The Contribution of Women to Peace and Reconciliation

has been an opportunity to exchange sentiments, deliver messages,
provide analysis, and learn about each other’s society directly and
authentically. But these rare occasions and this trust-building did not
hold very long, once things on the ground got violent. We could still
meet informally, talk over the phone, exchange e-mails – but the
friendly personal trust did not soften the content of the conversation.”
(Report, p. 197).
Bridge-Building (by Simone Susskind)
During the past forty years, peace activism has been a central pioneering
precursor – and often a substitute – for official attempts to resolve the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Women have played a central role in these
efforts, both in mixed-gender organizations and, since 1987, in a variety
of Israeli, Palestinian, and joint women’s peace initiatives.
Israeli-Palestinian women’s peace action has developed in three distinct
phases:
The initial phase, which coincided with the First Intifada (1987-1993),
witnessed the emergence of separate grassroots women’s organiza -
tions, such as Women in Black, and the convening of the first Palestinian-
Israeli women’s meeting held in Brussels in May 1989, under the title:
“Give Peace a Chance – Women Speak Out”. Phase Two developed
around the Oslo process (1993-2000); it was accompanied by the emergence
of a number of Israeli and Palestinian women’s groups dedicated
to supporting gender-based encounters, but also by the consolidation of
a common framework for political action, the network “Jerusalem Link:
A Women’s Joint Venture for Peace”. Jerusalem Link was founded in
1994, following a second encounter between Israeli and Palestinian
women organized in Belgium in September 1992. The third phase
started in 2000, and has been accompanied by the creation of additional
grassroots women’s groups, such as Machsom Watch or the Coalition
of Women for Peace, and by a renewed effort to revive the diplomatic
process.
Palestinian and Israeli women’s peace initiatives have differed from
those of their mixed-gender counterparts in several important respects.
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