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Gila Svirsky informerar från demonstrationen i Jerusalem den 29 december 2000 Friends, Yesterday, Israel saw the largest rally for a just peace that has been held since the outbreak of the intifadah 3 months ago...and it was a joint Israeli-Palestinian event. Women came in droves from all over Israel -- Jewish, Muslim, Christian, and Druse. And despite the "closure" that Israel had imposed on the Occupied Territories, Palestinian women and men also managed, by means only they know, to cross the Green Line and reach us. The day began in
the Notre Dame conference center located symbolically on the border
of Jewish and Palestinian Jerusalem. We opened with greetings
from three international women peace leaders who flew in especially
for the occasion -- Luisa Morgantini from Italy, Simone Susskind from
Belgium, and June Jacobs from the U.K. The co-moderators -- Hannah Safran
from Women in Black and Nabeha Murkus from Tandi -- reported to the
crowd about solidarity demonstrations being held throughout the world,
and of greetings from organizations and individuals from a long list
of countries. Women then took the podium one by one, Palestinian and Israeli alternately, to speak movingly and passionately of both the suffering as well as the determination to end the bloodshed between our peoples. This was a conference "of the people", but we were glad to see in the audience 3
Israeli MKs (Tamar Gozanski, Naomi Chazan, and Muhammad Barake) expressing
their support for the grassroots work. The simultaneous translations
into Hebrew, Arabic, and English allowed each woman to speak in her
own language. I will just quote two: Michal Pundak-Sagie, activist in
New Profile: Movement for the Civil-ization of Israeli Society, called
upon soldiers to refuse orders that their conscience does not allow.
And Zahira Kamal, leading grassroots spokeswoman in the Occupied Territories,
declared that the principles of the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace
provide a sound basis for peace between our peoples. From the conference
center, waiting buses moved the entire crowd to Hagar Plaza, the location
of Jerusalem's Women in Black vigil, and an estimated 2,000 women filled
the entire plaza and spilled over onto the side streets carrying the
traditional black hand signs with "End the Occupation" painted
in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. This silent one-hour vigil was an even
more dramatic sight than usual, and TV crews from all over the world
-- even from Israel -- were there to capture it. The extreme right wing
did their best to infiltrate the ranks, to provoke us and draw attention
to themselves, and finally ended up exchanging blows with the police,
but they were overcome and moved behind barriers -- out of sight, mind,
and media. At 2:00 pm, the
crowd poured out of the plaza and from every corner and sidestreet,
we began our march toward East Jerusalem. Men and women who had joined
us from other organizations -- Gush Shalom brought its own busload of
activists -- held aloft their own collection of banners and signs for
peace. The sight was overwhelming, as the street filled with marchers
and voices. Nabila Espanioli from Nazareth grabbed a megaphone and led
responsive chanting: "Peace?" "YES!" -- "Occupation?"
"NO!" doing renditions in Hebrew, Arabic, English, and even
Italian for the delegation of 35 who had flown in for the action. Flying
high were signs and banners saying "Palestine Side by Side With
Israel -- On the '67 Borders", "Jerusalem - 2 capitals for
2 states", "The Age of Generals is Over", "Fund
the Poor, Not Settlers", and "We Refuse to be Enemies". It was breathtaking
to be part of that march. But the moment that brought tears to my eyes
was when I greeted a man being pushed in a wheelchair beside me, and
asked if he wanted to hold a sign. In response, he unbuttoned his collar
and pointed to a deep scar just below his neck. The man pushing the
wheelchair explained: "We're from Hebron. This is one of the victims
of the massacre by Baruch Goldstein. He wanted to join you today." A victim of the violence who harbors no hatred in his heart. I shook
his hand wordlessly. As we finally all assembled in the park beside the ancient walls of the Old City of Jerusalem, people spread out on the grass on this unusually warm and sunny winter day, exhilirated and awaiting the closing ceremony. Because of the traffic jams we had caused, the sound system had not yet arrived, but the crowd waited patiently. Meanwhile, four brave young women took banners and actually managed to climb to the top of the wall from inside the Old City -- some by stairs, but also by one quite daring leap -- and made their way to the top of the wall just over our gathering, beside two armed soldiers "protecting" us. From here, they unfurled four banners down the height of the wall saying Shalom, Salaam, Peace, and End the Occupation in the three languages. The crowd roared its approval and the Old City was crowned the city of peace for one brief moment --until the soldiers assaulted two of the women and their banners. The women wisely threw the other two banners down to the crowd -- to save them, and probably themselves, too. But that was a great moment in modern history. Finally, the sound
system was set up, and Halla Espanioli spoke movingly of our longing
for peace. Nabila called for a minute of silence in memory of all those
who had been killed in recent months, and the stillness in the crowd
was palpable. Following this, I made a slightly modified Jewish prayer: "May the Divine Presence give strength to all her peoples, and
may she bless all her peoples with peace." And we all ended by
singing "We Shall Overcome". There is much to
do to turn this moment into a revolution. We invite all of you to join
us. Coalition for
a Just Peace Members of the
Coalition for a Just Peace: Allied Organizations: Our principles: |
