The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

Juggling between the fantasy
of peace and the reality of oppression
One of the Palestinian colleagues involved deeply in the dialogue groups
observed, “Israelis make the journey to meet Palestinians so they can
sleep better at night, while the Palestinians making the journey to meet
Israelis to make sure they do not sleep well at nights”.
In this context, one must pay attention to the text of the mutually signed
agreement, by the official negotiating parties of September 1995, under
the chapter “Protocol of Israeli-Palestinian Cooperation Programmes”.
One article stipulates “... efforts leading to full reconciliation based on
the agreed political process, and smooth implementation of a permanent
settlement based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 338.”
On the face of it, the text is extremely positive. It acknowledges international
resolutions as a basis for a political arrangement. However, reading
it in the context of the realpolitik, the success of these “people-to-people”
endeavours was doomed.
“Party poopers”, or telling the truth about joint peace work
In the midst of the peace process and the growing popularity of joint programmes
and meetings of the two civil societies under the auspices of
the people-to-people project, the political committee of Bat Shalom, which
I was part of as the programme director, decided to invite the famous Israeli
journalist and reporter Amira Hass, who moved to Gaza to live. Around
80 people gathered in the “political club” of Bat Shalom. All of them affiliated
with the peace camp, and supporters of the political process. We
asked Amira, who has gained a reputation as a courageous and sharp observer
of the peace process, to share with our audience how things look
from the other perspective, from that of the people of Gaza. She drew a
gloomy picture. Gradually the audience turned uneasy, even angry – and
for good reason, from their own point of view. Many were political activ -
ists, and had participated in protest movements against the Israeli occupation.
A very dear friend, a political activist since the late 1970s, called
the next day. He was distressed, and accused me of a lack of historical
perspective, and not giving peace a chance. And he was not alone.
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