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. The walls carried two huge banners in Hebrew and Arabic: Women Demand: No to Occupation - Yes to a Just Peace! 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. Thank you Naama, Tali, Moran, and Micheline.
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. There is much to do to turn this moment into a revolution. We invite all of you to join us.
Gila Svirsky
Coalition for a Just Peace

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