Why Gaza should have more female taxi drivers

A Palestinian mother of five has broken all norms and traditions in the Gaza Strip by becoming the first female taxi driver in the besieged enclave.
The first female Palestinian taxi driver in the Gaza Strip, Nayla Abu Jubbah, 39, drives a client, in Gaza City on November 17, 2020. - Jubbah launched a small revolution this week by becoming the first female taxi driver in the deeply conservative Gaza Strip. In the coastal Palestinian territory women have the same legal rights as men to drive a vehicle, but in practice the trade of taxi driver has been exclusively male -- until now (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS / AFP) (Photo by MAHMUD HAMS/AFP via Getty Images)
The first female Palestinian taxi driver in the Gaza Strip, Naela Abu Jubba, drives a client in Gaza City, Gaza Strip, Nov. 17, 2020. - Mahmud Hams/AFP via Getty Images
entsarabujahal.jpg
Entsar Abu Jahal
@entsarabujahal

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — Naela Abu Jubba, 39, has decided to take a profession that has long been restricted to men in the Gaza Strip. She has become the first female taxi driver in Gaza.

Jubba aspires to open her own private taxi services office for female customers only. In a male-dominated society that rarely accepts women in many professions, she gets her share of criticism.

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