Maha Abu Shusheh
Posted on | November 13, 2008 | No Comments
General Manager of Abu Shusheh Trading Company
We are a nation that deserves to live, and to live in peace. What is happening to us now leaves us hopeless, and no one can live without hope. We have been neglected for a long time, and we are not going to be the only nation that will pay the price. The whole neighborhood of nations will pay because we have been left without hope.
Hope is tomorrow. Hope is my children. Hope is this country’s future. That’s what people live for.
Do you face problems in the male-dominated business world?
I don’t face problems because I am a woman, I face problems living under the occupation. The problems I face are the same as those facing any Palestinian importer or businessman or woman. There are hundreds of checkpoints in the West Bank alone, and total separation between Gaza and the West Bank. I lost half of my market because of the closure in Gaza.
We are contractors, and contracting means you have to be fast to deliver the goods and transact payments. We cannot be fast in either respect. We cannot deliver our goods to our Palestinian clients in other cities. We don’t have easy access to Nablus, Jenin, and Qalqelia, and no access to Gaza. And our work is very difficult regarding import procedures applied on Palestinians.
The other problems I face, as a businesswoman in Palestine, are shared by businesswomen in every corner of the world—how to balance work and family, and how to deal with the advantages men have, such as attending meetings late at night that I cannot go to due to my responsibilities to my family. When I attend businesswomen’s meetings outside of Palestine, I find we share the same problems whether we are Europeans, Africans, or Americans.
If you could go back ten years, would you choose to do import business in Palestine?
You can’t go back in time, you have to accept what you have now. What I have is that I am proud I am setting a role model for my children. My family is number one, I will never compromise regarding my family. The business is number two. I don’t feel the guilt some women feel. I have tried my best.
Can Palestinian women achieve what they desire?
It’s important to set high targets and work hard to achieve them. I see achievements by women in our society with women members on the Legislative Council, for example. As a board member of the Businesswomen’s Forum, I can see more and more women participating in business.
Change is gradual. Life is made up of small achievements. Hopefully we will see something big at the end.
Abu Shusheh, named by Forbes Arabia as one of the top fifty Arab businesswomen, began her career as co-manager of the family business in road construction contracting. She then established the sole agency of Peugeot automobiles in Palestine. Abu Shusheh is active in many cultural organizations and is chair of the Palestinian Shippers Council and board president of RIWAQ, a nonprofit promoting architectural conservation.
