Jewish and Palestinian women refuse to be enemies.

On 31 May, 2010, some hours after the vicious attack of the Israeli army on unarmed peace activists in international waters, feminist women in Israel took to the streets in protest. Holding hands: Jewish women, Palestinian women citizens of Israel, Russian women, lesbian and bi-sexual women. Together we stood, holding hands, expressing our solidarity with our sisters on board the Freedom Flotilla.

Holding hands, we expressed our rage and outrage at the militaristic illegal action against international unarmed activists on a peaceful humanitarian mission. We – Jewish and Palestinian women – refuse to be enemies! We demand to express our resistance to the ongoing armed conflict and call for a negotiated, political solution. We – Palestinian and Jewish women – stand hand in hand in our resistance. We raise our voices to the world! We refuse to be enemies! We are fed up with the militaristic, chauvinistic show off. Violence breeds only further violence. We are fed up! We call on the women of the world to join hands for a joint struggle. We need to stand together – holding hands – against all militaristic acts of violence.

We faced a very hostile crowd of counter-demonstrators, but we stood our ground. It is becoming more and more difficult for us to raise our voices in the face of the increasingly escalating violence in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the violations of the most basic human rights. But it is exactly for this reason that we need to stand united – holding hands – and to raise one voice to the world. We are calling on women around the world to help us in showing that there are Jewish and Palestinian women and men who want to reach just peace in non-violent ways. Our voices are not heard in mainstream media; they are being silenced and marginalized. What is reaching the media is only the militaristic discourse. Today, more than ever, it is important for us to raise our feminist, alternative voices. We – Jewish and Palestinian women – refuse to be enemies!

(for a personal account of the day please see my previous journal entry)