 |  | | Dear Committed to making the most of US President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to the region, we’re working with our new Palestinian partners, Women of the Sun, to coordinate messaging on social media and in traditional outlets as well as plan special events that showcase WWP’s theory of change: peace is possible, as Nobel Peace Prize winner Leymah Gbowee told us, when women of integrity and faith unite. | | engaging with our Palestinian counterparts | | Our two movements lost no time in organizing joint activities after official collaboration began in March 2022. In June we stood together at the Ariel/Salfit Junction in the West Bank, flags of both movements waving. This shared experience was followed by informal meetings between Jewish and Arab women in our portable Mothers’ Tent facilitated by WWP’s Israeli Arab members. “Enough bloodshed”, we reiterated. “We call on Israeli and Palestinian leaders to initiate negotiations, with the full participation of women, leading the way to peace and security.” Women of the Sun [WOS] has already attracted several thousand members since its founding last year. The movement has now added an office in Beit Jala near Bethlehem, making it possible for us to join them in person to plan next steps. The office will also serve as a peace education center for children in preschool through 2nd grade from both Jewish and Arab communities. Stories, songs, and games in both languages will be shared in order to increase familiarity with “The Other” and reduce prejudice. Israeli media has begun to take an interest in WOS as has a subcommittee of the Knesset’s Foreign affairs and Defense Committee. (Read more about this meeting below.) | | | | refining our work plan for the coming year | | WWP’s group of core activists – retaining the name it has long outgrown, The One Hundred — recently met with the movement’s regional coordinators to answer several questions including “Are there things we haven’t yet tried? What have we done well? What should we continue to do/discontinue? What should we be doing, as a movement and as individuals, in the next year and a half to move toward the goal we have set?” Having translated several dreams into significant achievements, and well aware of positive outcomes in other high conflict zones, we know that our approach to peace-making is sound. When women from across civil society participate in all aspects of negotiation, peace is possible. Reem Hajajeri, a leader of Women of the Sun, greeted The One Hundred in a video message expressing the hope that together we will make peace. If you, too, have an idea for us that you think should be implemented, please contact us. |
| | making our voices heard in the Knesset | | Dozens of WWP activists returned to the Knesset earlier this month to seize several opportunities. Our members met with MK (Member of Knesset) Naama Lazimi, who spoke about the bill she is proposing for the establishment of a National Peace Day. Lazimi expects that a yearly public acknowledgement of the agreements with Egypt and Jordan as well as the Abraham Accords could strengthen the hope and belief that peace is possible, especially among the younger generation. Representatives of WWP spoke at a special subcommittee meeting of the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, introducing WWP’s recent historic collaboration with our Palestinian sisters, Women of the Sun (WOS) and our planned joint educational initiatives for Palestinian and Israeli children and their mothers. Listen here (in Hebrew) to the subcommittee’s spokeswoman, MK Emily Moatti, expressing the hope for a change in attitude among the youngest generation. MK Moatti, sponsor of our first bill, Political Alternatives First, and MK Naama Lazimi, are the first two members of parliament to sign our Mothers’ Call. More will follow! If you yourself have not yet signed the Call, click here and ask your friends and family to do the same. | | | | | | spreading the word - ALLMEP | | WWP member Vivian Silver spoke at the annual conference of the Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP), an umbrella organization of more than 150 non-profits working for peace in the region. Vivian participated in a panel on women, peace and security, sharing our strategies to promote UN Security Council Resolution 1325 among Israeli policymakers and through our partnership with WOS. We invite you to listen to her inspiring words. | | | | spreading the word - ICW | | WWP member Mazal Redford introduced the General Assembly of the International Council of Women (ICW), the prestigious women’s rights group addressing gender-based social injustice since 1888, to both WWP and WOS. The gathering was attended by 120 delegates from 35 countries including Lebanon, Morocco, Tunisia, Indonesia, and Pakistan. The outgoing President of ICW, Dr. Cosima Schenk of Switzerland, expressed great interest in our activities. | | | | forbes - 30 under 30 | | WWP International Relations team members Angela Scharf and Ilham Shahbari met with the group “30 Under 30.” According to Forbes, these are the most successful women under the age of thirty in the world. After the presentation by Ilham and Angela, they promised to spread the word about our joint activities with WOS. | | | | meeting diplomats | | International Relations team leader Angela Scharf and other team members are also continuing to meet with the diplomatic corps stationed in Israel. The team was recently received at the Swiss, Norwegian, and Swedish embassies and has held meetings with the Belgium and Spanish ambassadors as well as the US ambassador ahead of President Biden’s visit. These encounters acquaint ambassadors and their staff with our approach to peacemaking and often help us make additional connections in diplomats’ home countries. | |
| | spanish realm activities | | Our Spanish-speaking team has long been active in South America. WWP members Anabel Friedlander and Judith Gilbert recently introduced five women who hold key positions in Iberian-American media to our movement: Celia Gomez Rico, news director of Mexico’s multimedia company Televisa; Lucia Riaño, executive producer of Hola TV; Carla Angola, journalist with EVTV Miami; Gisella Aboumrad, actress, comedian, and writer; and Gina Ulmos, a Florida-based radio host at IHeartRadio. The meeting was relaxed yet emotional and included a video interview by Anabel with Carla Angola for her more than 2 million followers. All five women signed the Mothers’ Call. Peace activists Margot Fuentes Kratt of Spain and Adriana Potel of Argentina recently shared their knowledge with WWP’s International Relations team about forming solidarity groups abroad. (See below for a portrait of Adriana under “A Woman Waging Peace.”) Please contact us if you are interested in forming a solidarity group abroad: wwp.international.relations@gmail.com | | | | meeting students | | As tourism picks up again WWP is frequently asked to speak with groups interested in peacemaking. We are excited to hold these meetings, knowing that word-of-mouth helps us send the message that peace is possible. For one among many recent examples, Amal Reihan and Angela Scharf met with students from Queens University in Canada during their stay in Tel Aviv. | | | | rousing the field | | A number of NGOs have been working to bring highly polarized residents from diverse Israeli populations together to share ideas and get a better understanding of the other. WWP, under the banner “Meeting The Other” has been organizing gatherings in the villages and towns surrounding the Gaza strip. WWP also co-organized a large Jewish-Arab gathering in the north of Israel. In a separate meeting, religious Jewish women from all walks of life and WWP members held a meeting and left with the sense that “yes, we can find common ground.” | | | | renewing our look | | You might have noticed that the header of our quarterly newsletter has changed. We are happy with our new logo and the different look of our visual materials, all part of an effort to reach a broader public. The new ribbon-like icon symbolizes the turquoise scarves we wear to identify us as members of WWP. It was important to us that the logo continues to display our name in all 3 languages. | |
| | a woman waging peace, Adriana Potel | | I am Adriana Potel, a social activist for peace and human rights in Argentina and an active member of WWP. I became aware of WWP in 2016 through social networks and immediately identified with the messages of the movement. The language WWP uses is different: instead of speaking about “overthrow” and “conquest,” I hear ”meet, listen, and understand.” | |
| | In 2017 I participated in WWP’s “Peace Train” activity, which turned out to be a transformative and mobilizing experience for me. I felt WWP deserved to be introduced to the wider world. The media doesn’t report on movements choosing alternatives to violence, ones that propose non-violent peace-building. Upon my return to Argentina, I gathered several friends and we started our journey. Initially we spread the word about WWP as best we could and replicated activities in Israel. The “Pieces for peace” project was the key to reaching educational institutions, university students, mediators, and the general public. Afterwards we started meeting with Muslim women to break down prejudices and fears and to look for what we have in common. We started asking what moves us as women to speak of peace in regions currently without national conflict or wars. Through long dialogues and exchanges we concluded that peace is not only the absence of war but is an intrinsic yearning in all people. The message of WWP became a universal one for us, transcending borders. It is surely a fundamental need in these times. Five years have passed since those beginnings in Argentina. We have added solidarity groups in Brazil, Chile, and Spain and created the Ibero-American Network of Women Activists for Peace, forming a bridge between WWP in Israel and solidarity groups in Latin America. And the ties are getting stronger. We now wish to add more countries to strengthen and enhance this network. Are you interested in forming a solidarity group in your country? Please contact us at wwp.international.relations@gmail.com | | | | |
