 |  | | Dear In this issue: - Journey to peace – from Acre to Jerusalem
- Journey to peace – take the message anywhere
- Thank you, Norway
- Ahead of Israeli elections
- Manhattan, Montpellier, Madrid
- Have you collected any signatures today?
- A woman waging peace – Rita Brodnick | | The contrast has been excruciating during the past few weeks: while WWP held numerous Journey to Peace events in conjunction with our Palestinian counterparts, Women of the Sun (WOS), young people from both populations have been injured and killed during violent demonstrations, drive-by shootings, and street fighting. You can be sure that WWP and WOS are coordinating next steps and remain as determined as ever to live here in peace and security. Please, sign our Mothers’ Call. | | | | Journey to Peace – from Acre to Jerusalem | | This year’s Journey began in the mixed Jewish/Arab city of Acre and ended in Jerusalem at the president’s residence. The ceremony in Acre was attended by hundreds of women, together with Women of the Sun from the West Bank. There were speeches in Hebrew and Arabic, discussion circles, and we sang and danced together with one clear message: “Enough! Enough of war, enough of violence! Enough suffering and loss and broken hearts on both sides! The time has come to reach an agreement and bring peace.” Next to the ancient city walls we called for the REMOVAL of the walls between our two people and the beginning of negotiations. In Jerusalem we spoke with Michal Herzog, the wife of Israel’s President, and were greeted by President Isaac Herzog. Michal, a strong supporter of WWP, who has marched with us in the past, encouraged us to continue all that we do. Afterwards we marched through the city, calling for an immediate end to the current violence, and ending the Journey at Paris Square, not far from the Old City and close to the residence of the Prime Minister of the State of Israel, Yair Lapid. Click here for a report, in Hebrew, by the IDF radio station about WWP’s visit to the residence of the President and here for Kan’s Radio’s interview with Dr. Yael Braudo, co-director of WWP. |
| | Journey to peace – take the message anywhere | | Between the two events in Acre and Jerusalem, WWP organized a number of local events in order to bring hope to every corner of the country. We met with local authorities, influencers, and saw new and old faces, from Arab and Jewish towns and cities in the North, through the center; from the Gaza border in the West to a Jewish settlement near Bethlehem. These events included panels, discussions, tours, workshops, marches, and informative gatherings. A peace sculpture was unveiled in Meisar, the Arab village, located next to the Jewish Kibbutz Metzer, two villages of shared neighborhood and cooperation. Numerous photos from the events can be found here. | | | | | | Thank you, Norway | | Ambassadors and diplomats from 23 countries including Italy, Sweden, Morocco, Jordan, and Spain met with representatives from both WWP and WOS at the Norwegian Embassy a few days before the Journey to Peace began, expressing their support for both movements. Amal Reihan and Yael Braudo represented WWP, while Suheir Freitekh, representing WOS, described the challenges that our brave Palestinian sisters face. The event gave us excellent exposure worldwide. Angela Scharf, co-chair of WWP’s Foreign Relations team, coordinated the gathering with the Norwegian ambassador and his staff. Angela notes, “People overseas are always hearing about war and terrorist attacks but nothing about the women here who are demanding peace. They need to learn about the strong partnership we have with our determined Palestinian sisters. Leaders of countries around the world need to know that we do have a partner for peace. Together with WOS, we will stop the cycle of violence and ensure a future for our children.” Angela and her co-chair, Nadia Younis, subsequently met with the ambassador of Bahrain. | | | | ahead of Israeli elections | | On November 1, 2022, Israel is headed for a fifth round of national elections in three and a half years. Although WWP is neither a political movement nor connected to any political party, such political instability does not make our work any easier. In regard to the election, we uphold the right and duty to vote; indorse the equal participation of women in all political processes leading to negotiations as elaborated in UN security Council Resolution 1325; and call on all parties to put a renewed peace process on their agenda, for the future of our children and our grandchildren. | | | | manhattan, montpellier, madrid | | The Jewish Community Center (JCC) of Manhattan, an organization with thousands of members, organized a panel featuring WWP and WOS in early August 2022 on the subject "Grassroots Peace, 74 Years Later, ” Rebecca Grossman of the JCC led an engaging conversation with Vivian Silver and Ilham Shahbari from WWP and Laila Alshekh from WOS. Our sister grassroots movement presented our working plan to bring about a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and two videos were shown:
Cooperation of Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun and our
shared event in Jerusalem during President Biden's visit. Several Jewish organizations in Montpellier, France invited WWP to a two-day conference for the local Jewish community. Pascale Chen and Hyam Tannous presented the joint activities of WWP and WOS to an audience of about 80 people. A number of women attendees encouraged us to continue on our path, believing it to be the right one. In Madrid, Spain, WWP members Kefaia Aiaite and Judith Gilbert presented our activities at an event of EFE, the first news agency in Spanish. They also met with members of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and were interviewed by El Pais, the largest newspaper in Spain. |  | | Impressions from Montpellier and Madrid | | | have you collected any signatures today? | | Please ask your family and friends, neighbors, and anyone else you can persuade – perhaps with the help of this very newsletter – to sign our petition, the Mothers’ Call. If not already familiar with the plea made by tens of thousands of Palestinian and Israeli women from all walks of life, united in the human desire for a future of peace, freedom, equality, rights, and security for our children and following generations, you can read it in its entirety here. | |
| | a woman waging peace, Rita Brodnick | | “This is the beauty of community: we're all a little different and are still able to work together,” claims WWP member Rita Brodnick. Born in Latvia a few years before the dissolution of the Soviet Union, her family emigrated to Israel when she was 10 years old. They settled in Ramla, a mixed Jewish/Arab town only ten miles from Tel Aviv, which no doubt gave her an affinity for multi-national and multi-cultural life. | |
| Today, Rita, 41, is a social activist and entrepreneur who holds degrees in youth care and promotion and in special education. As an immigrant child in Ramla, she searched for an identity and a sense of belonging. In retrospect, she realizes how little the community offered in terms of either one. “That's why," she explains, "in my early professional years I co-founded Pishka, a non-profit organization that opened a window to questions of belonging and identification.” Rita next worked for Micropay, a financial empowerment project designed to help women from underprivileged populations in Southern Tel Aviv to achieve economic independence through entrepreneurship. It was the first time Rita was exposed to the natural mutual support that prevails between many women. In 2018 Rita became operations coordinator for WWP. "I connected with the entrepreneurial and pioneering spirit of the movement. I met a flexible organization that knows how to respond to changing needs. I was enthusiastic about the idea of a grassroots movement guided and driven by female volunteers who want to lead it together, and I realized that there is no other body in the local landscape, apart from WWP, that makes the connection between security, co-existence and women's ability to influence.” Serving in that capacity until 2021, she now continues as a WWP volunteer, helping to make activist channels of action accessible to young women with the help of experienced mentors. "You locate a problem that bothers you, disturbs you, and then you ask: What can I do to solve it? Whom to join? I believe in doing things that involve people getting together in marathon endeavors until the white smoke comes out.” | |
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