These Palestinian and Israeli women are showing how to stand up for peace

This article These Palestinian and Israeli women are showing how to stand up for peace was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

The January ceasefire agreement is a glimmer of hope for Israelis and Palestinians. Yet, the ink was barely dry when Hamas fighters emerged from hiding in full uniform and with assault rifles to remind Gazans who’s in charge. Meanwhile, Palestinian prisoners are returning home to destruction, chaos and a dire humanitarian crisis, while the Israeli government has launched a deadly military operation in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank. To top it all off, U.S. President Donald Trump is talking about removing all Palestinians from Gaza to rebuild it as a “Riviera in the Middle East,” without any guarantee on their return, essentially proposing to ethnically cleanse the Strip. 

It’s difficult to see a way forward for peace in the Middle East when both local and global leaders continue to endorse violence. New leadership is needed — one that is bold enough to perform a radical overhaul of the status quo. But at this point, that is wishful thinking. The responsibility then falls upon civil society to end the cycle of violence and initiate an era in which Israelis and Palestinians come together to foster alternative solutions to the conflict. Fortunately, groundwork for that has already been laid.

On Oct. 4, 2023, thousands of women from the Israeli peace movement, Women Wage Peace, and the Palestinian counterpart, Women of the Sun, came together in Jerusalem to demand a seat at their governments’ negotiation tables. Their message was loud and clear: “We, Palestinian and Israeli mothers, are determined to stop the vicious cycle of bloodshed and to change the reality of the difficult conflict between both nations, for the benefit of our children.” It was a mass display of solidarity and resilience, and a signal to the world that — in the hands of women — peace between Israel and Palestine is possible.

Three days later, Hamas terrorists attacked southern Israel, carrying out gender-based atrocities and sexual assaults along the way. Three members of Women Wage Peace, including co-founder Vivian Silver, were murdered. A day later, Israeli forces entered Gaza, kickstarting one of the deadliest wars for Palestinians in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and women and children have made up a majority of the victims. In the nearly year and half since, almost 40 Women of The Sun members have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank.

Marginalized in society and excluded from the negotiation table, women of Israel and Palestine find themselves the disproportionate victims of a war they did not want. Death, despair and detriment, however, are no match against a mother’s wrath. 

“Don’t be pro-Palestine or pro-Israel. Be pro-peace, because this is what we need,” said Fatima, a mother of four and member of Women of the Sun, whose real name has been concealed for safety reasons. “We don’t want to fuel hatred and revenge between each other. We lost a lot of people, and violence only brings more violence. It’s time to stop it. It’s time to have more dialogue and, at least, to hear each other out and to stop killing each other.”

Peace above the glass ceiling

Founded in 2014, Women Wage Peace, or WWP, is Israel’s largest peace movement. Its nearly 44,000 mostly female members come from all over Israel and include Israelis, Palestinians, Jews, Muslims, Druze and Bedouins. In 2022, Women of the Sun, or WTS, was founded to strengthen the Palestinian leg of the movement, and quickly grew to count 3,000 active members in the West Bank and Gaza. Today, both movements work with local communities and collaborate on programs that unite, educate and empower women to become spokespersons for peace. 

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“We know that every conflict around the world, also in Israel, was ended with an agreement,” said Orna Ashkenazi, 67, a mother and grandmother, and active member of WWP since its founding. “We don’t want war,” she continued. “We want negotiations between leaders, and to reach mutual agreements between Palestinians and Israelis.”

It is no surprise that women have become the loudest voice for peace in Israel and Palestine. While conflict impacts everyone, women and girls are disproportionately affected in ways that often reinforce gender inequality and pre-existing norms and stereotypes. In 2024, Israel’s already worrisome gender equality score further decreased, landing it as 91 out of 146 countries on the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Index report. 

Accounts of sexual violence carried out on women by Hamas on Oct. 7, and by Israeli military staff on Palestinian women in detention confirms findings by the U.N. showing that incidents of political violence targeting women increase on average 50 percent during times of conflict. What’s more, conflict and crisis are considered one of the biggest causes of gender-based violence, as women are left more vulnerable to sexual exploitation and repercussions from traumatized spouses and relatives. Even before the mass-displacement of people in Gaza, the U.N. reported that 29 percent of Palestinian women older than 15 in 2023 had experienced sexual, physical or psychological violence at least once in their lives.

Whether pro-Palestine or pro-Israel, women don’t seem to stand a chance. “We [women] are getting involved in the war without anybody asking us if we want to,” Fatima said. “Because we are paying the price of this war, we deserve to be on the negotiation table.” Ashkenazi agrees, highlighting that if Israeli women subject to conscription can fight in the war, “we can fight for peace.” 

Twenty-three years ago, the U.N. published Resolution 1325 to counteract the marginalization of women during war and conflict. Focusing on peace and security, the resolution “reaffirms the important role of women in the prevention and resolution of conflicts, peace negotiations, peace-building, peacekeeping, humanitarian response and in post-conflict reconstruction, and stresses the importance of their equal participation and full involvement in all efforts for the maintenance and promotion of peace and security.” 

Notably, neither Israel nor Palestine have taken active measures to implement Resolution 1325. At 25 percent, the number of women in the Israeli government remains significantly lower than in comparable economies (29 percent in the U.S., 43 percent in Spain, 45 percent in Argentina in 2023). 

While Israel has had a handful of female cabinet ministers, including former Prime Minister Golda Meir (from 1969 to 1974), more often than not, women have been appointed to positions that follow the ideology of traditional women’s roles. These include Education Minister, Communication Minister and Head of Office for the Ministry for the Promotion of Women’s Status, which focused primarily on ending gender-based violence and prostitution in Israel. The ministry was cancelled in January 2024, just eight months after it had been initiated. Meanwhile, positions that are arguably crucial to the Israel-Palestine peace process have never been held by a woman, including the post of Defense Minister, Internal Security Minister and Finance Minister. 

Implementing Resolution 1325 has therefore been a main focus for WWP since its founding. “In the current conflict and war, we don’t see a single woman in the decision-making process,” said Ashkenazi, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s now-dissolved war cabinet. 

Through the introduction of the Political Alternatives Bill, WWP hopes to make peaceful solutions a priority irrespective of who’s in power. The bill requires national decision-makers to 1. examine political alternatives for resolving conflicts, in coordination with representatives from civil society, before resorting to military options; and 2. allocate time, funds and personnel for detailed examination of political/diplomatic solutions to conflicts of all sizes. Under Netanyahu, the bill has been indefinitely taken out of consideration. 

“The current government doesn’t care about the bill,” Ashkenazi argued. “It needs the right leader. In Israel specifically, most of the leaders are men who were commanders in the army. I think it’s time that people outside of the army and especially women, become leaders.”  

In Palestine too, women have seen little to no political involvement. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, the percentage of women elected and appointed in the 2021-2022 local elections was 21 percent. Soon to be in its 16th year of uninterrupted power, the Fatah-led government appointed 23 new ministers in March 2024, of which only three are women. What’s more, there are supposedly zero women holding key positions within the PLO, the State of Palestine’s body of representation at international events and institutions such as the U.N.

“We know about [U.N. Resolution 1325], but is it implemented? No,” Fatima said, adding that though there may be women in the government, they don’t represent the views of female voters. “As a Palestinian woman, we face a lot of problems in expressing ourselves due to the male dominance in our community and the stereotypes of the Palestinian community itself,” explained Fatima, referring in part to laws in Palestine that assume women to be under the protection and guardianship of men. Through programs by WTS that seek to educate Palestinian women on leadership and entrepreneurship, “the goal is to have more women leaders be involved in politics: for the woman to have her own voice, to scream and demand her rights,” Fatima said. “Women will think twice about going to war because we know how it will affect us.”

Promoting diverse and inclusive solutions

Is the solution to peace really as simple as putting more women in power? Research is increasingly suggesting that we at least try it out. A statistical analysis from 2015 of 182 peace agreements showed that when women are included in the peace negotiation process, the agreement that results is 20 percent more likely to last at least two years, and 35 percent more likely to last long-term. Involving women brings diverse perspectives and promotes inclusivity — factors that are key to solving complex issues. 

“We usually look at things in another way than men,” Ashkenazi said. “When there is a fight in the family, women are the ones that will try to compromise. Our voice must be heard.” 

While peace-building efforts are imperative to the current situation, the long-term work of WWP and WTS focuses on women leading the future. “Women are the ones raising the next generation. We are the ones educating the children,” Fatima said. “So, if we educate [Palestinian] women, it will affect the boys and girls in their family, and finally, their communities.” Taking a holistic approach to the challenges facing Palestinian women, WTS has implemented “different programs related to trauma healing and mental support,” Fatima added. In addition, WTS organizes an educational program titled “Empower Her,” which teaches Palestinian women to take leadership in their communities and at work.

Palestinian women had one of the highest enrollment rates in the region for primary and secondary education in 2023. Yet, they also had one of the world’s lowest rates for labor force participation, according to U.N. data. At 17.2 percent, Palestinian women make up less than one-fifth of the workforce, with many unable to leave the house without a male companion. “If you aren’t financially independent, you can’t raise your voice,” Fatima explained. 

In an attempt to change norms, WTS teaches women to make products from recycled materials. Like this, “even if you are at home, you can work,” Fatima said. “You will have income and be financially independent, and this is what we want.” WTS helps the women market and sell their products online in exchange for a percentage of the profit, and invites them to participate in bazaars and in cross-border initiatives with WWP. 

The perhaps most significant project is the joint environmental program Women Building Bridges. Focusing on waste-water management, the program unites religious and environmental leaders from Israel and Palestine to find common solutions to shared issues. At least since the six-day war in 1967, water scarcity has had a significant impact on political strategy and diplomacy between Israel and its neighbors. Even Israel’s most recent takeover of the buffer zone with Syria following the fall of Assad impacts the water situation, as one of three major water sources for Israel and Palestine, the Jordan River basin, spreads throughout the area.

What’s more, Israel’s control over water in the occupied territories has seen continuous restrictions on access to water sources for Palestinians. “The Palestinians, especially women, face the problem of lack of water because the percentage of the water for the West Bank and Gaza Strip is very small compared to the population,” Fatima said. 

Finding a joint solution to water-sharing and water-protection has been sidelined by the Israeli and Palestinian governments. But, much like the peace process, women are picking up where the men left off. “We are learning about the common issues for both sides,” Ashkenazi said. “We are breathing the same air, drinking the same water, and our goal is [for all] to live in an environmentally good area.” 

Though WTS already has programs teaching women how to recycle and upcycle grey water, the joint project with WWP is meant to uncover more ambitious solutions to their shared issues. “They [Israelis and Palestinians] will make a project around how to better the environment for both, for example looking at water management issues, making community gardens and so on,” Ashkenazi added. The Israeli and Palestinian groups were originally meant to meet face-to-face, but have been convening over Zoom instead as a result of the war. 

Keeping hope alive

While WWP and WTS have gained a lot of international attention and support over the course of the current war, the feelings aren’t necessarily mutual in their local communities. “For us, having this strength to continue together with our partners in WWP, it’s not that easy,” Fatima said. Though she finds the situation in Gaza is heartbreaking, rather than giving up, Fatima believes it’s imperative that women keep standing up for peace. 

“We have a big gap between the Palestinian and Israeli communities,” explained Fatima, referring to the 440-mile-long wall between the West Bank and Israel. “Our children don’t know any Israeli people except the settlers they meet or the Israeli soldiers with guns. We are both living on the same land. If we are not having this dialogue, there will be more violence.” 

Collaboration with Israelis is not exactly applauded by some in the Palestinian territories, however. Power outages, settler violence and Israeli blockades also haven’t made the community work of WTS any easier. Fatima knows that peace isn’t easy, but she said “it needs somebody to work on it.”

“If I lose hope, I can’t give it to others,” she continued. “As a mother, even if I’m tired, I wake up. Even if I’m sad, I put on a smile and then go and wish a good day to my kids. We need to give our kids hope that tomorrow will be better. And I think that is what’s in us as mothers and as women.”

Ashkenazi agrees. “We have to stay optimistic, because hope is the last thing that dies,” she said. “Silver was killed in Be’eri,” she continued, referring to the death of WWP’s 74-year-old co-founder. “She was not just one of our members, she was a real peace woman. I feel that I myself must continue with this very important work, for her and for everybody.” In 2024, a humanitarian shelter in Gaza was named after Silver to honor her memory. “So, you understand that everywhere there are good people, and most of them, I am sure, want peace,” she added.

The dignity and compassion of WWP and WTS seem unparalleled. While political ambitions for peace have varied, the multi-generational, unapologetic gendered approach of WWP and WTS has gotten closer than anyone else to achieving it. Their joint call for peace, the Mother’s Call, has been signed by the likes of Meryl Streep and Pope Francis.

Both organizations wrap up 2024 with joint nominations for the Nobel Peace Prize and the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. These are signs that, perhaps, the international community is finally paying more attention to civil actors for peace than the authoritarian governments obstructing it. “We should have peace agreements that are coming from the people living in this land, not from the governments,” Fatima said.

If the women of Israel and Palestine are given agency, could peace finally become reality? In the current situation, taking a gendered approach to solving the conflict could hardly hurt. As Fatima noted, “the most important thing is looking forward, not backward.” As Ashkenazi said before we signed off, “I hope our next interview will be about what life in peace looks like.”

This article These Palestinian and Israeli women are showing how to stand up for peace was originally published by Waging Nonviolence.

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Source: https://wagingnonviolence.org/2025/02/israeli-palestinian-women-work-together-for-peace/