The group makes people aware of the ill-effects of war and is trying to push the authorities to find a better solution to the problem in their country
About three years ago, when a few women in Israel started a movement for peace, they had only one objective in mind — to create a better world for their future generations. The movement, which is now called 'Women Wage Peace', has over 20,000 members associated with it.
The group makes people aware of the ill-effects of war and is trying to push the authorities to find a better solution to the problem in their country. DNA caught up with two of its members in Delhi and spoke to them about how they are trying to promote civil dialogue between Jews and Arabs in the country.
"Women from all over Israel decided that they are fed up of war, so they came together to start a movement for peace. We believe that women, wherever they are, have a certain goal. They want a better future for their children.
Women manage to bring an alternative approach to issues and change the reality in the region," says Vardit Kaplan, co-founder of Women Wage Peace.
"We want the money to be invested in better projects in the country. We work in different projects across Israel. We will pressurise the government to go into negotiation to find a resolution to end the conflict in our area. We believe women should be a part of the negotiation in an area of conflict, because they are the ones who suffer the most during a war," she added.
Women from different region and religion — Arab, Jewish, secular, religious all kinds of women — work together in order to give a better future to their children as a part of this movement.
The group had organised a march of 20,000 people last year in October. Women from all over Israel went upto the Dead Sea and met 1,000 Palestinian women. Both sides marched together and prayed for peace.
The group also educates children in schools. They show them movies on conflict and their effects on the residents.
Another member of the Women Wage Peace movement, Rahab Abd Halim said, "We will not stop until we achieve our goal. We started with only a handful of women and now we are thousands. We all are together in this because we want the same thing — peace."
Rahab, who runs a school where specially-abled children study along with able-bodied ones, believes in the power of education to find a solution to problems.
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