An Open Letter to the Palestinian People
Bat Shalom- of the Jerusalmem Link, Al-Quds newspaper, 15 August 2003

As Israeli women who have for years been working for an end to occupation and for a just peace, Bat Shalom strongly opposes the separation wall - regardless of its path - for walls are never about peace, justice or respect for human rights, but always about power. We see the building of a wall between our peoples as a hostile act.

The "separation fence" was sold to and bought by the Israeli public as a security measure. By now, even the Bush administration has publicly recognized that the Israeli government used the construction of the wall for "political purposes", to grab additional thousands of dunams of Palestinian land. Those Israelis who deluded themselves that the wall would be no impediment to a genuine two-state solution have been forced to recognize that the brutal incursion of the wall is not only inflicting pain and injustice on Palestinians today, but is threatening the social and economic integrity of any future Palestinian state. Yet the notion lingers that a wall could provide a needed sense of security and is in principle a good idea.

But by its very nature, a wall between occupier and occupied is not neutral and won't promote security. The fact that the wall is the unilateral project of a government that has not renounced its intention to keep control over Palestinian land and people means that it will continue to be used to maintain the occupation and not to facilitate co-existence. The suffering it has already inflicted is proof of that, and the perpetuation of suffering and oppression will inevitably undermine security for Israelis and Palestinians alike.

In the situation in which the Israeli government wields almost unchecked power, separation is a tool for deepening inequality. In opposing the wall we must make clear that we oppose not only the human rights abuses implicit in the separation wall, but that we are promoting an alternative set of values and standards that see as their goal an equally decent life for both peoples. Further, we believe that through working jointly in the Jerusalem Link, Israeli and Palestinian women are testing and extending this vision of true equality.

The Women of Bat Shalom

Bat Shalom – of The Jerusalem Link
43 Emek Refaim st. POB 8083 Jerusalem 91080 Tel. 02-5631477/5632622 Fax 02-5617983
E-Mail: batshalo@netvision.net.il
Website: http:// www.batshalom.org