Women’s peace movement forms in Canada

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 25/05/2024 (812 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

On Oct. 4, 2023, 1,500 women gathered in Jerusalem and on the shores of the Dead Sea for a Mother’s Call, a rally and march co-organized by the grassroots, non-partisan Israeli movement, Women Wage Peace and the Bethlehem-based, grassroots Palestinian movement, Women of the Sun. Both movements are committed to promoting a non-violent, bilateral political solution to the protracted Israel Palestine conflict, and to the belief that women must play a critical role in negotiating that solution.

Three days after the joint event, on Oct. 7 — a date forever seared in Jewish consciousness — Hamas militants from Gaza carried out their brutal terrorist attack in southern Israel, murdering 1,200 people, including three members of Women Wage Peace. One of those members was the movement’s co-founder, former Winnipegger Vivian Silver.

Distraught, shocked and grieving, members of Women Wage Peace (WWP), which includes both Jewish and Muslim women, nonetheless vowed to continue the pursuit of their goals — a determination that was buoyed by the numerous messages of condolence and offers of assistance and support it received from around the world in the wake of the Hamas attack and the launch of Israel’s reprisal in Gaza.

A group of seven Canadian women, most of whom live in Vancouver, were among those who reached out to WWP in those anguished days to see how they could assist it in its efforts. All of the women in that group have a history of social activism, many of them have friends or family living in Israel, and two of them had known Silver personally.

“We were a group of Jewish women who had a relationship with Israel in different ways,” explains Vicki Robinson, a member of the group, “and we just started to talk basically quite soon after October 7 about what we could do.”

“That was about the time that Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun had jointly been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize,” Robinson continues, “so that was a big deal for all of us. We were very excited about that and it was a huge incentive to see what we could do to support that work.”

After much discussion amongst themselves and with Israeli members of WWP, Robinson and her friends formally convened as the Women Wage Peace Canadian Supporters Network early in 2024. The network held its first event, a webinar information session and meet and greet in early March. Ninety-four women from across Canada, and a few from the United States, participated in the session.

Since then, the Canadian group has hosted a second webinar, which was equally well attended, and has compiled a database of more than 300 supporters, including several from Muslim, Christian and other faith communities. The group also now has affiliate chapters taking shape in Toronto and here in Winnipeg.

Chana Thau, who was a friend of Silver’s, is one of the Winnipeggers organizing the local support chapter.

“WWP targets mostly women of all political stripes and religions, whose goals are peace foremost,” Thau says. “Vivian regularly emphasized that there must be a political, not a military, solution.”

Although the chapter is still in its infancy, Thau met this week with a core group of other Winnipeg women to discuss how they can best move forward in support of WWP’s vision. They will soon be organizing a larger meeting for any local women interested in joining the movement — women horrified by the Oct. 7 kidnappings and murders, by the terrible toll that Israel’s response has taken on innocent Palestinian in Gaza, and by the cycle of hatred and violence that has been perpetuated, mainly by men, for so long.

“While we are mostly Jewish women and are starting with people we know, “ Thau says, “we would like Palestinian women to be part of the group.”

The Winnipeg group, like the rest of the Canadian support network, will be following the lead of the 44,000 WWP members in Israel.

“They will tell us what they need,” Robinson explains, “and we will see what we can do.”

Much of that need will have to do with raising awareness about the movement, its stated goals, and the plausibility of achieving those goals. It also likely will take shape as fundraising initiatives and educational and cultural events.

Those events, by their very nature, will respect and reflect the trauma and pain, the hopes and dreams, and the separate but entangled narratives of both Israelis and Palestinians. They will, at the same time, echo one of WWP’s most oft repeated statements — a peaceful, respectful, and mutually accepted solution to the Israel Palestine conflict is both possible and necessary. There is no other way to move forward.

Those interested in joining the Winnipeg chapter of WWP are invited to send an email to wwpwinnipeg@gmail.com.

swchisvin@gmail.com

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