Women Wage Peace (WWP), a grassroots nonpartisan movement made up of Israeli—Jewish and Arab—and Palestinian women, executed the largest women’s peace march in Israel’s history this October and is now maintaining a vigil for the duration of the Knesset’s winter session.
The movement, founded following the war between Israel and Gaza in the summer of 2014, aims to place “the option of a political resolution at the top of the public agenda” and has resolved that “whether left or right-wing, religious or secular, Arab or Jewish, we want to live in a society characterized by normality, prosperity and human rights. All of us wish to lead a sane and balanced existence.”
WWP’s “March of Hope” began on October 4th in Rosh Hanikra in the north of Israel and culminated in a major rally outside of the Prime Minister’s Residence in Jerusalem on October 19th. Numerous events, rallies, and marches took place concurrently in towns and cities across Israel, including the establishment of a “Peace Sukkah” in the Jewish-Arab community of Neve Shalom-Wahat al-Salam and a peace rally in the Jordan Valley near the Dead Sea attracting 4,000 participants. In addition, solidarity events and marches were held across the world in places such as San Francisco, New York, Brussels, and Peru.
The march concluded with a rally of 20,000 women and men on October 19th where participants heard from various leaders in Arab society including Mazen Ghanayem, mayor of Sakhnin and head of the Arab Mayors Forum, who told the crowds that “they say that Jews and Arabs can’t live together – but here we have the Jewish and Arab women who have marched together and show us that in fact we can” and Ulfat Khaider of Beit Hagefen Jewish-Arab Center in Haifa, one of the March’s leaders, who said “as an Arab woman, I have experienced in this March a discourse of equality, partnership and peace that I have not encountered for many years.” Guest of honor and Nobel Peace laureate, Leymah Gbowee, also gave a speech discussing the power of women to promote peaceful solutions to conflict.
Organizers and journalists were disappointed with the coverage of the March in the Israeli media in light of its size and the scope of support in Israel and abroad. In comparison, the March and related events received wider coverage in the Arabic language media.
Since the conclusion of the March, members of WWP have held a vigil, called “A Woman Standing,” outside of the Prime Minister’s residence. On October 31st, they moved their vigil to the Knesset, where MKs have returned to begin the winter session, and their plan is to remain outside the Knesset for the duration of the winter session.
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