The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

in a very intimate, yet sad, manner. Had it been a scene in a movie, I
would have dismissed it as a “tacky” one.
The years 2002 and 2003 were marked by continuous terrorist attacks,
targeted assassinations and clashes between the Israeli army and the
armed Palestinian militias. While the arms of both sides spoke, the
peace activists lost contact with one another – except that the Israeli
and Palestinian women decided to continue our dialogue. We issued
“exchanges of letters” and statements in the Israeli and Palestinian
press. We hoped to reach others through the media. At this point, many
Israeli women who had been engaged in peace work during the Oslo
period cut off contact with us. Only the committed hard-core group remained,
holding tight to the margins, acknowledging the responsibility
to hold on to the margins, in times of total chaos.
Constructing the Separation Wall
The election campaign of 2003 mainly centred on the issue of the separation
wall, proposed by the Labour Party. Ironically, it was the Likud
Party who opposed it, as it would create a de-facto border, which they
feared and which would leave most of the settlements on the other side
of the wall. The Likud Party won the elections, sending the weakened
Labour and Meretz parties into opposition, totally defeated.
Sharon eventually adopted the wall concept, but redrew the line. The
new line would include major settlements, while creating Palestinian enclaves.
Israeli people needed protection from terrorist attacks; the wall
provided it. They paid little attention, if any, to the fact that this wall was
used for political aims, grabbing more of the Palestinian lands for Israel.
Palestinians and Israelis came back to work jointly around the issue of
the wall: Joint vigils and demonstrations were organized. Yet the mode
of cooperation was different. The Palestinians, involved in protest work
came mainly from the areas and villages next to the course of the wall.
They were local farmers, unlike the elite of Ramallah, with whom the
Israelis had met during the Oslo period. Now, joint work involved popular
direct action between Israeli hard-core activists and the Palestinian rural
communities.
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