The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

medical, education and agriculture sectors. Demonstrations also took
place during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon and against the PLO.
Huge demonstrations took place not only in the West Bank and Gaza
Strip, but also inside Israel, including both Palestinians and Israelis.
One important form of the popular resistance was the hunger strike of
the Palestinian prisoners that was also supported by the Palestinian pop -
ulation, the most famous being the strike in March 1987 which lasted
for twenty-one days and was supported with strikes and demonstrations
all over the occupied territory.
The First Intifada started at the end of 1987 as a non-violent resistance
movement all over the West Bank and Gaza Strip, with a united leadership
that organized all the actions against the occupation. These included
demonstrations, general strikes, refusal to pay taxes to the occupation
authorities, and public education as a reaction to the closure of education
facilities, both schools and universities. During this Intifada, the social
solidarity grew among the Palestinians, as did the international and Israeli
solidarity movement with the Palestinian struggle for their self-determination
and anti-occupation. Many solidarity movement groups were
very supportive of the Palestinian struggle for freedom. Politically, it led
to the Palestinian Peace Initiative, which resulted in the recognition of
the PLO as the only and legal representative of the Palestinian people.
After the Oslo Agreement and the establishment of the Palestinian Au -
thority, the Palestinians continued with their non-violent resistance to
the Israeli aggression, which took the form of land confiscation, building
colonial settlements, house demolitions, arresting of Palestinians etc.
After the building of the Apartheid Wall by the Israeli occupation author -
ities in the West Bank, which started in 2002, a non-violent popular resistance
started in the villages and areas directly affected by the Wall.
There have been continuous activities in these villages, the most famous
being Bi’lin, Ni’lin, Ma’asar and Budrus. The people of these villages,
with the solidarity of other Palestinians, Israelis and international people,
are trying to resist the building of the wall through regular demonstra -
tions and also through the Israeli legal system. International support and
solidarity for this struggle is growing in Europe and the USA.
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