Dear Bat Shalom Friends and Allies,

Let the women talk! Let the women act!

Let the women talk! Let the women act!

Let the women talk! Let the women act!

The men tell us not to be scared. They all tell us to be strong. We are scared, and we want them to be scared too. We do not want to be "strong". We don't want them to think that they are strong enough to make the other nation disappear or go down in defeat and disgrace. We want each and every person to have the right to live in peace and dignity.

We want to share the resources of this land, its water, its vines, and its holy places. Jerusalem can be shared; this whole area can be shared between two independent and equal nations. Israel should not rule the lives of Palestinians. Neither Palestine nor Israel should believe that peace can be won through violence and force.

Let the women talk! Let the women act!

Let the women talk! Let the women act!

Let the women try to make sense where men did not. We are launching an international initiative to stop the violence immediately. We are insisting that all negotiating teams include at least 50% women - in the Palestinian and Israeli leadership, in the UN teams, among representatives of all the governments involved in attempts to resolve this conflict.

The women will talk- they will not shoot.

There are too many men with too many egos involved in burning this piece of land. Let the women talk- we can bring peace.

Let the international community form a group of women from all around the world to become the Women's Peace Corps - an international meditating body of women who will listen, facilitate, help us save ourselves.

Let the women talk! Let the women act!

Bring the women in. The men have not done a good job here. They talk of a security based in might. We know that security means being good neighbors.

Without forgetting the wrongs of the past, nor the unequal distribution of power, we will focus on how to LIVE here in peace. We do not want the next generation of children to wear uniforms, to go to war. We want them to know self-determination and dignity, without the need to fight for them.

Let the women talk! Let the women act!

We feel the pain, we are outraged, we are scared. Before it is too late - let the women talk.

** Profound gratitude to Daphna Golan, former director of Bat Shalom, for sharing her text with Bat Shalom.

Bat Shalom is a feminist peace organization working toward a just peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. Bat Shalom, together with The Jerusalem Center for Women, a Palestinian women's peace organization, comprise The Jerusalem Link. Visit our web site for more information and our latest activities

WOMEN IN BLACK

Women In Black New York stand in silent vigil to protest war, rape as a tool of war, ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses all over the world. We are silent because mere words cannot express the tragedy that wars and hatred bring. We refuse to add to the cacophony of empty statements that are spoken with the best intentions yet may be erased or go unheard under the sound of a passing ambulance or a bomb exploding nearby.

Our silence is visible. We invite women to stand with us, reflect about themselves and women who have been raped, tortured or killed in concentration camps, women who have disappeared, whose loved ones have disappeared or have been killed, whose homes have been demolished. We wear black as a symbol to mourn for all victims of war, to mourn the destruction of people, nature and the fabric of life.

Women in Black is an international peace network. Women in Black is not an organization, but a means of mobilization and a formula for action. Women in Black vigils were started in Israel in 1988 by women protesting against Israel³s Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Women in Black has developed in the Italy, Spain, United States, England, Azerbaijan and in FR Yugoslavia, where women in Belgrade have stood in weekly vigils since 1991 to protest war and the Serbian regime³s policies of nationalist aggression. Women in Black New York have been standing in solidarity with the women of Belgrade since 1993.

We stand in silent vigil in front of the New York Public Library at 5th Avenue and 41st Street the last Wednesday of every month from 5:30 Õ 6:30. Come join us.

For information, please visit our website at http://balkansnet.org/women
Tel: Indira at 212 560-0905.
E-mail: 074182@newschool.edu to get on our mailing list.
Donations may be sent to P.O. Box 20554, New York, NY 10021, and should be made payable to RACCOON, Inc., with WIB in the memo line.
See also http://wib.matriz.net.