Nobel Women's Initiative

Human rights groups critical of the Israeli government are under threat from a series of anti-democratic bills sweeping the Knesset. The latest anti-democratic legislation - submitted to the Knesset last Wednesday by over forty lawyers - aims to explicitly entrench the status of Israel as a 'Jewish state.’

Israeli naval vessels seized control of the French flagged Dignite /Al Karama – the final remnant of the planned “Free Gaza” flotilla. Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) naval commandos boarded the ship in international waters with no resistance from the 16- passenger crew and transferred them to the Israeli port of Ashdod. 

A controversial new law passed on Monday despite concerted efforts by human rights and pro-peace groups to block it. The ‘Anti- Boycott’ law prohibits the boycott of businesses, universities, social and cultural institutions based in Israel and the illegal settlements.  

In this first week of the Nobel Women’s Initiative Delegation to Israel and Palestine, we met literally hundreds of female peace-builders from both sides of the conflict. The Delegation has travelled to Ramallah, Hebron, Nil’in, Bil’in, Haifa, Nazareth and Jerusalem.

Yesterday, day six, included a meeting with the International Women’s Commission to talk about how a two-state solution will foster peace for Israel and Palestine.

40th ANNIVERSARY

To mark the June 2007 40th anniversary, Amnesty International released a report called Enduring Occupation: Palestinians Under Siege in the West Bank, which draws a picture of the devastating impact four decades of Israeli military occupation has had on Palestinians. Restrictions on Palestinian movement have resulted in growing poverty and economic paralysis for the Palestinian population, says the report. It goes on to detail the ways Israel has seized or denied crucial resources, such as water, to Palestinians under occupation and documents a plethora of measures that confine Palestinians to fragmented enclaves and hinder their access to work, health and education facilities

(Left: Robi Damelin, of Israel, and Nadwa Sarandah, of Palestine, spoke at "The Nobel Women's Initiative's First International Conference: Women Redefining Peace in the Middle East & Beyond." They are members of the Parents' Circle Families Forum, an organization of bereaved Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost relatives to violence.)

Speaking on the 40th anniversary, Mairead Corrigan Maguire echoed previous calls by the Nobel Women's Initiative. NWI feels believes it is the duty of the international community to reaffirm the supremacy of international law as the basis for the settlement of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict. Many of these countries, particularly the USA and UK's unwavering support of Israel's occupation, prevented a just and peaceful solution to this conflict.

The way forward is unconditional, all inclusive dialogue between all parties to the conflict. The military mindset of the Israeli Government must change to one of conflict resolution and recognize that their mantra that they have no partners for dialogue, is a block to a peace agreement. We all know violence begets violence and is never excusable or acceptable, and all violent activities from Palestinian paramilitaries must cease if there is to be any hope for peace.

For more information:

• The Middle East Research and Information Project: A primer on Palestine, Israel, and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

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