One hundred and fifty-four women have experienced, so far, three seminars organised and lead by the following three movements – ITACH مَعَ كِ , ADAM Institute and Women Wage Peace. So what next?
Each participant in the seminars has undertaken to initiate activities relating to the topics of Women, Security and Peace. Each participant was allocated an escort/guide to support her in her field activity. Each participant is a member of a group to which she contributes her ability and her skills. Each guide brings her personality, talents and support. Together they are hopefully going to fire up the desire to act, enrich one another and widen the circle of influence.
The groups’ meetings take place in various parts of the country; in the Galilee, in the centre of the country, and in the south right down to Eilat. The leaders/guides come from a variety of occupations – therapy, managerial, coordination, psychology, finance, social work, engineering and education. Some feel the need to push for a greater representation of women in activities and want to see a greater number of female leaders. Others see the group’s goal as providing clear steps for the increase of self-awareness and self-expression, or to bring together Arab and Jewish women in order to learn what’s happening in each sector. Others still try to increase their knowledge about the movements and their message, their aims and direction in order to encourage women to act for peace and security.
Several groups have already started their meetings following the May seminar; others are starting now, following the last seminar in July. All activities are still in their embryonic stage but the actions and ideas so far are original and varied. Whether it is screening of the film Pray the Devil Back to Hell within a single group, or screening to a larger audience as was done in the North where neighbouring kibbutzim and villages were invited too. The aim of these meetings is to encourage dialogue and find common messages which can then be communicated to others, inspiring others to join activities related to women, peace or security or all three.
Some participants tried to initiate contacts between different sectors. This was done, for example, through joining debates in the Knesset around the subject and by sitting around public tables with Palestinians. Others visited the art gallery in Umm AL-Fahm, or participated in a drama therapy workshop. Some organised meeting between bereaved parents on both side – Israeli and Palestinians, or tried to organise meetings around the idea of ‘two states one homeland’, or evenings around the subject of Women, Peace and Security in the local bar. Some participants are contacting the Geneva Initiative in order to create a document in support of an agreement between Israel and the Palestinians, or are learning in depth UN Resolution 1325. Some participants are trying to organise visits to the Sidna Ali monastery or to Shefar’am. An activity called ‘Israeli Salad’ has already taken place – where a gathering of women from Ofikim and activists of Women Wage Peace was introduced. Various participants use their skills to create films, contribute to an information pool and create blogs. AND this is only the beginning.
For each of these initiatives the guides’ role is invaluable. They provide support, give help, find information, offer links, make connections and encourage new ideas.
Marsha leads a group in Karmiel. She sees her role as one of encouragement the women on their activities and as giving support when ideas are formulated. She also tries to provide assistance with the activity’s application strategy. Marsha hopes that the women participating in her group will think of creative ideas and would be able to pass on their messages. As an example, she tells the story of her recent visit to the USA. Marsha was a member of Women in Black group and when she came out of her hotel she saw women who belong to a similar group. When she approached them she found that many groups in the USA are concerned with similar topics. Yet the first group was launched in Israel. Marsha discussed with these women the Women Wage Peace movement and they showed much interest in supporting it.
Tsipi Mizrahi-Chaushu leads a group in Haifa. Tsipi is a group facilitator in her profession and she tries to endow the group with her knowledge and experience. She thinks that all the women, whether leaders or activists, need to undergo a process which will allow them to focus and sharpen the aims of their activities.
Ayelet Tzur guides a group in Tel Mond and sees her role as focusing on the organisation of the meetings, making sure she is always available to give help and provide ideas for the activities.
Shelly Shtracher-Shalev leads a group in Yehud. In her opinion the volunteers have to choose their activities from within their own self-awareness of what they can and love to do. For example, if a woman is creative, or likes to dance, Shelly will encourage her to go in that direction and organise her activity from a place she feels comfortable in.
Maya Frankfurter guides a group in Jerusalem. Maya feels that there is a need to create a group dynamics in order to understand the needs of each participant. She does not believe in imposing ideas and tends to flow with the group’s will.
Ariella Ginegar leads a group in Herzliya. Ariella believes that the term מלווה is very precise. First thing Ariella tries to do is to meet with each participant individually in order to understand her needs, provide support and help where necessary. She sees her role as opening doors, helping to make contacts between the activists and giving direction to those who are not certain what needs to be done. Ariella hopes that in the group’s meetings the participants will report the activities and the dialogue will support and enrich them as well as provide a channel for new ideas.
Barbara Epstein leads a group in Tel Aviv. Barbara thinks that her role is to be a ‘home’ for the participants. She looks at her role as linking people and information, making it possible for the participants to think together and develop topics for discussion and activities. She connects the women with each other and brings her own skills and abilities to the activity. Barbara believes that the links and meetings allow participants to feel that they are not on their own. There is a feeling of belonging and support. The group meetings provide opportunity to take small comfortable steps according to each participant’s ability.
Dalit Zakaim leads a group in Tel Aviv. Dalit has only just started in her role. To begin with she was not sure whether this role suited her. But, as time went by, she understood her role better and the responsibility that comes with it. She found out that her group is made of very special women who are full of motivation and good will and are raring to initiate activities. Their willingness affected her and now she wishes for the success of the group as well as the success of the whole project.
As mentioned, this is only the beginning and many of the leaders (not all are mentioned) are still attempting to find a suitable narrative for their groups. There are also doubts, of course. There is a will to learn more and have more information. The information pool now in construction will include links to articles and news items, to ideas for lectures, links to films activities which might help in developing ideas and bring about more initiatives. There are benefits to the fact that the project is not totally defined or limited, thinks Maya, as this way it is open and allows the creation of activities according to the abilities and needs of each participant.
