Launch of the Women Ambassadors for Women Wage Peace Initiative – 08/03/17
Excellencies, Members of Knesset, Ladies, my friends from Women Wage Peace, good evening and happy International Women’s Day to all of you!
My name is Pascale Chen, as you can hear from my accent,
I was not born in this country.
I grew up in France and in my home, Israel was considered as a miracle.
Two years and a half ago, during Operation Protective Edge, having two teenagers at home Noam and Yonathan, I felt more and more worried about the future because I simply realized that living from one military operation to another was not the miracle and the future I wanted for myself and for my sons.
I understood then, that choosing to live in Israel was not only the choice I made for myself but also the choice I made for my sons.
It is exactly at that time, that I felt a deep sense of guilt and decided that I could no longer stay at home, crying in front of the TV during so many sleepless nights.
I was never an activist nor a political militant.
But when I heard about the new movement – Women Wage Peace, I immediately felt I belonged to it and for the first time in my life, I decided to be active in a peace organisation which I find even more necessary and meaningful now that Noam is a soldier.
In Women Wage Peace, we have 1 goal: to reach a bilateral, long lasting and honorable agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
We have 2 objectives:
1/ our first objective is to promote the implementation of the UN Security Council Resolution 1325. Israel was the first country to adopt this resolution as a law.
We want to increase the participation of women in all negotiations. Not just because they are half of the population but also because the role of women in Peace-Building has been recognized as having a very positive influence on peace agreements. When women are included in negotiations, the agreement is 35 % more likely to last for at least 15 years (Inclusive Security). So, if we, women, on both sides, take an active part in the peace-process, we have more chance of succeeding, as it happened for example, in Liberia and Northern Ireland.
2/ Diversity. Every woman, no matter where she comes from, wants to prevent the next war. We have a common goal and therefore we can all join:
Secular and Religious, Jews, Muslims and Christians, Israeli Born and new immigrants, women living in the settlements in the West Bank, in development towns, kibbutz, and Arab towns, and with different political views.
We have three strategies:
-the first one is to become a huge movement because we want to influence our government and our Knesset.
We believe the best way to do that is to be as many as possible. That way, we will gain as much power as possible and become more and more influential.
– the second one, is to purposely, stay focused on our goal without choosing a specific solution or proposition. We will accept any solution agreed upon by Israel and the Palestinians.
– the third strategy is to actively engage with and monitor MKs and Ministers from all political parties making them accountable to our central question: What have you done today to prevent the next war?
A month ago, Women Wage Peace inspired the creation of a new caucus at the Knesset called “Women for Peace and Security”.
Our main principles are to operate for and not against, we are not affiliated with any political party, we are a grassroots movement, pragmatic, against violence and obey the law.
Women Wage Peace, is the only peace movement in Israel that crosses political, religious and ethnic borders.
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 everyday life and to the people of this country.
We speak a new language of Solidarity, Trust and Hope.
Women Wage Peace is about building bridges to connect everyone together so we have the power to make history.
This evening is also about connecting more women together – you – Women Ambassadors, and us – Israeli women, members of WWP, for one purpose: to show support and solidarity to our cause: ending the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict for a better life for the new generations and for a better world.
The Launch of our common Initiative is one more important step in this direction.
We are honored to be here this evening with all of you, dear Ambassadors and Members of Knesset, to celebrate this meaningful day with you, giving us the feeling that we are not alone and that our voice – our different voice – will be heard around the world.
We would like to express our deep gratitude:
- to Ambassador Lyons for her warm and generous hospitality and for leading the launching of Women Ambassadors for WWP Initiative,
- to Ambassador Kelly for her unconditional support since we met a year and a half ago,
- to Ambassador Saarela for showing her interest in our movement and initiating our first meeting to celebrate together the International women’s day.
- To Ambassador Susnik for being open to any ideas, we could have shared with her.
- to Sarah Simoneau from the Canadian Embassy, for her help and care.
- To my friends, Shiri Levinas, Vivian Silver and Kadia Moses for being with me in the organizing team.
Now, I am going to show you a clip that has received more than 2 and a half million views. It is a song written by Yael Deckelbaum, called “The Prayer of the Mothers”, especially written for us during the March of Hope.
You will see there the event at Qaser al Yahud, where we marched with our Palestinian partners. We did not know if they would arrive but I remember, when I saw more and more buses and more and more Palestinian women joining the crowd, singing and dancing with us, it was clear to me that we have partners and together we’ll fulfill our dream!
Thank you!!!
Please, feel free to sing with us this beautiful song!
Pascale Chen
Coordinator of the WWP Inter-organizational and Partnership Committee
