The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

The Israeli army showed zero tolerance towards these joint actions,
which undermined the fundamental goal of the separation of the two
people. Israelis and Palestinians have experienced harsh violence from
the Israeli border police units.
In March 2004, an Israeli activist was shot by an Israeli soldier, next to
the separation wall, while demonstrating.
April 2004, a group of Israeli women travelled to a village north of Jerusalem
called Bidu. We planned to march peacefully and jointly to the
spot near a beautiful olive orchid, where tractors were working to build
the wall. We marched singing and holding signs; it felt almost like going
on a picnic. The police unit was less amused. They started arresting Pal -
estinian women. Israeli women decided to negotiate. We knew that we
had to provide protection to the Palestinians. We thought that being Israelis
would provide us immunity from violence. We were wrong. The police
did not distinguish; without warning, we were blanketed by tear gas.
Three mounted policemen attacked the demonstrators with heavy sticks.
A policewoman hit me several times; I was dragged by a local medical
team to the village clinic. My head and my shoulder were broken.
The Israeli government was determined not to have its plan disrupted
by those who insist upon meeting each other. The symbolic threat of
joint peace voices was a major threat to them.
The year 2004 was relatively quiet, in terms of terrorist attacks. This
quiet was attributed to the separation wall and the targeted killing of Pal -
estinian militia leaders. However, Hamas succeeded in carrying out double
suicide actions in Beer Sheva, in the southern part of Israel. The
terrorist entered Israel via the Hebron area, where no wall had been
built. The attack accelerated the building of wall, providing clear evidence
that the wall could stop terrorism.
With the death of President Arafat, and the succession of Mahmoud
Abbas in January 2005, it was hoped that this more civilian oriented president
would bring a change in the political climate. Everyone spoke of
a “window of opportunity”. But as usual, reality was different. The Israeli
mantra of “no partner” still prevailed. If Arafat was no partner, but a ter-
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