The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

Butler’s philosophical approach forms a matrix on the basis of which
concrete analyses and options for action can be organized in new frame -
works, and an extended democratic practice for the development of
peace capability can be motivated.
THE WORKING APPROACH OF THE PROJECT
The selection for the first phase of the project, planned for three years,
was limited to the four cases mentioned above, in order to enable a relatively
intensive in-depth process. The working languages were English
and French, and to some extent German (none of the working languages
is the mother tongue of any of the experts). The team of experts consists
of:
Shukria Dini (Toronto/Somalia) assumed responsibility
for the presentation of Somalia
Yolande Mukagasana (Bastonge/Kigali) the same for Rwanda
Bosiljka Schedlich (Berlin/Croatia) worked on ex-Yugoslavia
Molly Malekar (Jerusalem) reported on peace work in Israel
Lama Hourani (Ramallah) worked on the history of resistance
in Palestine
Ghada Al-Jabda (Gaza) reported about initiatives in Gaza
Simone Susskind reported on the history of cooperation between
Israeli and Palestinian peace activists and on the International
Women’s Committee.
The first work step was to build the cooperation between the experts.
Based on the fundamental question of the susceptibility and significance
of the peace work achieved by women in areas of conflict and war, a
working context was initiated.
In order to facilitate cooperation between the experts, they provided information
about their personal experiences and their access to peace
work in biographical individual interviews.
These interviews were then circulated among the experts, and they were
able to get an impression of their cooperation partners, prior to getting to
know them personally.
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