The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

Another form of the non-violent resistance to the occupation is the Boycott,
Divestment and Sanctions movement which is growing in the
whole world with the support of international solidarity groups.
The continuous ethnic cleansing of East Jerusalem and the confiscation
of the Palestinian houses by the Jewish colonial settlers has been resisted
non-violently by the Palestinian people in Sheikh Jarrah, Silwan,
Esaweieh and other areas of East Jerusalem. The people have regularly
demonstrated, and some live in tents near their confiscated houses,
after they tried the Israeli legal system which has, as usual, disappointed
them.
The most recent major action was the demonstrations on the borders
of historic Palestine on May 15, 2011, when thousands of Palestinian
refugees marched peacefully to go back to their homeland. This was
also a non-violent act by which the Palestinians wanted to bring back
the issue of Palestine to its roots and core reason, the deportations of
Palestinians from their homeland and the denial of their right of return,
which is guaranteed by international law, by the Israelis.
The common factor of all these and other non-violent forms that were
used by the Palestinians was the brutal reaction of the Israelis to these
forms. In all the cases and during the years of the struggle, the Israeli
occupation forces reacted to all these non-violent actions with violence
and brutality, with killings, tear gas, arrests, more confiscation of land,
and demolition of houses. All forms of non-violent resistance provides
space for all components of society to participate; therefore, not only
was women’s participation very evident in this form of resistance, so
too was women’s leadership.
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