The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

� “Collective trauma and the epidemic of violence have dictated the
environment, and reproduced more violence and trauma, and have
prevented people from perceiving the other’s victimhood as well.
The symptoms of the traumatized society are:
� “Israeli society is made up of immigrants and refugees. The majority
of the Israelis experience the fragility of their existence in their
new land, although spiritually and religiously, they do not doubt
their connection to the land.
� The long and endless state of war has created emotional numbness.
Lack of sensitivity to pain of the other is necessary for exist -
ence and the ability to function in state of ongoing emergency.
� There is agony and anger, which are unmanageable, and which
obviously block the option to see the other’s pain and anger.
� People look for a strong leader to lead them out of their distress.
Abuse of power is tolerated and justified. Society has lost the
immunity to resist the abuse of power.
� There is a collective addiction to violence, a call for revenge and
retaliation.
There is widespread escapism, and a passive acceptance of the
‘situation’.
Alienation and a lack of solidarity mean that each person is on his
or her own.
� Internalized violence: The legitimation of the use of violence
against the enemy is internalized, so that all opponents are perceived
as the enemy, even within one’s own society.”
(Report, p. 188).
In addition, militarization, as a factual institution and as an ideology determines
societal life in Israel. This includes the subordination of women
in military service as much as the functionalization of the family. “The
importance of the family in Jewish society is magnified in the context
of the political conflict. The family is used as the connecting link be -
tween the collective and the individual recruited to military service, and,
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