WOMEN, PEACE AND SECURITY:
OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES - ISRAEL

UNIFEM WOMEN, WAR AND PEACE WEB PORTAL: OCCUPIED PALESTINIAN TERRITORIES/ISRAEL

“It’s important that in all of this, we see ourselves not as victims, but as activists, as people who can make a difference. So often, people think of women only as victims. We are not victims! We are not weak! Victims need pity. We don’t need pity—we need to be independent and functional. We need roles that are challenging and demanding. This is what we want as women. We women have to learn from each other. I’m sure so many women have experienced the things I have—both in my country and around the world. We have to learn from each other, believe in our own strength, and take action!"

Dr. Sumaya Farhat -co-founder and former director of the Jerusalem Center for Women

"I believe that existing borders are not necessarily an obstacle for women. Led by our feelings and instincts, women will cross them. Nothing will stop us. It is scary to me, that as bad as the current situation is, no one is asking us what we-the women-think or have to offer; no one has yet realized how critical our contribution is to the process. As women we want to be able to look our children in the eyes, without shame, and tell them that injustice was committed in our name, and we did our best to stop it. Even when we are women whose very existence contradicts each other, we will talk-we will not shoot."

Terry Greenblatt, Director of Bat Shalom, Israel's National Women's Peace Organization

"Four Mothers were questioning the might of the military. One of the Four Mothers said "if God had asked Sarah to sacrifice Isaac, the answer would have been very different! God must have known that, so he didn't ask her."

These Four Mothers immediately received tremendous public attention. It touched a vital nerve inside Israel. Instead of being people who nurture children and then send them off to war because, as they say in Hebrew, there is no other choice, mothers were suddenly demanding answers. Their numbers grew tremendously and very quickly. […]

The group started as a woman's group. […] I should say, however, that 40 to 50 per cent of the Four Mothers are men. It is very significant that men consider themselves part of this movement of 'mothers'. It has been suggested that perhaps we need to feminise the whole process of how we deal with each other; this was our beginning. We now have ex-soldiers and young people who have joined our group.

I think another thing that has changed is the image of women - women as activists […] In Israel, when a family loses a son in war it is usual for the President, or some senior figure, to visit the bereaved parents. Now, these bereaved mothers are no longer simply passive victims of male actions. When the President goes to see them they ask him "can you tell me why my son died?" They demand answers. I think this is a very powerful change."

Linda Ben Zvi, Professor of Theatre at Tel Aviv University, International Co-ordinator of the Four Mothers Movement