Heeding the Mothers’ Call
Determined to break the current impasse, Women Wage Peace calls on leaders on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to negotiate a peaceful solution. A recently formed partnership with their Palestinian counterpart, Women of the Sun, is giving hope to people throughout the region
Journey to Peace, 2017. Thousands of Israeli and Palestinian women marched together near the Dead Sea to demand a peace agreement | Credit: Ariane Littman
Ten years ago, Zilpa Yoos from Kibbutz Reim survived a terrifying experience when, one morning while she was home alone, a Katyusha rocket from neighboring Gaza slammed into her house, causing massive destruction. Even though her kibbutz is less than three miles from the Gaza Strip, the house did not have a shelter and Zilpa ran to an interior hallway when she heard the warning sirens
Despite the direct hit that destroyed most of her home, Zilpa was miraculously unscathed, at least physically. The psychological scars, however, still haven’t healed for this strong woman who, up until the attack, had held senior management positions both on her kibbutz and in the region. For years, she contended with post-traumatic stress disorder and was recognized as a Victim of Acts of Terror.
Members of Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun meet regularly to discuss joint initiatives | Credit: Gal Mosenson
On the other side of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Reem Hjajara from the Deheisheh refugee camp in the West Bank is also bringing up her three children under challenging circumstances. “When my son got older, I started to be scared. I didn’t want him to end up like many of his friends, either in jail or as a shahid,” she says, using the term for Palestinian martyrs.
Courageous women
Zilpa and Reem have much more in common than first meets the eye. Both women understand that the situation in the region where they have lived their whole lives is intolerable and unsustainable, and that every effort must be made to disrupt the never-ending cycle of violence and bloodshed. Both women decided – courageously – to channel their traumatic experiences into peace activism.
For Zilpa, the turning point came three years after the rocket attack, when she attended an event sponsored by Women Wage Peace (WWP). “My life changed from that moment. It brought me hope that one day our lives here will be different. Since then, I have been actively involved with Women Wage Peace,” she says.
Similarly, Reem recalls thinking to herself that there must be a way to protect her children from the endless violence by trying to change the reality of their lives. “I became interested in politics and started to engage with Women Wage Peace,” she recalls. “Israeli women were always telling me that they would like to meet more Palestinian women, so I said to myself: why not here too?”
Reem is not someone who merely talks and dreams. In 2021, she founded Women of the Sun, a movement of Palestinian women from the West Bank and Gaza who advocate a peaceful solution for the conflict and an end to the violence. Today, Women of the Sun already comprises over 2,000 women, including 60 from the Gaza Strip. “Our members join through word of mouth. We are spreading like the coronavirus, but it’s a positive infection,” she says with a smile
Reem Hjajara
Credit: Gal Mosenson
The two grassroots sister movements – Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun – are collaborating on initiatives to persuade the leaders on both sides to meet at the negotiating table and work out a long-term solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Both groups insist that while they are political movements, they are not affiliated with any political party and do not advocate for any specific solution; rather, they are in favor of reaching an agreement that is acceptable to both sides.
A future of peace for our children
The historic partnership between the Israeli and Palestinian women’s groups was officially launched at an impressive joint event near the Dead Sea in March 2022, attended by supporters from both sides. In an emotional ceremony, the women issued “The Mothers’ Call,” a petition calling for all people of the region to join them in support of resolving the conflict. The Mothers’ Call declares that, “We, Palestinian and Israeli women from all walks of life, are united in the human desire for a future of peace, freedom, equality, rights, and security for our children and the next generations,” and “We call on our leaders to show courage and vision to bring about this historical change, to which we all aspire. We join hands in determination and partnership to bring hope back to our peoples.”
Both Zilpa and Reem say that they were truly inspired and energized by the Dead Sea event. They agree that too many women have had to bury their sons, husbands or fathers as a result of the decades-long conflict, and the gathering gave them a sense of hope for the future of their children and grandchildren.
Zilpa Yoos with her daughter Shai | Credit: Naama Barak
“Palestinian women have suffered silently for years, but many are thirsty for a new voice. We feel that when we tell our story to our Israeli partners, they listen and respect us. I believe that this partnership will pave the way for peace,” says Reem.
“It’s an impossible reality,” agrees Zilpa, who still knows people in Gaza from the days when the border was open and Gazans worked on her kibbutz. “I believe that one day, thanks to Women Wage Peace, I will once again meet my friend Mussa at a fish restaurant on the Gazan coast.” Despite the language barriers, Zilpa says that she has personal friendships with members of Women of the Sun. She first met Rokaya at a peace workshop, but it was only after they heard each other’s stories that were they able to accept each other’s pain and form a deep bond. “When I saw Rokaya at the Dead Sea event, I felt that we have a connection. We hug each other whenever we meet.”
Since that first joint event, there have been several more encounters between the two groups. In August, two busloads of women and children from the West Bank, members of Women of the Sun, spent a fun day at the beach in Jaffa with Israeli women and children from Women Wage Peace. For most of the children, it was the first time in their lives that they played with children from “the other side” – and for many of the Palestinian children it was their first time swimming in the Mediterranean. In September, hundreds of women (and men) from all over Israel and the West Bank met in Akko to launch Journey to Peace 2022, which included several other events intended to put the subject of peace talks back in the public discourse.
The power of women to generate change should not be underestimated. As Bret Stephens recently wrote in The New York Times, “The West has had a women’s movement and a Women’s March. Now is the time for a Women’s Revolution in Iran and a Women’s Peace in Russia. The opportunities are ripe.” In this region too.
About Women Wage Peace
Women Wage Peace (WWP) is a grassroots movement that was founded in 2014 in the aftermath of Operation Protective Edge. Today it counts nearly 50,000 Israeli members who represent a wide political spectrum and hail from all sectors of Israeli society – religious and secular; Jews, Muslims, Christians and Druze – and from all over the country.
