Minnesota Senate President Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, is in Cyprus this week to talk not about building walls, but tearing them down. Pappas is co-founder of Forward Global Women, a Twin Cities-based nonprofit that trains women across the Middle East to become leaders in peace-building and conflict resolution. Her founding partners hail from Jordan and Israel.
Before Pappas departed for the conference, she answered questions about why women are well-suited for peaceful pursuits, and what we can do at home to promote coexistence.
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Q: You and six American colleagues will be joined by 20 women leaders from Jordan, Palestine, Israel, Egypt, Tunisia and Morocco — many of these countries that are in constant conflict. Why do you think women are uniquely suited to find solutions?
A: Women are more likely to ask, “How can we negotiate or settle this peacefully?” Women think more broadly about security and about peace. This is not just about putting down arms. This is about water rights, environmental issues, education for our girls, and are we going to have jobs so that people don’t become subject to joining [Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant]?
One of our speakers is the founder of an Israeli group called Women Wage Peace, whose mission statement includes the words, “Whether left- or right-wing, religious or secular, Arab or Jewish, we want to live in a society characterized by normality, prosperity and human rights.” She’s coming to tell us more about her plans of working with Palestinian women. A lot of people think there’s nothing going on in terms of peace in the Middle East. Women need to be there.
Read more on: http://www.startribune.com/peace-shalom-salam-twin-cities-women-s-group-works-for-peace-in-mideast/388393551/
