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POLITICS-MIDEAST: Women Hope to Jumpstart Peace Talks

Mithre J. Sandrasagra

UNITED NATIONS, May 4 2006 (IPS) - Palestinian and Israeli women leaders met in New York Wednesday to call upon members of the international community to fulfill their obligations to be proactive third parties in ending the protracted Palestinian-Israeli conflict.

“As violence increases again – and positions harden – in the wake of the recent Palestinian and Israeli elections, one truth has become urgent: both sides need to find ways to keep talking to each other,” members of the International Women’s Commission for a Just and Sustainable Palestinian-Israeli Peace (IWC) said in a statement.

The IWC, meeting at the Mission of Norway following meetings with U.N. officials, expressed concern that the results of the Palestinian elections are being seen as a reason to disengage from the peace process, when in fact, this is a critical moment to explore a resumption of negotiations.

IWC, comprised of Palestinian, Israeli and international women leaders, first came together in Istanbul, Turkey in July of 2005 to push for a two-state solution and to ensure the implementation of the groundbreaking U.N. Security Council Resolution 1325, the first resolution ever passed by the Council that specifically addressed the impact of war on women, and women’s contributions to conflict resolution and sustainable peace.

“Hope collapsed with the election of Hamas,” said Noeleen Heyzer, executive director of the U.N. Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM).

Hamas, regarded as a militant Palestinian Islamist organisation, won 74 out of 132 seats in the January 2006 Palestinian legislative election and is now the majority party.

Following the Hamas victory, the Quartet in the Middle East – the European Union, United States, Russia and the U.N. – announced that future aid to the Palestinians would be tied to three principles: that Hamas renounce violence, that it recognise Israel’s right to exist, and that it express clear support for the Middle East peace process.

Hamas leaders rejected these demands as unfair. “Hamas is immune to bribery, intimidation and blackmail,” Khaled Meshaal, the movement’s leader, wrote in Britain’s Guardian newspaper. Hamas’ political head in Gaza, Ismail Haniya, insisted international aid was vital humanitarian assistance for people living under Israel’s occupation.

The narrative in the international community changed after the election, Heyzer continued. “I didn’t have any hope; but this group got together again to reshape the dialogue and show opportunities that exist in this very small window of time,” she said.

Heyzer also serves as an international memeber of IWC.

“Women have been attempting to stop this conflict before the beginning,” said Naomi Chazan, former deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset.

“The problem now is that there is no table,” Chazan said. “We have to act now to build the table and get people to sit around it,” she stressed.

An overwhelming majority among Israelis and Palestinians favour “negotiated settlement rather than unilateral further disentanglement,” according to a public opinion poll taken jointly by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research in March.

“Our objective is identical – a just, fair, viable two-state solution,” Chazan said.

Colette Avital, deputy speaker of the Israeli Knesset, emphasised that this is the first time since 1967 that a majority of the Knesset favours a two-state solution. While previously, people thought that a two-state solution was something that would have to be lived with, she said, public sentiment is shifting on this.

“Most people now feel it is a necessity, unless there is a Palestinian state, Israel is also in danger,” Avital said.

“We have created a self-fullfilling prophecy,” Avital continued, “for four or five years in Israeli politics we have been saying that Palestinians are irrelevant, that Palestinian government is irrelevant.”

But permanent borders cannot be drawn by just one side, Avital stressed.

The humiliation of either side is unacceptable, Heyzer said.

“There is no military solution, we are two people in the same land, we have to learn to live with each other and each other’s right to self-determination,” said Palestinian delegate Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas, director of the Women’s Centre for Legal Aid and Counseling in Jerusalem.

“The only way there will be a moment of peace and quiet is if there is a Palestinian state next to an Israeli state,” Chazan agreed.

Moderate voices exist in the political community, on both sides, which must urgently be identified and supported to ensure engagement.

“Hamas is not a homogenous bloc,” said Amal Khreisheh, director of the Palestinian Working Women Society for Development, “there are moderate voices within Hamas who must be encouraged to shape the national dialogue.”

“Hamas is not al Qaeda,” Khreisheh stressed.

Palestinian delegates emphasised that Hamas was elected in a genuine democratic process, and on a range of different issues, such as dealing with corruption and providing services.

“Change has to be from within if Hamas is to go,” said Abu-Dayyeh Shamas. “Palestinians’ votes for Hamas were for the rule of law and to fight corruption. Hamas was the only viable strong option.”

“If we have elections again now, Hamas will become even more powerful than before,” Abu-Dayyeh Shamas warned.

Avital agreed. In fact, to avoid unilateralism, Avital suggests strengthening Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian National Authority, “so that there is someone to negotiate with.”

Palestinians should be allowed to sort out their political disagreements, both Palestinian and Israeli delegates said, while governance continues.

At the same time, said Abu-Dayyeh Shamas, there are indications that Hamas seems to be moving towards an acceptance of the idea that Abbas could play a major role in negotiating with Israel.

“If Hamas agrees to negotiations, Fatah [the opposition party since the elections] will not say no,” she said, “this will be the first time that negotiations could take place that both the government and the opposition could support.”

Women on both sides declared that it is more important than ever to reach out across boundaries.

Academics and the military both agree, “unilateralism will bring about more violence,” Avital said.

As women and as politicians or activists in different struggles, the delegates are committed to continuing the dialogue.

“We can not do it with just Israel and Palestine, we need the Quartet and the international community,” Avital stressed.

Moreover, the delegates insisted that they be included in any peace negotiations that may come about – as decisions will then be taken that will impact Israelis and Palestinians for years to come.

“As women, we have a key role to play in meeting challenges and starting the longer-term process of rebuilding communities, reviving dialogue among all parts of society, and showing that there are other ways to live,” said Chazan.

“Despite the fact that Israel, Palestine and members of the Quartet have all pledged to implement Security Council Resolution 1325, which calls for increased engagement of women at all levels of decision-making in conflict resolution, this intention has still to be translated into practice.”

The IWC delegates are in Washington Friday to meet with U.S. State Department officials and members of Congress.

The Quartet is due to meet on May 9.