The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

pation in the decision making level in the political parties and organization.
When the Palestinian Authority came to the West Bank and Gaza,
women organizations started to grasp some of the fruits of this struggle.
The women movement began to realize that the struggle for national
freedom has to be combined with the struggle for women’s rights and
equality. That struggle is still continuing, although it is more difficult now
with the growth of political Islam in Palestine. The civic resistance to
violence in Palestinian society is shown by the support of the majority
of the Palestinians for the efforts of the Palestinian Authority to ban the
use of weapons. There is continuous support for the political means of
struggle and growth in its usage, for example the non-violent resistance
movement in Jerusalem and in various villages, such as Ma’asara, Bi’lin,
Ni’lin, and Budrus. This is continuing in spite of the Israeli aggression
and Israeli efforts to scuttle any attempts at a political resolution, which
has led to the growth of extremist forces in the Palestinian society.
Peace strategies
As mentioned above the Palestinians have tried to find a peaceful solution
to the conflict by accepting the two-state solution and by accepting
to have 22% of the land only, although the UN had originally given them
45%. However, Israel’s offers to the Palestinians are much less: at
Camp David in 1999, they offered only 18%, and now they talk about
11%, considering the rapid building and expansion of colonial settlement
activities.
The role of the international community is very important in this conflict,
as it is mainly an international conflict. There are many resolutions concerning
the Palestinian issue in all the international organizations. Most
of these resolutions condemn the Israeli aggression and call for an end
to the conflict, which shows that the majority of the international community
supports the right of the Palestinian people to enjoy a free life in
their homeland. Although the American veto at the Security Council can
prevent the implementation of measures that lead to the establishment
of the Palestinian state, but it cannot change the fact that Israel has been
condemned by the international community. The continued failure of the
peace processes has deepened the frustration among the Palestinians.
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