In the summer of 2014, when 2000 Palestinians were killed on the Gaza strip and Hamas fired back over 4,000 rockets as retaliation, an Israeli mother decided that she's had enough. Her 18-year-old son was enlisted as per the Israel army's mandatory service, and Ornit Shani could no longer let things be.
"I had to do something. So, I went public. I went to news channels and questioned the government on the military operations. I asked them that what was the need for the mindless violence," says Shani. The government's reply was that the Hamas had dug out underground tunnels into Israel.
The reply did not make sense to Shani, so she started talking to other mothers. "I started a movement called 'Mothers Asking' where I questioned the government as a layperson, a woman and a mother," says Shani. In no time, she found huge support from women who felt that there was no other choice for the government but peace.
Shani, speaking at a session at the Zee Jaipur Literary Festival in a session called 'Women Waging Peace'. "We organized a meeting of Israeli women, and luckily found support from Palestinian women. A Palestinian mother got in touch with us and through her phone, we reached out to several women in Palestine. Together, we started a campaign called 'Women Wage Peace'," says Shani.
In a mass protest called the March of Hope, over 3000 Israeli women walked from Rosh Hanikra in North Israel to Jerusalem over 14 days, covering over 240 kms; simultaneously 1,000 women marched in Palestine. This took place in October 2016.
"It was incredible. Eventually, 20,000 of us stood outside the Prime Minister's house to stage a protest," said Shani. Her work has just begun. "We are out to change the political language to bring back peace," she says. "We are also hoping to change the idea of security to one where personal securities are guaranteed. I hope we will be successful."
About Ornit Shani
Ornit Shani teaches at the Department of Asian Studies at the University of Haifa. She has also written a book on Hindu nationalism titled Communalism, Caste and Hindu Nationalism: The Violence in Gujarat. Her forthcoming book, The Origins of Indian Democracy: Making Universal Franchise and Citizenship in the World's Largest Democracy, is a social history of India's first elections.
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