Despite much progress in recent years, gender disparities in Palestine remain very present in different contexts, particularly in those tied to political participation and access to decision-making positions, resulting in structural discrimination against women in terms of equal political opportunities. The association MIFTAH (the Palestinian Initiative for the Promotion of Global Dialogue and Democracy) coordinated in 2017 the local clusters of actors for gender equality (cycle 2), a project set up by the Euro-Mediterranean Women’s Foundation, in partnership with the IEMed (European Institute of the Mediterranean). In this framework, MIFTAH carried out a study on women’s participation in the Palestinian political system, shedding light on the structural difficulties of a system which, due to the open conflicts experienced first and foremost at the political-governmental levels, shows the challenges and opportunities within the path that women’s democratic participation should follow to take its place as a constituent element of this political system.

Taking the work of MIFTAH as a cue, this article questions the structural dimension of the obstacles to women’s access to the Palestinian political system, focusing on the centrality of the constitutional question and legislation, and also reflects on complementary efforts to promote a gender perspective and genuine women’s political participation in Palestine.