‘Political leaders, Do your jobs!’

This past October, several thousand women marched from Rosh Hanikra, on the Lebanese border, to the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, in the name of peace. The group responsible for this two-week journey known as the March of Hope is the two-year-old grassroots organization Women Wage Peace. The march brought together not only Israeli-Jewish women, but also Israeli-Arab, Palestinian, Druse, Beduin, Muslim and Christian women and men to raise awareness to their cause. The group was formed in the summer of 2014 following Operation Protective Edge, when mostly mothers of soldiers who were going off to fight came together to form a group that tries to bring the political leaders back to the table to forge an agreement that will ensure lasting peace for Israelis and Palestinians. Galit Moss, from the town of Kadima, near Netanya, is one of the founding members of the group. She has a son and a daughter serving in the IDF. She joined this group because, as she puts it, “I need answers for my kids. I want to be held accountable for myself and my kids, and this is my country and I want to live in my country as peacefully as possible, and I think it is reachable.” The group draws inspiration from Liberia and Northern Ireland, which were two recent examples of women taking initiative by putting direct pressure on their governments to achieve peace. Part of Moss's role in the group (among other members) is to screen the 2008 documentary Pray the Devil Back to Hell for students and various groups throughout the country. The movie depicts how Christian and Muslim women in Liberia came together nonviolently to bring peace to the country's citizens. She says that in this generation, teens nearing the age of conscription “are quite alert about being in a constant state of war, and what is missing is the belief and the knowledge that they can do something about it.” Following the October march until the end of December, members spent Monday afternoons in front of the Knesset with placards with mug shots of Knesset members and a variety of signs with slogans such as “Left, Right and Center all want a political agreement,” in an attempt to raise awareness of their cause. Dozens of members were bused in from around the country, and the crowd tended to be largely women over 40 wearing pants with uncovered hair. At first glance, it is very easy to pin them down as a secular Israeli leftist group. However, members insist that the group has no political affiliation and their only goal is peace. Members refuse to answer burning questions regarding their political or religious affiliations or even their stances on settlements, Palestinians and other hot-button issues. “This is not a partisan political activist movement. It is about using women's energy that can change things. It's not about a two- or one-state solution, it just requires that the people in power bring peace to the table. We want to put an end to the conflict and pressure people to sit down and do their jobs,” explains Jerusalem newcomer Bettina Balanga. Hamutal Gouri, a longtime activist and self-proclaimed feminist, and her young daughter Na'ama are from Jerusalem and are both active in the group. Hamutal believes that “Women Wage Peace is really something special because we are doing something new and different, and it is not always easy, but the commitment of all of us to be inclusive, to be practicing politics of inclusion and to have women from left, right and center, religious and nonobservant, Jewish and Palestinian, and to create a new language and discourse about peace and security sets this group apart from the rest.” Notwithstanding members' insistence that their movement is nonpartisan, according to NGO Monitor “Women Wage Peace is a member of Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP). In contrast to ALLMEP's stated goals of working toward 'peace' and 'coexistence,' its members include a number of highly biased and politicized NGOs that promote agendas based solely on the Palestinian narrative of victimization and completely omit Israeli perspectives.” Questioned about Women Wage Peace's membership in ALLMEP, Moss says: “Both narratives exist and we accept both of them. It doesn't really matter what narrative you hold. If you want to solve the conflict in a peaceful manner and [reach a] solution, it doesn't matter what narrative you hold. It's the solution, it's what connects us, not what divides us.” One of the group's weekly demonstrations was joined by Zionist Union MK Zouheir Bahloul, who addressed the crowd. He said, “I believe in the power of the women, because we, the men, have failed at this task now, and maybe those women can achieve it.” His appearance was well received with many cheers and handshakes following his speech. And it's not just women, as the group's name suggests. Menahem Lev from Tel Aviv, who attended the weekly demonstrations, asserts: “Our objective is to get our leaders to hammer out an agreement. It is not our job. They know how to do it. They should do it to stop the killing.” Media coordinator and founding member Vardit Kaplan is a mother of three boys serving in the IDF. She lives in Tel Aviv and works in the field of tourism. Kaplan drives home the point that a peace agreement is the most important goal for the group and for all of us, as this will ensure safety in the region. When asked about what they are willing to give up for peace, she explains: “We have already given up too much. We pay a huge price. I don't think we will pay more, we will pay less.” With other peace groups around the country attempting the same thing, Women Wage Peace believes it has a strong advantage over other groups because of its sheer numbers. To date, it boasts over 10,000 active members, and its Facebook group has over 30,000 members. With concerns over land to be relinquished in the agreement that the group is so focused on, Kaplan asserts: “Land is nothing; land comes and goes. Life is everything. As a daughter of Holocaust survivors, I was taught that life is the most important thing.” Kaplan believes that we do have a partner when it comes to an agreement, as she has met with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas and says he supports the group. “He really thinks that women can be part of a solution; he really thinks so; we met him.” To those who are more invested in land on both sides, she would say: “When you find a solution, both sides have to give something up, but the majority understands that you have to give up, compromise from both sides. Okay, I have a lot of dreams, but at the end of the day it's better to live in peace and quiet. And it's okay, most of the settlements will stay where they are. We just have to be brave, and it's just a few people who don't want this.” Following the UN decision regarding the legality of the settlements in the West Bank and the conviction of Elor Azaria, Kaplan admits that these are not easy times. “We are not naive,” she says. She says the group is in the process of rebuilding and re-strategizing, and it plans to be up and running at the end of this month working more closely with political leaders in the form of a lobby group. However, members of the group remain hopeful. Kaplan confidently explains that achieving peace in our lifetime is most definitely possible. “We just have to change our mind-set and to understand that it is in our hands and in our interest, because we are stuck in a corner and we need to get out of it and think differently and believe it is possible. It is a dream that will come true.”

‘Political leaders, Do your jobs!’

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‘Political leaders, Do your jobs!’

The NGO Women Wage Peace works to put a political resolution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the top of the public agenda.

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