. The first into

(02:45):
Fada began as a largely nonviolent movement. Jamal was deported
from Gaza for his political activities. Nila was pregnant again,
days away from giving birth to their son. Her husband
lived in exile in Cairo. In his absence, Nyla began
working with other Palestinian women to build a network of protests.

(03:06):
It protested out in the open and consistently demonstrating resistance
through every day tasks. They organized boycotts against Israeli goods
and learned to grow their own produce. When the government
shut down schools, Palestinian women established their own. They created
health clinics and organized strikes and marches. Nila and her

(03:27):
fellow organizers traveled through villages across the region to garner
support for both the Palestinian cause and women's rights. They
hid leaflets and loaves of bread they distributed to families.
When Palestinian men were involved in violent conflict were deported,
women like Nila kept the movement alive. Nyla was arrested

(03:49):
again for her involvement in the First Intafada. Because her
son was still a baby, he was permitted to live
in prison with Nyla for six months they were behind bars.
She later recalled the first tooth was in the prison,
The first step was in prison. In nineteen ninety one,
Nila was also exiled to Egypt, where she and her
son were reunited with Jamal. That same year, Israelis and

(04:11):
Palestinians began peace talks in Madrid on the international stage.
These efforts did not result in a treaty. A separate
peace convention was held in Oslo, which excluded the Palestinian
women who'd been instrumental to the grassroots organizing that had
forced negotiations in the first place. At the Oslo Accords

(04:32):
of nineteen ninety three, Israel recognized the Palestinian Liberation Organization
as representative of the Palestinian people, and the PLO renounced
terrorism and acknowledged Israel's right to exist. The parties agreed
on the creation of a Palestinian Authority that would take
over governing the West Bank and Gaza over five years.
Additional talks would then take place to address the future

(04:53):
of borders refugees in Jerusalem. Sadly, the Oslo Accords were
by no means the end of violence conflict in the region.
Nila and her family returned to the Palestinian territories and
she became director of the Women's Affairs Center, a nonprofit
advocating for gender equality. She continued to raise awareness about

(05:13):
how women's daily lives were burdened by a lack of
peace and stability in Palestine, resulting in things like electricity
outages and water shortages. As Nyla said, it is women
who wake up in the middle of the night to
wash things when the electricity comes back. In twenty seventeen,
Nila was featured in the documentary Nyla in the Uprising

(05:34):
that chronicled her involvement in the First Intofada. Today, she
remains politically active, as she said, we can't be free
as women unless we're in a free country. And even
if we're free of the occupation. We can't know freedom
as long as we're subjugated in our own society. All month,

(05:59):
were talking about adversaries. For more information, find us on
Facebook and Instagram at Womanica Podcast special thanks to Liz Kaplan,
my favorite sister and co creator. Talk to you tomorrow