Three days before the land they live in roars again, hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli women They shouted enough times over and over again. They are more united than it seems. They met on October 4, 72 hours after Hamas raided communities in southern Israel, killing 1,200 people, and the Hebrew Army responded with a war that engulfed the Gaza Strip. They laughed, talked, hugged. “It’s incredible because looks from another life” he admits with surprise. judith gilbertfrom the Israeli organization Women for Peace (Women Make Peace), from Jerusalem. Further south, the city has several checkpoints BelenPalestinian Merve Hammadfrom fraternal association Women of the Sun (Women of the Sun) also reflects the same memory. But so much death and destruction made them stronger.
“We are living this land and we will not leave, and they live in this land and will not leave, so the solution is to find a place where we can live together,” says Hammad. Thousands of Palestinian and Israeli women from different contexts, but only irreparably connected and separated by a wall tens of kilometers long and wide, meet and talk. To prevent it from happening again, it is essential to avoid the heartbreak and pain inflicted by fellow colleagues sitting on the other side of the table. “We are not one pacifist movement””Gilbert states calmly. “What we’re here to say is that if we have to escalate to armed conflict, it really should be afterward. turned upside down “Every piece is trying to find a solution,” he adds.
“War only brings more war”
Now, given that more than 20,000 people have died between both sides in two and a half months of open warfare, the urgency of finding him is obvious. “After seven [en referencia al trágico 7 de octubre]We know this more clearly than ever we must continue; “Many people were wrong, but we were not wrong when we said that this problem would be solved not by war but by a political agreement,” Gilbert explains to EL PERIÓDICO of the Prensa Ibérica group. live in peace and honor because war only brings more war“, Hammad admits. There are thousands of women with the same demand. With almost a decade of experience, the Israeli Women’s Movement for Peace brings together the most massive grassroots movement in Israel. 50,000 members. Palestinian Sun Women have managed to bring some people together in just three years of existence. 3,000 brave men. Before the war, they had nearly 300 members in Gaza.
“Working together with our Palestinian colleagues is more important than ever.” psychological barriers Israel’s biggest condemner of this [en el lado palestino] no partner to talk to“Gilbert speaking in a cafe in Jerusalem. “Our partners are 3,000 Palestinian women who want the same thing as us: simply Long live your children“This will be achieved not through military operations, but through political agreements,” he says. Moreover, as the grisly death rates in the Gaza Strip show, those who die are not only their children, but also themselves. Therefore, like the main victims of any armed conflict, they demand a seat at the negotiating table, which Israeli and Palestinian leaders do not seem willing to dust off.
Feminize decision making
There are conflicts that have been going on for almost a century on the same land and still need to be resolved. women They demand that they be allowed to speak. They believe that after endless and fruitless attempts to build peace, it is time to give peace a chance. different view. “This would be a huge change in our society, but we have already seen how far we can go by eliminating women, and whenever a war starts, we are the only ones.” we pay the highest price“For women, what really matters is not the borders or where the dividing line will be,” Hammad explains to this newspaper from her office in Bethlehem. how will life be the next day,” argues Gilbert. To achieve this, he adds, “the decision-making process must be feminised, emphasizing the protection of human life before any armed conflict.”
That’s why they talk about education, health, culture, art, music, sustainability and sports in their speeches. In a wet area blood For different generations, his words brim with hope and confidence for a better tomorrow. Maybe it’s utopian, but they are working to make utopia a reality. “Women have this ability to look beyond and consider caring for human life above all else; “We give birth, we understand,” says this Argentinian-Israeli who has lived in Barcelona for 20 years. Women for Peace and Women of the Sun have been organizing since October 7. dedicated to “mutual care” relative to each other. A month after the massacre, one of the founders of the Israeli movement said, Vivian SilverHe was killed by Hamas, they all joined in the same cry. First since seven.
love for life
“For us as Palestinians There is no choice but to sit and cry.“says Hammad. The number of deaths has not stopped for a moment in the war that has lasted almost 80 days. They number in the thousands in the Gaza Strip and in the hundreds in the occupied West Bank. “Communities for the separation of the two apartheid wall It has resulted in many Palestinian women not knowing who Israelis are, they only associate them with Israelis. soldiers “Those who come to their homes to arrest their children,” explains the co-founder of Mujeres del Sol. The first step in their oasis-like meeting on October 4 is to get to know each other. Some end up sharing tragedies and tears With complete strangers, Not all of them are Mothers but united. unquenchable love for life.
Israeli and Palestinian women, whose flags are peace and sun, unite in this struggle. “I’m less interested in tying myself to the land and stones than in creating a prosperous life for the people who live there; after all, everyone wants the same thing and there’s no point in wishing for it by saying the other doesn’t have it, because if the other doesn’t have it, I won’t have it,” Gilbert argues.Israel will not have peace unless the Palestinians have peaceand vice versa,” she concludes. Her simple request is to start talking, to talk until there is nothing left to say, because what is at stake is life, which is so temporary in this land. “As a Palestinian woman, I will do this. I would be devastated if I lost to my children but just like another mother So we don’t want anyone to feel that way,” Hammad summarizes.