To celebrate the International Women’s Day, the Ambassador of Canada, Deborah Lyons, organized a reception at her Residence in Tel-Aviv to launch the Women Ambassadors for Women Wage Peace Initiative and to show support and solidarity to WWP movement and its main goal of reaching an honorable and bilaterally acceptable political agreement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Women Ambassadors for Women Wage Peace Initiative was initiated by Women ambassadors in Tel Aviv that have come together to honour and recognize the work of Women Wage Peace, through different events that will showcase the importance of including women in all aspects of peacemaking.
At the reception were present: Ambassadors of Canada, Ireland, France, Finland, Slovenia, Chile, Latvia, Malta, Moldova, Cyprus and diplomats from USA, Egypt, Nigeria, and MK Nurit Koren (Likud).
Ambassador of Canada, Deborah Lyons, mentioned a study on 74 countries that found that “the best predictor of a state’s peacefulness is not its level of wealth, nor is it the ethno-religious identity of that state, not even its level of democracy, it is how well the state treats and engages women. The larger the gap the more likely a state is to be involved in violence.” On behalf of women Ambassadors present at the event, Ms Lyons, expressed their willing “to salute Women Wage Peace for their fantastic work!”.
Following Ambassador Lyons, Ambassador of Ireland, Alison Kelly, highlighted major events in the conflict in Northern Ireland and the role of women in the peace-building process. She said women in Northern Ireland “took the first courageous step along the road to peace as have Women Wage Peace here in Israel, in the face of despair after the 2014 Gaza war. I know that I speak for all my diplomatic colleagues in admiration and celebration of the robust and egalitarian structures you have set in place to ensure the sustainability and inclusivity of your movement and the broad and diverse programme of activities and actions you undertake. The path trodden by women peacemakers in Northern Ireland has not been easy… But women have made a difference and I hope that some of their experience will assist Women Wage Peace in your main goal of reaching an honorable and bilaterally acceptable political agreement to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. We wish you well and we will do all that we can to help you along the way.”
The speaker for WWP, Pascale Chen, representing the Inter-organizational and Partnership Committee, expressed her gratitude to the Ambassadors and noted that “Women Wage Peace, is the only peace movement in Israel that crosses political, religious and ethnic borders. Our movement, she added, operates for and not against, is not affiliated with any political party, is a grassroots movement, pragmatic, against violence and obeys the law”. She believes “only a women’s movement could do what we have done in such a short time because women can better spread an inclusive message, which is closely connected to every day life and to the people of this country. We speak a new language of Solidarity, Trust and Hope. Women Wage Peace has a unique way of building bridges to connect all together so we have the power to make history.
This evening is very meaningful because it gives us the feeling that we are not alone and that our voice – our “different voice” – will be heard around the world”.
