International
Womens Day 2017 Declaration
We, Palestinian and Israeli members of the
Jerusalem Link (Jerusalem Center for Women
and Bat Shalom), wish to draw your attention
to one of the most serious consequences
of the continued Israeli occupation of Palestine
since 1967, particularly in light of the
potential war on Iraq.
Over the last few years, the Israeli government
has refused to enter into political negotiations
with the PNA, with the intention of maintaining
control over Palestinian land and destroying
any possibility of establishing a viable
Palestinian state. As an alternative to
negotiations, and in an attempt to break
the will of the Palestinian people, Israel
has introduced illegal measures, which seriously
and repeatedly violate the 4th Geneva Convention.
These measures include repeated military
invasions, assassination and arbitrary killings,
curfews, local expulsions (small scale quiet
ethnic cleansing), mass imprisonment, home
demolitions, sieges of villages, camps and
cities, denial of family reunification,
ID confiscation, and systematic practices
to undermine the education and health sectors.
Two policies, extending the settlements
and building a separation fence between
Israel and Palestine, have involved direct
confiscation of Palestinian land, but have
had additional consequences as well. The
by-pass roads linking settlements are strengthening
an Apartheid system through parcellation
of Palestinian land. As a consequence of
government tolerance of Israeli settlers'
lawlessness of incursions and violence,
some Palestinians have been forced to abandon
land cultivation and even their homes. The
separation fence disrupts normal communal
functioning. In short, contravening international
law, human rights norms and laws, the basis
for a secure and orderly life in the occupied
territories has been systematically destroyed.
Given this context, we are very disturbed
by calls of a number of Israeli public figures
that Israel should ensure a demographic
advantage, as well as by calls in favor
of expulsion in the event of a war against
Iraq. These calls echo historic Israeli
policies that feed the notion of "transfer"
and provide legitimization in public and
Israeli governing circles. Transfer - coercion
by one or another means to get Palestinians
to leave - need not take the form of direct
expulsion. By incremental acts of collective
punishment, by land confiscation, by destroying
the Palestinian economy and political structures,
by making life intolerable, Israel can actually
carry out direct expulsion (transfer as
a mechanism for ethnic cleansing) before
the international community has time to
respond.
It is for this reason, out of responsibility
to ourselves as feminist peace activists
and to our peoples, that we ask your cooperation
in sensitizing the international community
to this threat. We believe the road to peace
is justice, and we have chosen to together
travel that path through political dialogue
and with mutual respect. Our vision for
a just peace includes a Palestinian state
on the land occupied in 1967, sharing Jerusalem
– two capitals for two states, dismantling
of Jewish settlements and a just solution
to the question of refugees according to
relevant UN resolutions.
We believe that international community
intervention is critically needed to make
sure Israel is held accountable for its
actions in the occupied territories and
to build a just peace between Israel and
Palestine. It is the role of individual
states to pressure the Israeli government
to stop its oppressive measures of occupation
using all possible means as part of their
bilateral relations. Also, it is the role
of individual states to work collectively
with other member states of the international
community and use international bodies to
develop mechanisms to protect Palestinian
civilians.
18 February 2017
The Jerusalem Center for Women and Bat Shalom
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Palestinian
and Israeli Women Demand Immediate End to
Occupation
Israel has launched a war against defenseless
Palestinian communities. The terrorization
of innocent civilians, the unlawful killings
and arrests, and the destruction of property,
infrastructures and institutions, can only
lead to further escalation, prolonging the
sufferings of both nations and destroying
any prospects for peace. The climate of
fear and the obsession with reprisals that
grips our two peoples obscure the true cause
of this cycle of violence - the continued
and unlawful Israeli occupation of the Palestinian
people and their land.
It is our role, women on both sides, to
speak out loudly against the humanitarian
crimes committed in order to permanently
subjugate an entire nation. Right now, in
the face of uncontrolled military turmoil,
we jointly ask the international community
of states to accept its duty and mandate
by international humanitarian law to prevent
abuses of an occupying power, by officially
intervening to protect the Palestinian people.
Beyond the immediate crisis, we know that
there is one future for us both. The deliberate
harming of innocent civilians, Palestinian
or Israeli, must not be condoned. By working
together we improve our chances for a better
future. We believe that women can develop
an alternative voice promoting effective
peace initiatives and sound approaches.
We undertake to work for this goal together.
Women have already begun to give substance
to the recognition that a just peace is
a peace between equals. When we call for
a Palestinian state (on the territories
occupied on 4th of June 1967) alongside
the state of Israel, we envision true sovereignty
for each state, including control over land
and natural resources. We envision a settlement
based on international law, which would
endorse sharing the whole city of Jerusalem,
the dismantling of the settlements, and
a just solution to the question of refugees
according to relevant UN resolutions. In
continuing our joint work together, we want
not only to achieve an end to the occupation;
we want to help create the conditions for
a life of security and dignity for both
peoples.
We call upon all women and men, young and
old, to join us in our sincere quest to
preserve life, human dignity and freedom
in our region. Dehumanization, hatred, revenge,
and oppression contribute nothing to the
resolution of a century of conflict. Mutual
recognition and respect of each other’s
individual and collective rights will pave
the way for peace making.
April 2017
The Jerusalem Center for Women and Bat Shalom
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"JERUSALEM
DAY" - June 1, 2016
Sharing Jerusalem: Two Capitals for Two
States
We, Israeli and Palestinian women, are united
in our efforts to realize a just resolution
to the conflict between our two peoples.
The Israeli government and the right wing
are perpetuating the schism in the city,
hiding the truth behind their misleading
slogan of a "United Jerusalem".
The truth is that Jerusalem has not been
united since 1948. Jerusalem’s walls resonate
with the resentment and hostility that separate
West from East. Palestinian Jerusalemites
in occupied East Jerusalem continue to suffer
from the injustice and discrimination legitimized
by the manipulation of bureaucratic regulations.
Their homes are destroyed and their lands
and identity cards are confiscated.
Palestinians, too, have inalienable historical,
national, political, cultural and religious
rights to the city of Jerusalem.
An authentically "United Jerusalem" will
be possible only when there is mutual agreement
and recognition between the two nations,
Palestine and Israel, with Jerusalem as
the capital of both states.
We urge you to join the "Alternative Jerusalem
Day" events in the city this week:
Human Rights Fair: May 31st, 16:00,
New Gate
Sharing Jerusalem - Two Capitals for
Two States: June 1st, 16:00, New Gate
he Jerusalem Center for Women and Bat Shalom
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INTERNATIONAL
WOMENS DAY 2016
In the spirit of International Womens Day
2016, we call for the struggle for justice
to continue so that women everywhere may
live lives free of violence, poverty, oppression,
and racism. For us, Palestinian and Israeli
women, finally ending the occupation is
a critical part of that struggle.
We protest and demand the end to the violence
and oppression of Israeli settlement expansion,
house demolitions, land confiscation, and
all human rights violations.
We, Israeli and Palestinian women, are united
in a joint vision of peace and a joint struggle
for justice as steps toward a future peace
that will guarantee good neighborly relations.
We call for the immediate resumption of
negotiations toward a final settlement by
September, 2016. A resolution of the issues
of final borders, settlements, refugees,
water rights, and Jerusalem must be based
on international law and legality that will
guarantee parity and a two state solution.
The vision we share as women of a world
free of violence, racism, oppression and
inequality is one which is inextricably
linked to a just settlement of the conflict
in our region. And may we then, Palestinian
and Israeli women, begin creating an intentional
and sustained culture of peace, with women
at the heart of reconstruction and reconciliation.
Bat Shalom and The Jerusalem Center
for Women
8.3.2016
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Jerusalem
Day 1999 The Time Has Come to Share Jerusalem
We, Palestinian and Israeli women, united
in a joint effort to end the conflict between
our two peoples, re-affirm our commitment
to end the occupation and share Jerusalem:
Two capitals for two sovereign states.
We condemn the unilateral actions of the
Israeli government that forestall a shared
Jerusalem:
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Ongoing threats to close
down the Orient House and other Palestinian
institutions |
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The revocation of residency
rights of Palestinian Jerusalemites
|
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The demolition of homes
of Palestinian Jerusalemites |
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Confiscation of Palestinian
lands |
To achieve a just and lasting
peace in the Middle East, our leaders must
speak out courageously: The time has come
to share Jerusalem.
Jerusalem Center for
Women
P.O. Box 51630 Jerusalem, Palestine
Tel. (02) 244-7068
Bat Shalom
P.O. Box 8083 Jerusalem, Israel
Tel. (02) 563-2622
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