 May 2002
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Patrica Watson, Editor Sara Burke, Assistant Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
"There is One Future for Use Both" The following is a portion of a statement dated April 15, 2002 from the (Palestinian) Jerusalem Center for Women and the (Israeli) women's peace organization Bat Shalom: The deliberate harming of innocent civilians, Palestinian or Israeli, must not be condoned. Compounding the suffering of the Palestinian people will only prolong and aggravate the insecurity and suffering of both peoples, and destroy any prospects for peace. Nor will the siege that has been imposed on President Arafat by Sharon's unity government bring peace or security to the Israeli people. To restore a climate favorable to the resumption of political dialogue, the rights of the Palestinian civilian population must be protected under international humanitarian law, and Israel's systematic violations must end. Our two peoples cannot begin to work towards achieving peace and security without addressing the root cause of this conflict, the true enemy of peace, occupation. A climate of fear and an obsession with reprisal now grip our two peoples. We women refuse to be paralyzed or polarized by such fear. We will not close our eyes to the real causes of this political turmoil. We cannot close our eyes to the policies and practices that have been designed to humiliate, intimidate, and coerce the Palestinians' submission to Israel's strategic program of expropriation, settlement, and colonization carried out over the course of a thirty-four year occupation. We cannot close our eyes to the fact that non-violent efforts to resist the denial of their fundamental human rights have historically been met with violence and repressive measures on Israel's part, and by silence from the international community of nations. We are unable to close our eyes to the painful lesson we have both learned; that the use of military force to coerce the submission of one nation to another must inevitably give rise to the targeting of innocent civilians and to the commission of war crimes. We call upon the states of the international community to discharge their duty to ensure Israel's respect for the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949 and other applicable instruments of international humanitarian law. Right now, in the face of the political and military turmoil, effective international intervention and protection for the Palestinian people is immediately needed. There is one future for us both. By working together we improve our chances for a better future. We believe that women can develop an alternative voice promoting sound approaches and effective peace initiatives between our two nations and peoples.
Women have already begun to give substance to our recognition
that a just peace is a peace between equals. When we call for
a Palestinian state (on the territories occupied on June 4, 1967)
alongside the state of Israel, we envision true sovereignty for
each state, including control over land and natural resources.
We envision a settlement based on international law that would
mandate sharing the whole city of Jerusalem, the dismantling of
the settlements, and a just solution to the question of refugees
according to the related UN resolutions. In continuing our joint
work together, we want not only to achieve an end to the occupation,
but to help create the conditions for a life of security and dignity
for both peoples. 
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