ISRAEL/OPT: Bittersweet Milestone: Women in Black celebrate Five Years

Last Thursday the Blount County Women in Black celebrated a bittersweet milestone.

For five years, the group has met in front of the Maryville Municipal Building every Thursday, rain or shine, silently advocating for peace and a just resolution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. As drivers pass the women, they usually honk their horns or show the peace sign, said member Caroline Best. “However, for the most part, people seem to be confused. We'd like to spread the word. We're kind of isolated in Maryville. We're not affected by a lot of international events.”

However, the Blount County Women in Black have tried to increase the conflict's visibility with its weekly 30-minute vigils.

“I'm trying to increase awareness about a complex issue,” said Libby Johnson. “We're a group of women who stand for nonviolence. I personally believe in creative conflict. Things won't change unless you come to the realization that conflict can be good if you deal with it appropriately.

“Maryville could deal with this topic, but I've found a lot of people don't know about it. People don't know about the 25-foot wall. They're shocked by it. And it was built to keep people apart. We want to tear them down and build bridges of understanding. I'm doing my little part here.”

Johnson's empathy has compelled her to take action. “When I see injustice, I feel compelled to act. I don't understand how people can be isolated in a world of suffering. I'm a grandmother ... and I'm doing this for all the grandmothers. We can make a difference, and we can build a community of nonviolence.”

Reason to act

Several group members have more personal reasons for advocating peace.

In 2006, Best participated in a 10-day trip to Israel and Palestine sponsored by the Presbyterian Church (USA). She helped organize the local group that held its first protest on Sept. 15, 2006.

In 1996, Peggy Cowan, who is a professor of religion at Maryville College, traveled to Israel and the West Bank. She saw injustices firsthand and recalled a Palestinian welder who couldn't work because of the Israeli blockades.

Many people have misconceptions about the conflict's origin, Cowan said. “They don't recognize how it's changed in the past 50 years. Palestinians have always lived in the area, but you can really see how their lives have changed.”

Since biblical times, Palestine has been ruled by the Persians, Romans, Muslim Arabs, Crusaders and Mamluks.

Ottoman Turks defeated the Mamluks in 1516 and controlled Palestine until World War I. Great Britain administered Palestine between 1920 and 1948 on behalf of the League of Nations and its successor, the United Nations.

On Nov. 29, 1947, the United Nations approved the U.N. Partition Plan that divided the country into two states: one Arab and one Jewish. Jerusalem was to be designated an international city and administered by the U.N.

The Jewish community accepted the plan, but the Arab League and Arab Higher Committee rejected it. The British Mandate of Palestine then became embroiled in a civil war. The Palestinian-Arab economy soon collapsed, and about 250,000 Palestinian-Arabs fled or were expelled.

The Jewish Agency proclaimed independence on May 14, 1948, and renamed the country Israel. Five Arab countries — Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq — later attacked Israel, which launched the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. After a year of fighting, officials called a cease-fire and established armistice lines between Israel and the Jordanian-held West Bank.

After the Six-Day War, which was fought June 5-10 1967, Israel gained control of the Gaza Strip, West Bank, Jordan's East Jerusalem, Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, and Syria's Golan Heights.

Egypt, Syria and Israel later fought from Oct. 6-26, 1973, in the Yom Kippur War. The countries have not violated their 1974 cease-fire agreements.

Waiting on a vote

The fate of Palestinian aspirations for statehood will soon be decided by the United Nations. The Palestinian Authority wants its UN status upgraded from “observer” to full membership.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas announced Friday he would seek membership for a state of Palestine from the United National Security Council this week.

Full membership as an independent state would require the support of the U.N. Security Council. However, the U.S. has said it would veto such a Palestinian resolution.

The Blount County Women in Black will be watching closely, Best said.

“We're really hoping for peace. It'd be nice if we didn't have to be here,” Johnson said.