Gaza Freedom March--urgent action needed

From New York, December 19, 2009: Letter from Laurie.

"Tonight was a great community event with so much spirit. Thank you all who particpated to make it happen.

With only short notice about 50+ New Yorkers gathered joined by a group of Palestinians visiting from out of town who were just passing by and so surprised and pleased to see us there. We began by ringing bells and holding sings with the messages LET FREEDOM RING and FREE GAZA...The police kept insisting that we could not stage a protest without a permit. But I reassured them that we did have a permit which gives us the right to assemble and free speech. They seemed confused when I mentioned the Constitution, as though that was not revelant or at least not there in Times Square. We held our ground though and our right to free speech and free assembly prevailed at least until the next time."

Now on December 21, another message has been sent out.

"Update from Gaza Freedom March,

We are determined to break the siege. We all will continue to do whatever we can to make it happen.

Using the pretext of escalating tension on the Gaza-Egypt border, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry informed us yesterday that the Rafah border will be closed over the coming weeks into January. We responded that there is always tension at the border because of the siege, that we do not fell threatened, and that is there are any risks, they are risks we are willing to take. We also said that it was too late for over 1,300 delegates coming from over 42 countries to change their plans now. We both agreed to continue our exchanges.

Although we consider this as a setback, it is something we've encountered and overcome before. No delegation, no matter how large or how small, that entered Gaza over the past 12 months has ever received a final OK before arriving at the Rafah border. Most delegations were discouraged from even heading out of Cairo to Rafah. Some had their buses stopped on the way. Some have been told outright that they could not go into Gaza. But afte public and political pressure, hte Egyptian government changed its position and let them pass.

Our efforts and plans will not be altered at this point. We have set out to break the seige of Gaza and march on December 31 against the Israeli blockade. We are continuing in the same direction.

Egyptian embassies and missions all over the world must hear from us and our supporters (by phone, fax and e-mail) over the coming crucial days. Let the international delegation enter Gaza and let the Gaza Freedom March proceed.

Contact your local consulate here: http://www.mfa.gov.eg/MFA_Portal/en-GB/mfa_websits/

Contact the Palestine Division in Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cairo, Ahmed Azzam, e-mail: ahmed.azzam@mfa.gov.eg/

Sample Text

I am writing to express my full support for the December 31, 2009 Gaza Freedom March. I urge the Egyptian government to allow the 1,300 international delegates to enter the Gaza Strip through Egypt.

The aim of the march is to call on Israel to lift the siege. The delegates will also take in badly needed medical aid, as well as school supplies and winter jackets for the children of Gaza.

Please let this historic March proceed.

Alex, one of the founding creators of Women in Black, Melbourne, will be one of the delegates. She will be carrying a small home made freedom banner from WIB Melbourne. Please try to do something to let others know about this freedom march and the attempts to block it.

Joan Nestle for WIB, Melbourne

"Words for Palestine," Melbourne, 2009, Joan Nestle

Words for Palestine, December 6, 2009, Joan Nestle of Women in Black, Melbourne, Australia

Students for Palestine asked me to speak at a rally held in front of the Park Hyatt Hotel here in Melbourne where the Australian Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard was hosting Israel’s Deputy Prime Minister, Silvan Shalom. They were discussing, the paper said, Israel’s request for help from Australia to rehabilitate the Jordan River. This was Shalom’s second official dinner—the first in Sydney where the Prime Minster of Australia also welcomed the Israeli government official in glowing terms and never once mentioned the crises that is facing the Palestinians under the present Israeli regime. I was asked to speak as a representative of Women in Black and thus Hellen, Marg, Sue, Geraldine—my Women in Black comrades—stood with our banners behind me as I spoke. We clearly were the oldest, the whitest heads, present. Without the support of these dedicated peace activists, I could not have accomplished what I had to do. I quote the words of two writers in the talk—I wanted something different, more complex than a typical rally speech—the Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish and the American writer, always prophetic in terms of what racial failures would bring to States, James Baldwin. Thank you, Daniel, for the image.

Words for Palestine
Salam Alakhim/ Shalom
I want to thank Students for Palestine for inviting the Melbourne Women in Black group to be part of this demonstration against the uncritical welcoming of Silvan Shalom to this country. I speak with two voices two day—as a member of Women in Black, and as a 70 year old American Jewish woman who lost one third of her family in the Belzec Concentration camp. Two voices but one heart—the brutalizing of populations by the use of overwhelming military force, by governmental policies of ethnic cleansing and forced expulsion from family homes, by the unquestioned believe in the right of one people to live a full life while another is condemned to hopelessness , to endless humiliations, to erased pasts, to an impossible present and a murdered future—I cannot, will not, not turn my head or heart away from the connections between my Jewish history and Palestinian history of the last 60 years.

In Haifa, after the first intifada, 5 Israeli women stood in silent vigil dressed in black to protest the Israelis occupation of Gaza and the West Bank. The next week Palestinian women joined the protest and a few months later 5000 marched through the streets of Tel Aviv asking for peace. Now Women in Black stand in over 30 countries demanding an end to the brutalization of civilian populations and the planet, an end to what seems like a time of endless wars. Here in Melbourne Women in Black have been organizing for an end to the occupation since 1988 (Here I referred to Alix Nissen, a founding member of Women in Black, both here and in Haifa and Marg Jacobs who has been involved with Melbourne Women in Black since 1988).

From our flyer: “We stand in recognition of peace activists all over the world, to embrace our common humanity, as a bridge to mutual respect, to remind ourselves that seemingly small actions can lead both to change and hope. We make the following promises for the new year—we promise to expose the lies that demonize those who discuss nonviolent ways to end the Israeli occupation. We promise to uphold the judgments of the UN’s Goldstone Report and Breaking the Silence. We promise to stand in solidarity with Israeli and Palestinian activists who face jail for their anti-occupation work— with the Shminstim, a group of Israeli teenagers declaring their refusal to serve the occupation, with Mohammad Othman, a Palestinian human rights activist, with Kobi Snitz, with Ezra Nawi ,” with the women who monitor the checkpoints hoping to reduce the daily abuses of Palestinians simply trying to get to work, with the citizens of Bi’lin who take on the Israeli Defense Force every night, with the members of New Profile, an Israeli anti- militarism group, with the Palestinian and Israeli academics who think and teach critically about the occupation and as a result appear on a hate list of those who must be purged from the academy in the so-called democratic state of Israel ,with Gideon Levy of the Haaretz newspaper, with Dr Saida Atrash, the Director of the Mehwa Center, the women’s shelter on the West Bank where every day she and others try to comfort Palestinian women who have lost their homes, and with it any sense of security for their families.

We hear the voices of power easily enough, but the voices of alternate visions, of the questioners of certainties, these we must amplify and honor, these are our deepest hope—As Mahmoud Darwish wrote in his homage to Edward Said: “ Then you are prone to the affliction of longing? My dream leads my steps. And my vision seats my dream on my knees like a cat. My dream is the realistic imaginary and the son of will: We are able to alter the inevitability of the abyss!”

The voice of conscientious Objector Or Ben-David, a 19 year old Israeli young woman from Jerusalem:”To refuse means to say no! No to the military rule in the West Bank, no to the use of violence as a means of defense, no to patriarchy, no to violence against innocent people, no to war and no to a society that claims to be democratic but forces youth to carry weapons, to kill or be killed. I refuse because I want to make a difference. I want all those Palestinian youths who have lost hope to see that there are Israelis who care and who make a different choice. I want all of those of my friends who became soldiers or who are about to become soldiers to see that things do not have to be the way they are, and that doing these immoral things is not something to be taken for granted, that another way is possible.” The author of these words is now serving 20 days in an Israeli military prison.

Know that our numbers are growing , the numbers of dissenters, that cracks are running down that monstrous barbed- wire- topped gray wall that tonight’s honored guest calls a fence, know that more and more of us are not afraid of what they call us—traitors, self hating Jews, anti-Semitic Jews, renegade Jews. What we are afraid of is what comes on the horizon when a people’s daily dignity is so insulted, when others so absolutely and brutally control the possibilities of one’s life—James Baldwin, an African American writer who knew in his bones of daily dehumanization, warned of “The Fire Next Time.” What hope will there be for reconciliation if the settlers keep dancing on the hearts of the dispossessed, if leaders like Rudd and Obama and so many others sit down to feast with representative bullies of the Israeli state, pretending that Palestinian agony does not exist. We have seen in the past the results of this calculated refusal to challenge national cruelties. Read the Palestinian poet, read Darwish—“Do I ask permission, from strangers who sleep/in my own bed, to visit myself for five minutes? Do I bow respectfully to those who reside in my childhood dream? “

Mr. Silvan Shalom is the minister for regional development and control of the flow of water--one of the regions he is in charge of, is the upper Galilee, the one- time site of al-Birwah, a village razed to the ground in 1948,its people forced to flee and among them the poet I now always carry in my heart, Mahmoud Darwish, and his family—his birth place made invisible except in the words of his poems and on old maps, his very presence made an absence, a poet in exile for much of his life, but against the roaring ugliness of Israel’s dedication to the eradication of a people, I put the poet’s yearning lovely humanity, “The poem is what lies between a between. It is able to illuminate the night with the breasts of a young woman/it is able to illuminate, with an apple, two bodies/it is able to restore/ with the cry of a gardenia, a homeland!” The poet brings us back to the occupied body, the place of devastation, into the night of war he brings the perfume of longing, our rights of desire.

Long after the world forgets the name of the Vice Prime Minister of Israel, it will remember the words of Mahmoud Darwish, the poet, for he honors the wonders of life.

****************************

It had been a long day and I had been up the whole night writing the talk, I was emotionally exhausted from the whole event, my anger, my sadness, my speaking as Jew, my fumbling body, so Marg kindly let me to her car. It was only after I had arrived home, that I received the call from Daniel saying that shortly after we had left, the demonstrators had attempted to enter the hotel and were beaten and sprayed with capsicum. A young woman friend of his whom I had met earlier in the day had been punched in the face by a member of the police. This morning, our daily newspaper, “The Age,” carried a picture of the confrontation and the following caption: “Capsicum Spray Used to Quell Anti-Israeli Protestors.” I want no more violence. Civil disobedience yes, the courage to go limp in the face of armed actors, yes, civil disobedience by hundreds o f thousands, yes, but no more aggressions provoking more aggressions. Enough of this—we will struggle against the present Israeli state as we did against the apartheid South African state, in our own way, in new ways with new uses of our imagination of resistance. Blood against blood makes reconciliation impossible. Only the fire’s devastation comes this way. We must "alter the inevitability of the abyss." But I am 70.

Oh What a Week We Had...

Oh, such a hard week we had--but this afternoon La Professoressa went into that familiar mode--preparing for one of her international trips--rushes to the bank, to her office for last minuted needed papers, to La Manana for fruit to last me two weeks, and most importantly of all, one last visit with Richard, her adored chiropractor to prepare her back for the 20 hour flight. Richard with his magic fingers and kind heart who knows every one of her wandering bones. Back home, I iron her just decided on must have shirts while she packs for her transition from Australian summer to British winter. Then Cello and I sit on the edge of the bed and watch her deft manipulations, a master packer she is--as she said, many Australians learn this art at an early age--so quickly, so wisely considered, one medium seized suitcase, one carry one bag with wheels, filled with her computer, papers, books. In a few minutes all is ready for a trip half way around the world. She nods to me, the signal that it is time to call the taxi--the moment I dread, always sad at her going--as the Italians say, "Partire e morir" or each leaving is a small dying.

The taxi pulls up, I stand at the gate, Cello at my feet, his tail already hanging low, we hug, kiss good-bye--my head rests for a minute on her shoulder, her arms hold me, whispered "thank you for all you have given me," and so the hard week comes to an end with La Professoressa doing what she loves so dearly, doing what brought us together in the first place--flying off into the night, back to Europe, her head packed with ideas on women and human rights, her itinerary one of visits with old friends and classes to be taught, conferences to be attended, London, Paris her destinations, nothing annoys her now, not the long waits in Bahrain or Singapore, not the dash for connections, to buses, trains, from airport to hotel and back again--not the prospect of sleeping upright for hours after hours--her sore back longing for Richard's touch--once, ten years ago, this delight in leaving brought her to me in New York, with the sun of Cuba still fresh on her face, her arms.

Oh how we traveled together--to London, to Dorset and the English coast, to Athens and Mykkonos, Santorini and Crete, to Paris and Copenhagen, to Palestine/Israel. But now, Cello and I stand at our front gate and wave goodbye to the redhead as she pulls away from the house on Fitzgibbon Avenue, already speaking to the taxi driver from Lebanon--he too has left geographies behind--and then a final wave, as the taxi turns onto Dawson Street and she is gone. Cello looks up at me, his dark eyes even darker. Just you and me now, he looks into me. We make a promise to care for each other the best we can in the long days ahead until our exuberant traveller returns.

December Vigil and New Flyer

Remember, this Saturday we will be standing vigil from 12-1 in front of the GPO, on the corner of Burke and Elizabeth Streets. Hellen has drafted a new flyer for us:

Women in Black say, unequivocally, that we have had enough of wars and the in-securities that war and weapons create. Insecurities for the militaries themselves, for the environments that poison and disrupt, for women and children where militaries operate, and in the families and communities when military members return home.

Women in Black note that governments spend major national resources on armed security, every moment, year and decade. As a result, the planet itself becomes less secure for each of us, for everyone’s future children, every moment, year, decade.

Women in Black sees no evidence that security is produced by such wars which cause the world to be awash in weapons and unresolved grievances, awash with toxic remnants over a century of weapons and unresolved conflicts.

Women in Black advocate security by disarmament and non-violent ways of resolving conflict in human societies, and with vigils and protests refuse to be silenced or to respond to violence with violence.

Women in Black believe that Palestine and Israel, as well as countries in all other regions of the world, need to be weapons free, making armed conflict not an option. The Palestinian catastrophe since 1948 has included forced expulsions from homes and lands, continual dispossession and confiscations, denial of freedom of movement and the forced inability to build flourishing Palestinian communities. A system of reciprocal terrorism exists in defiance of the law for human rights that the world agreed to expressively to avoid a repeat of the Jewish Holocaust. We now have the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their homeland.

Women in Black believe where that where injustices flourish, there can never be peace.
Women in Black witness that governments know what is needed to achieve a just peace, for they establish islands of peace around themselves for their pleasure and comfort, but these islands are surrounded by wars and areas of unjust military occupations.

Women in Black stands to reflect to governments that the methods of war and unjust peace can never be praised, excused, erased or reasoned away.

Women in Black, an international women’s peace action, has been standing for peace since 1987. We stand to protest the violence that endangers and degrades the lives of the people of the world.
(December, 2009) The image that begins this posting is a drawing by a Palestinian child who survived the invasion of Gaza.

Anniversary of Israel's attack on Gaza

Just talking with Joan and we're planning to get together with other vigil women and write something on the occasion of the first anniversary of the appalling invasion of Gaza by the Israeli military: why we stand once a month; the reaction we get from passers-by.
Marg

Our October, 2009, Vigil and More

A gray and cold day but Sue, Hellen, Geraldine, Di, Joan, Marg and Sivan held our banners and read our mission statement on the streets of Melbourne once again. We use this time together to tell each other what other events or concerns are pulling at our hearts--Sue tells us of the work around protesting the Northern Territory Intervention into Aboriginal Communities, Hellen of her work with Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Geraldine finishing her book, "Women Working Together:Suffrage and Onwards," (http://www.womensweb.com.au/) and Sivan
is helping to organize the gathering for "Pathways to Reconciliation Summit: Human Security through Community Engagement," to be held in Amman, Jordan, 14-17 December 2009. A little background of this ground breaking undertaking: "Global Reconciliation is an Australian-initiated network of people and organisations around the world seeking to promote reconciliation--that is communication and dialogue across national, cultural and religious and racial differences.

Since it was formed in 2002 Global Reconciliation has conducted international conferences and initiated collaborative projects in many countries. We have eight major areas of interest: health care and medicine; the arts and culture; learning and education; livelihoods and money; spirituality and celebration; sport and recreation; place and environment and justice and ethics. The partners in our organization include government and non government organisations, academic institutions, professional associations and community based groups. Our patrons are the Reverend Desmond Tutu, the Hon Sir William Deane, Aung San Suu Kyi (not in current communication), President Jose Ramos-Huerta, Professor Bernard Lown, Professor Amartya Sen and Dr Lowitja O'Donaghue." For more information contact Dr Elizabeth Kath, RMIT Global Cities Research Institute, elizabeth.kath@rmit.edu.au to register on line:www.global-cities.info/ammanog

Every vigil has its own breath, its own encounters with people who stop to talk, to argue, to wonder at what are these women doing--and the street has its own life--shoppers, tourists, workers, students, musicians. It is a privilege to take to the streets, to engage with strangers over matters of human decency.

Women in Black, Long Island, USA and Our New Year Statement

Women in Black standing in Bellport, Long Island, New York, 2009. Their Mission Statement:
Women in Black stand in silent vigil to protest war an d human rights abuses all over the world. Mere words cannot express the tragedy that wars and hatred bring. 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 of sorrow for all victims of war, for the destruction of people, nature and the fabric of life.


Women in Black is an international peace network. WIB is not an organization, but a means of mobilization and a formula for action. WIB vigils were started in Israel in 1988 by women protesting against Israel's Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. WIB vigils developed in Italy, Spain, Germany, England, Azerbaijan, Columbia and in FR Yugoslavia. Women in Belgrade have stood weekly vigils since 1991 to protest war and the Serbian regime's policies of nationalist aggression. WIB groups have formed in many cities in the United States since September 11th. Women in Black New York has been holding vigils in solidarity throughout the world since 1993. Women in Black Bellport has been holding their vigils every Saturday from 11:00 AM since March 2003. Please wear black, if possible. Children and Men Welcome.


Women in Black, Melbourne, Australia will have its monthly vigil this Saturday from 12-1 in front of the old GPO. One of our members, Hellen, has asked us to add the following commitments to our mission statement:

Women in Black make these promises for the New Year.
We promise to expose the lies that demonize those who discuss nonviolent ways to end the Israeli occupation.
We promise to uphold the human rights reports of the attack on Gaza--the "UN's Goldstone Report" and "Breaking the Silence."
We promise to stand in solidarity with Israeli and Palestinian activists who face jail for their anti-occupation work--with the Shministim, with Mohammed Othman, wiht Kobi Snitz, with Ezra Nawi.


As we receive messages from Women in Black groups around the world, our belief in the power of grassroots progressive movements strengthens. And we have no choice but to speak, question,protest, vigil--to put into the human air women's voices demanding respect for the fullness of life.

Our September Vigil

On the streets in Melbourne for our monthly vigil, one of our largest. With wonderful musical accompaniment by "Bonjah." A human rights activist from New Zealand joined us and an old friend, Penny, was there as well. We do not mean to over simplify the sadnesses or complexities of the struggle with these images--but we do mean to show that words must be put into the streets and our bodies with them.

From the Archives--A Woman in Black Confession

"I confess

to my long time anti-war activity;



that I did not agree with the severe beatings of people of other enthnicities
and nationalities, faiths, races, sexual orientation;



that I was not present at the ceremonial act of throwing flowers on the tanks headed for Vukovar, 1991, and Prishtina, 1998;


that I fed women and children in the refugee camps, schools, churches and mosques;


that I sent packages for women and men in the basements of occupied Sarajevo in 1993, 1994, and 1995;


that for the entire year, I crossed the walls of Balkan ethno-states, because solidarity is the politics which interests me;


that I understand democracy as a support to anti-war activists/friends/sisters--Albanian women, Croat women, Roma women, stateless women;


that I first challenged the murderers from the state where I live and then those from other states because I consider this to be responsible political behaviour of a citizen;


that throughout all the seasons of the year, I insisted that there be an end to the slaughter, destruction, ethnic cleansing, forced evacuation of people and rape



that I took care of others while patriots took care of themselves.


from a Women in Black in Belgrade statement, October 9, 1998

Bibliography on Women in Black--An On-Going Project

To enable a deeper understanding of the history and actions of Women in Black as an international grassroots movement, we will post here a continuing bibliography of articles about this movement. Please send us any titles you want to add to the list. If you would like a copy of any of these that are missing further bibliographical information, please write to Joan Nestle on this website. Also these are papers that have made their way into my hands; many more materials can be found through traditional periodical searches.


Helman, Sara and Rapoport, Tamar. "Women in Black: Challenging Israel's Gender and
and Socio-Political Orders," The British Journal of Sociology, 48, no. 4: Dec, 1997,
pp. 681-700. with bibliography.


Nissen, Alex. "Israel/Palestine: Crimes Against Humanity," New Matilda, 19 July 2006.


Sachs, D., Saar, A., and Aharoni., S. "The Influence of the Armed Israeli-Palestinian Conflict on
Women in Israel," 19 pages with bibliography.


Sachs, D. and Safran, Hannah. "Equal Representation in a Divided Society: Feminist Experience
in Israel," 2005, Haifa, 18 pages.


Safran, Hannah. "Fighting Against Multiple Opressions: Lesbian-Feminist Peace Activism in
Israel," Vienna, 2007. 4 pages.
___________. "Captive in the National Discourse: Immigrant Women and the Struggle for
Women's suffrage for Jewish Women in Palestine in the 1920s." Paper presented at the
conference of the Association for Israel Studies, Ra'anna, 2007, 12 pages, a draft.


Ulasowski, Nina. "'It's a Hard Row to Hoe, Girl'"*: Feminist Solidarity in Women's Antiwar
Activism: Women in Black and the Dilemma of Difference," 51 pages with bibliography.
*Maria, Women in Black, USA

The Tragedy of Israel, of All Our National Violences

To the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans, Queer Community of Tel Aviv and Israel.

We are standing with you in solidarity in this time of great sadness and mourning. We join thousands of queer, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transpeople around the world who refuse to let hatred destroy the beauty of human love.

From Joan Nestle and Alex Nissen of Women in Black, Melbourne, Monday, August 3, 2009

I want to say that I carry with me always in my heart the young gay people I met in Israel in 2008. I saw your beauty of body and heart, and to think that such courage and hope should be so endangered deeply saddens me but I know our collective strength.

Joan

Women in Black understands that societies that use violence against civilians they deem unworthy as an every day expression of national policies, as the Israeli government does, open their own streets to brutal enactments of punishment of the unwanted. We stand, as queer and straight women, against homophobia, racism and the daily deaths of Palestinian lives and dreams.

Weekly Report on Israeli Human Rights Violations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory

(23-29, July 2009)

7 Palestinian civilians, including one child and one woman, wounded by Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) in the West Bank

IOF conducted 21 incursions into Palestinian communities in the West Bank, and one into the Gaza Strip

IOF arrested 14 Palestinian civilians, including two children, in the West Bank

IOF arrested 200 Palestinian workers from Barta's Village, which is isolated by the Annexation Wall

IOF have continued to impose a total siege on the OPT and have isolated the Gaza Strip from the outside world

IOF troops arrested at military checkpoints in the West Bank arrested one Palestinian civilian.

IOF troops have continued measures aimed at evicting Palestinian families from their traditional homes in East Jerusalem

Israeli settlers seized a Palestinian house in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood

From the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights Gaza (PCHR, http://www.pchrgaza.org)-

-and this is only one week's report. We stand because we cannot endure the ongoing nationally ordained suffering of a people day after day. I stand as a 70 year old American Jew, now an Australian one, as a queer woman to say to the sky above us, I see, I see and I will say no. Join Us.

Joan

The Women of Women in Black, Melbourne: Karen, Geraldine, Hellen,Alex, Marge, Joan, Sivan

These photographs of our last vigil were taken by a passing photographer, gxdoyle, whose work can be seen on Flicka. More and more, it is becoming imperative that we express our dissent in the societies in which we can. I think of the women journalists who have met their death for refusing silence. How can we, who stand in safety, do less?

Our Refusal to be Silent

Last month, The Nation , a progressive American news journal, ran an article praising Caryl Churchhill's play, "Seven Jewish Children" by two gay Jewish writers, Tony Kushner and Alisa Solomon. The debate continues in the letter section of this month's Nation and I want to bring to your attention a poem by Stan Smith. He introduces the poem by saying "To AIPAC and to those who resist allowing Seven Jewish Children and My Name is Rachel Corrie, etc., to be performed:

"You are dead

If you will not talk about

What you will not talk about

Or allow me to talk about.

I do not allow you to be dead.

Do not be frozen in the Camps.

Do not stop us from suggesting that

America

Could be a better friend to Israel

differently,

Or that to criticize is an act of love.

Do not disallow that Israel might be

partly wrong,

Or that the Palestinians might be only

partly wrong.

If you will not talk abut how they

might be partly right,

Then you are dead.

Judaism is ethical;

To be Jewish is always to see oneself

on the edge of being wrong

And not to flinch from the balancing act

Of being fully alive and fully

seen by God.

We must talk.

We must talk about it all.

I do not allow you to be dead.

Do not do that to yourself."

Stan Smith, The Nation, May 18, 2009

posted by Joan Nestle for WIB, Melbourne

If we do not talk about it all--something I never thought we would have a problem with--then we find ourselves forbidding other people to talk about it all--as in the Israeli's government's pending law to make public commemoration of the el Nakba a traitorous act. Repression of memory is an impossible act and the sign of a morally bankrupt regime.

In Women's Hands: Alex, Hellen and others from our April WIB Vigil

The pamphlet Hellen is holding in her hands at our discussion table after the vigil is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights

What's Happening to Israeli Democracy and Freedom by Alex Nissen

Alex is a founding member of Women in Black, Melbourne and the Coalition of Women for Peace who travels between Melbourne and Israel. Following is an article she wrote for The Australian Jewish Democratic Society Newsletter, May 2009, after the raids on the homes of New Profile members in three cities in Israel this month. (More on New Profile soon)

How does one begin to describe what is happening to freedom of expression and debate in Israel? When is it time for global Jewish communities to raise their voices in support of the Israeli peace movements and against the actions of the Israeli government to suppress dissent? Is it not our responsibility as Jews to hold Israel accountable for its actions?


Last year, the Israeli Attorney-General announced a criminal investigation into New Profile--a feminist movement whose proclaimed aim is "civil-isation of society in Israel" and "opposition to the undue influence of the military on daily life. New Profile is part of the Coalition of Women for Peace. The group's prime role is to support young Israelis by providing counseling and information. They also provide support and information on imprisoned conscientious objectors.


In late April, New Profile activist houses all over the country were raided. Their computers were confiscated, and they were summoned for interrogation. Since then, they have been released on bail under restraining orders and were told that during the next 30 days they were forbidden to contact other members of the movement. Contrary to the police's accusation, the organization is adamant that "We do not encourage, incite or preach in favour of draft dodging."


"Amongst those interrogated: Analeen Kish, aged 70, a ceramics artist, daughter of a family of the "Righteous Among Nations" who converted to Judaism after her marriage to Holocaust survivor Dr Eldad Kish, active in organizations of Dutch Holocaust survivors in Israel. Miriam Hadar, aged 51, an editor and translator..."


As we go to press, police have summoned an additional ten activists for interrogation. What happened to freedom of expression and dissent in Israel? Why is the Israeli government attacking feminist peace organisations now? Is is because this new Israeli government has moved more to the Right with the inclusion of Avigdor Lieberman, who is known for his racism? What is our responsibility to the Israeli peace movement, freedom of expression, dissent, justice and human rights? When is it right for us to take action? Does silence in knowing what is really happening yet ignoring the situation make us complicit?


For those who love and care about Israel, watching what is happening is painful. With all the accessible information about the continuous deterioration of human rights, is it not time to voice our opinion? (For more information: Http://www.newprofile.org/english)

The Night at the State Library, Melbourne, May 18, 2009

Di and I arrived at 5:15, over an hour early to meet Alex and Marg and Sue, and other Women in Black comrades for a coffee before the events of the night, but we were stunned to see that even at this early hour hundreds of people were already standing in a long que stretching up the street. The night grew dark, people greeted each other, young people from various groups leafleted us as we waited, Students for Palestine, the Jewish Students Group, others slipped into our hands broadsheets saying why the play we were going to see, all ten minutes of it, Caryl Churchill's "Seven Jewish Children," was antisemitic. Because of the controversy over the appearance of the well known Australian Jewish actress Miriam Margoyles in the reading, Australians for Palestine, the sponsoring organization of the night, had changed the night's agenda to include a panel discussion after the play reading and time for audience comments. As the night darkened we could hear the chants of competing student groups, and we knew that the time of silence over Israel's national policies was over; many parts of the Melbourne community were ready to talk out loud and passionately and will be for a long time. Palestinian and Jewish, we sat together in the too too small lecture hall, many still standing out in the street, to be welcomed by Sonia, the dedicated leading force in Palestinians for Australia, a commanding presence, who quietly centered us on the timing of the play, the commemoration of the Palestinian Nakba, the catastrophe, for the Palestinians which was the founding of the state of Israel, two opposing histories, trying to find a common ground.

As Sonya wrote in the program notes: "While everyone has their own opinion of the matter, the Palestinian Nakba remains pivotal to this event. It is inherent in the play's own intent to show a 'shared' history, which we believe is the point of the play and not the attempts to denigrate it as antisemitic. So, not only do we hope the play will contribute to a greater understanding of the Palestinian narrative here in Australia, we also hope to find common ground with the Jewish community so that Israel's policies and practices do not come between people desiring universal human rights, respect for international law and a just peace."

-- I found the reading of the play moving and rich with connections, and the ensuing conversation--a young Palestinian Australian woman scholar, a well known Jewish QC, Prof. Yakov Rabkin, a Canadian visiting Professor of History and author of "A Threat from Within: Jewish Opposition to Zionism," an Australian Palestinian father telling of his family's history of displacement and of his family still living in Israel, detailing his life of interconnectedness, a young Zionist professor and Dennis Altman, the gay historian speaking as a "public intellectual," a term I will run from forever more--sometimes inspiring, sometimes infuriating, sometimes challenging, sometimes pushing me to new thinking. The evening ended with a short film of the assault on Gaza set to the reading by Dr. Rafey Habib of his poem, "A Prayer for Gaza." [We will include the texts of the poem on another posting] All the talk fell away, as images of the dead and wounded, of the crumpled world that once was Gaza, of the images of militarism raining down destruction on all our dreams of life and hope--for in such unjust acts, we all die a little, the Jewish heart that seeks a humane world and the Palestinian mother who looks for her child amid the rubble of her home. I can still hear the voice of the actress, refusing mikes or that stage, shouting out to us, stop the bombing, stop the killing, talk, TALK, TALK, she screamed. As we poured into the now quiet night street, we knew that there was no turning back from our struggle to call for a new Israeli way. Later we learned that the library had been pressured not to allow the event to happen. It is too late for such tactics now.
Joan

Coming Events: Reading of Seven Jewish Children

Our colleagues in Melbourne, Australians for Palestine, have organized a reading of Caryl Churchhill's play, Seven Jewish Children, on 18 May at the State Library of Victoria--as you may know Miriam Margoyles has already suffered for her appearance in this 7 minute reverie about history and its complexities. Women in Black will be in attendance. Two excellent films, This Palestinian Life and The Land Speaks Arabic will also be shown.

We hear much of the Taliban in Afghanistan and the NATO and Allied Forces' fight to control them but little of the ongoing consequences for ordinary Afghans, particularly women and girls. Live has become increasingly more insecure and traumatic for these women.

In the first week of June, we will be fortunate to have one of RAWA's (The Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan : http://www.rawa.org) courageous and inspirational members, Shazia Shakib, with us in Melbourne.

Here is your opportunity to mees Shazia and hear of the current situation in Afghanistan and the challenging work of RAWA whilst in great company of women.
When? Tuesday June 2nd, 2009
Where? Downunder Curry, 417-419 Hight Street, Northcote
What: A delicious three course meal (BYO or licensed)
Cost: $45 ($25 meal and $20 donation to RAWA)
Bookings? Booking essential: Phone--email mok@connexus.net.au

Images from Our May 1st Vigil

Our after vigil gathering where we plan, discuss, and give each other cheer. Come join us.

Welcome to Women in Black, Melbourne, Australia

A brief history: The first Saturday of every month, a group of women, called Women in Black, stand in front of the Old GPO in Melbourne, Australia, protesting the Israeli occupation of Gaza specifically and the use of military force against civilian populations around the world. Women in Black came into being in 1987 in Israel as a protest against the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. From this first silent vigil in the center of Haifa by seven Israeli women sprang what is now a world-wide grassroots network of women committed to peace with justice, actively opposed to war and other forms of violence. The Israeli women, soon joined by Palestinian women, held their silent vigil to show their resistance to the occupation of Palestinian lands and the rise of unprecedented violence against women and children.


Women in black vigils were soon being held in Italy and Belgrade, and then in other countries in Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South American and Australia. in 1989, 5,000 women, Palestinian and Israeli, marched in Jerusalem, demanding a two state solution where the human rights of women and children were protected. Sadly, this international grassroots movement is as important now as it was in the start of the Intifada over 20 years ago.

Vigil sites around the world: Haifa, Jerusalem, Israel; Canberra, Sydney, Adelaide, Armidale, Melbourne, Australia; Naples, Turin, Padova, Rome, Italy; Athens, Greece; Oxford, London, England; Belgrade, Serbia; Cologne, Berlin, Bonn, Germany; Edinburgh, Scotland; Goteberg, Halmsted, Sweden; Kitchner, Calgary, London, Ontario, Montreal, Ottawa, Toronto, Canada; Valencia, Spain; 20 states in the United States of America; Amsterday, Netherlands; Malmo, Stockholm, Pitea, Sweden; Marseille, Strasbourg, Paris, France; Oslo, Norway; Switzerland; Vienna, Austrai; Pune, Marashtra, India...

From the Archives
Melbourne's Women in Black vigil has a long history, beginning in 1989. From Melbourne's Women in Black Newsletter No.3 (November 18, 1989):
"It is now six months since June 3rd when Women in Black inaugurated itself with a successful vigil if rather wet vigil which attracted lots of media coverage. Since then we have kept up regular vigils on the GPO steps in the Bourke Street Mall. Sustaining regular monthly vigils has been an achievement in itself. The WIB faithful and other women who attend have generally agreed that the vigils are worthwhile and very consciousness raising--both for members of the public with whom we engage in discussion and for the vigilers themselves.

Hellen, Alex, Marg, Sue, Sandra, Sivan, myself, Joan, and others welcome you to this site and to our vigils.

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