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)