From Where I Stand

Israeli and Palestinian women build friendships

Polly Mann selected this article by Michele Chabin, Ms. magazine (Aug. 27, 2012).

One Saturday morning, 15 Jewish Israeli women drove into West Bank Palestinian towns and villages to pick up more than 30 Palestinian women and children carrying pots of homemade food. As cars approached the border checkpoint to Israel the young Israeli soldiers, seeing Israeli license plates and kids in the back seat, waved them through. The Israeli women had just smuggled the Palestinians into Israel.

If caught, the Palestinians would be returned to the West Bank. Though none of the women has ever been incarcerated for these forays, it is always a possibility, for both Palestinians and Israelis. The Palestinians hadn’t tried to obtain entry permits, knowing how few the Israelis issue due to security concerns.

Shortly the women were at a park in predominantly Jewish West Jerusalem.

Carrying pots of savory chicken, lamb and rice, the Palestinians shyly introduced themselves to a group of young Jewish mothers from Tel Aviv. Seated on straw mats, they encouraged the Palestinian children to join Jewish children in arts and crafts projects. To the casual observer, this was a gathering of friends. To the participants it was a bold act of civil disobedience.

The program of bringing Palestinian families to Israel was started by 67-year-old editor, translator and political activist Ilana Hammerman, whose work has inspired other women activists “We are breaking the law and challenging Israel policy in a very symbolic way,” she says. It has also empowered others to act. After one of her lectures, 11 women organized the group We Will Not Obey. Today, up to 60 women participate.

Israeli peace activist Gershon Baskin, former director of the Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information, says there are dozens of Israeli-Palestinian co-existence groups, but “We Will Not Obey is, to my knowledge, the only one that brings Israelis into the West Bank and Palestinians into Israel illegally.”