Dozens of Palestinian women suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation and lost consciousness as Israeli forces quelled a peaceful female rally on Saturday, March 7, marking International Women’s Day near the Qalandia checkpoint. Occupation forces fired tear gas canisters and stun grenades towards the women participating in the rally which also was held to protest the suffering of Palestinian women under the Israeli occupation.
Dozens of Palestinian women suffered from excessive tear gas inhalation and lost consciousness as Israeli forces quelled a peaceful female rally, marking International Women’s Day, near the Qalandia checkpoint on Saturday, March 7, 2015. (Photo: Pluma Solo)
The rally was organized by the Palestinian Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the General Union of Palestinian Women (GUPW), and other Palestinian organizations and was held jointly with a number of Israeli women’s organizations under the banner “Women Break the Wall.” The Movement of Democratic Women in Israel (TANDI) has issued a statement calling for “Solidarity of all women for the common struggle of equal rights in all walks of life.” The TANDI statement read: “We will demonstrate for the rights of every woman, regardless of age, religion, race, or nationality, to live in security and dignity, and to be free to realize her potential without hindrance, without discrimination, and without political, social, or economic oppression. This demonstration will make tangible the commitment of women to fight all such barriers, and their common call to put an end to discrimination, oppression, and occupation,” Among the Israeli organizations which participated in the demonstration were Isha L’Isha – the Feminist Center in Haifa, Mahapach–Taghir, the Movement of Democratic Women in Israel (TANDI), Women against Violence, Women in Black, and the Coalition of Women for Peace. During the demonstration on the other side of the Wall, two Hadash and Comunist Party of Israel leading members: Aida Touma-Sliman and Dov Khenin, demanded an end to the Israel occupation.
Demonstration in Jerusalem
The Women Wage Peace organization, formed after the devastating war in the Gaza Strip last summer in which more than 2,200 Palestinians were killed with 73 dead on the Israeli side, are hoping their voice will be heard as Israelis go to the polls on March 17. Thousands of women marched last Wednesday, March 4, in Jerusalem chanting: “We will vote for a peace deal,” and “We choose life.” Women Wage Peace numbers some 7,000 members, all female, and another 15,000 supporters mostly active on social media.
The group’s aim is to push the next government, regardless who forms it, to resume peace talks with Palestinians and come to a final agreement that will end decades of occupation and the bloody conflict. Speakers at the Wednesday’s rally in Jerusalem, commemorating International Women’s Day, condemned the extreme-right wing government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the deadly July-August military campaign against Gaza. “We have suffered through enough wars,” one speaker shouted. “Among us are women who will raise the next generation of soldiers who will be forced to go to war. It’s been enough!”
As an independent organization, Women Wage Peace does not say who it prefers to see as prime minister, but simply insists that whoever fills the office seriously address the Palestinian conflict. The organization hopes that its grassroots approach will help bring this about by organizing debate and conferences throughout Israel.
“During the last war, I promised myself to do what ever I must so that my son would not be killed in combat,” says Lili Weisberger, a member of the group whose 21-year-old son fought in Gaza during his military service, and who returned home physically unharmed. “I decided I would take action so this nightmare could never recur,” and joined the organization. Women Wage Peace has condemned the “militarization of society” in Israel, where Jewish teenagers, after finishing high school, are required to do military service – three years for men, two for women – which often sends them into combat zones. “I don’t want to see any more of this war against the youth, with 18 or 20-year-old Israeli soldiers on one side and Palestinian children on the other,” says Amal Rihan, a mother-of-four and a teacher of Arabic living near Tel Aviv. “The only solution is to reach a peace deal.”
