Fatimah Breijieh. (WAFA photo)

By Ihab Rimawi

RAMALLAH, May 24, 2017 (WAFA) – Fatimah Breijieh, 64, a mother whose one of her sons was believed assassinated by the Israeli Mossad in 1999 in Bonn, Germany, was named as mayor of her village council following the recent local elections.

Breijieh, a known activist in her village, al-Masara, southwest of Bethlehem with a population of 1200 people, ran for elections in an uncontested list, which automatically won all nine council seats in her village.

The council members later met and unanimously voted to name Breijieh as council head, making her the first Palestinian rural woman to head a local council, even though Palestinian women had previously served as mayors in cities such as Ramallah five years ago and most recently Bethlehem.

Breijieh attributes her popularity in al-Masara to working with young people and winning the respect of the different generations.

“Working all these years with different generations has won me respect of my village people,” she told WAFA.

She wanted to run for a council seat and even become mayor to prove that women are capable of performing as head of council even in a conservative and traditional rural environment.

Her program includes rehabilitating the village infrastructure, empowering women and building a recycling plant to create jobs for young people, whom she hopes will play a bigger role in society.

Breijieh was active in her society for more than 27 years. She led a women center and served for eight years as secretary general of a women cooperative in her village. She is also a businesswoman.

She suffered a great loss in 1999 when her son, Imad, who was a physicist, was allegedly poisoned by the Israeli Mossad in Bonn and died shortly after.

Another one of her sons is serving a 15-year prison sentence in Israel for resisting the occupation.

Breijieh won best women entrepreneur award from the European Union for her active role in community service, particularly her work with children.

In spite of her age, Breijieh participates every week in protests in her village against Israeli takeover of Palestinian land to build illegal settlements.

I.R./M.K.