The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

The lack of trust in the international community is also growing. An
example is the reaction of the international community to the Palestinian
election of 2006. Hamas won the elections, with 41% of the vote. This
was mainly due to the collapse of the peace process and the failure of
Israel and the international community to deliver freedom and dignity to
the Palestinians. In Israel, the same thing happened, but for different
reasons, as the elections also brought to the fore the most extreme representatives
in an aggressive government that seeks to spoil any efforts
for peace.
Reconciliation work
In addition to the peace processes, there have been efforts made for
reconciliation between the two peoples, most of which are carried out
by civil society organizations. But the results of these modest efforts
are less than is needed to achieve true reconciliation for a very long conflict.
The persistent failure of the peace processes is reflected in this
area, too. It is more difficult to achieve reconciliation if the main issues
remain unresolved. Without addressing the asymmetry between the
two parties, without recognizing that one party is living under daily humiliation,
while the other is trying to defend the state that is imposing
this humiliation on its counterpart, and without admitting that the representatives
of the occupying country are calling to fight against the oppressed,
rather than being in solidarity with them, the conflict will not
be resolved. This means that the Israelis have to pay a high price not
only as individuals, but also collectively as a people, since they have dem -
ocratically elected the leadership of their country. Most of the Palestinian
and Israeli groups which tried to work together could not mobilize
a large constituency on both sides, and could not continue when they
were faced by the facts on the ground, and when the Israelis are asked
to be held accountable for their actions as individuals and a collective.
In principal, there is no sustainable political resolution to the conflict, unless
the asymmetry between the occupied and the occupier is ad dressed.
As long as decision-makers in Israel refuse to abide by inter national law,
as long as the international community is not willing to impose effective
pressure on the Israelis, and as long as Israel’s leaders, supported by
the majority of their population, insist upon keeping their country supe-
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