Our May Vigil, Our Community

Here we are on the steps of the Old Post Office once again and once again we are honored by the presence of Hagrid, in the red jumper, from Mahsoun Watch in Israel. Sivan, Hellen, Hinde, Sue, Esme, Sandra and myself with Geraldine in our hearts. In one of the images you see Hagrid and a friend in a deep conversation with a young Australian-Palestinian man. This is the wonder of the streets, where for an hour history lives in the lives and passions that cross public paths. For me, this return to our Women in Black community was especially important since less then a week ago I had been operated on for uterine cancer. At one point in this vigil, Hagrid said she felt she was in exile from her own tribe in Israel because of her peace activism, and here I could hold her and say, we will form a new country of the heart and mind, all us Jews who are on the hate lists of other Jews, who are forced from jobs or podiums, who loose family connections, who are told we are traitors because we see the suffering of others caused by Israeli national policies and refuse to be silent in the face of these injustices. We hold each other on the narrow territory between the rising anti-Semitism of Europe--note the rise of the anti-Jewish, anti-Roma, anti-immigrant nationalistic party of Hungary--and the Israeli nationalistic state that sees not its own racism or calls it "protecting Israel," we know the dangers and we will not allow them to silence our hearts or our conscience.

We always gather for coffee afterwards, to catch up on all the political actions our women are involved in and here you see us reading over a petition supplied by Hellen against the racist elements of the Northern Intervention Act. And know that all over the world, Women in Black groups are taking on the issues of their place and time. This is another face of 21st century feminism.

Women in Black Around the World

Let me begin with our April vigil here in Melbourne, Australia. We were honored to have with us, standing in the early autumn light, Israeli Hagit Back of Machsom Watch in Hebron. She asked not to be photographed but you can sense her on the other end of the banner "Women in Black/Stop the Occupation/End the Siege of Gaza." You can hear her voice, full of Israeli history, see her wonderful, thoughtful and determined face and hear the reasons for her commitment to activism in in Israel on this short video clip made by Larry Stillman of the Australian Jewish Democratic Society (AJDS): http:ajds.org.au/node/214 or

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xwQagJVZII4

Still in Australia: Adelaide Women in Black Vigil: Silent Vigil Against War, Violence and Militarisation, Parliament House Steps, Adelaide

From Cathy:

Each month, on the last Wednesday of the month WILPFers in South Australia along with some other women stand on the steps of Parliament House as Women in black. And each month, we write a leaflet which we pass out to the people passing by. In general, we get a very good reception from them.

Month by month, I alternate with another woman (who is not a WILPF member) to write a draft of the leaflet. The text for this month's leaflet is the result of a collaboration between Ruth and me--and, because it concerns a scheme that will be spreading to two other states this year, I thought you might be particularly interested to read it. As our leaflet's text is based on a letter that the South Australian branch wrote last year to the SA Minister for Education, you may recognise some of it.

Love and peace

"Over the years, many people have worked hard to ensure public schools are protected from vested interests. We expect our public school system to provide children with genuine, unbiased learning that is adequately funded.

Now, in our State, weapons manufacturing corporations, Raytheon, Tenix and Codan, are being allowed to provide funding to some Adelaide high schools--Aberfoyle Park, Valley View and Henley High Schools--where the science and maths curriculums are now set with a focus on weapons technology. Currently around 1,000 high school students are involved, and five more South Australian schools will become involved later this year. According to one Adelaide newspaper: "Similar programs will be rolled out in Newcastle and Perth in 2011."

Under the arrangement, students receive "specialised training" through apprenticeships, cadetships and internships with the weapons manufacturers in the hope that they will seek employment in the expanding "defence" industries. The message given to students is that society supports products that bring death and suffering to millions of people in conflict zones.

Schools have a moral responsibility to align themselves with non-destructive influences, and not with those that benefit financially from violence, war, weaponry and destruction. Women in Black want our educators to act with moral integrity around the education of vulnerable teenagers. Parents' fears about their children's future employment prospects should not be exploited in any way.

South Australia needs more doctors, nurses, medical research and environmental scientists, and designers of sustainable transport and energy systems that benefit society.

We urge you to speak out to stop this insidious wooing of our secondary school students.

From Women in Black, Belgium

Sadness in Women in Black, Belgrade: Well known human rights activist and Lawyer's Committee for Human Rights (YUCOM) President Biljana Kovacevic-Vuco passed away this morning in Belgrade. A "courageous and antifacist and antiwar friend," Biljana was one of the founders of the Yugoslav Action NGO and the independent union Nezavisnost in March 1999. During her long career as a peace movement and human rights activist, Kovacevic-Vuco was the founder of the Human Rights Council of the Center for Antiwar Action in Blegrade and the head of SOS helpline forthe victims of political, ethnic and workplace discrimination and much much more. We extend our hands of comfort to Lepa and all the other women who work tirelessly for peace in Belgrade.

To Return to Palestine/Israel: Jane Tobin, a member of the Hudson Valley Women in Black Community (in New York State) has been working with older Palestinian women to record their stories of occupation and resistance. Her blog--http://hudsontowestbank.blogspot.com

must be read--more of this, but please let her words reach you. They will not let you go.

Finally, I just want to link these Women in Black sites with the blog on my website, Joannestle.com because Palestine/Israel and the courageous voices trying to end the occupation are with me whenever or where ever I sit down to write.

Joan Nestle

February Vigil Here in Melbourne

Here, once again, is our monthly vigil in the streets of downtown Melbourne. Almost a 100 sheets were put into the hands of passer-bys. I noticed this time as I offered our flyer, the shape and textures of these hands, some rough with work, some fragile, yet not afraid to touch my own, large hands that reached out, tentative touches--these moments of risked contact are the gift of street vigils. I noticed other things as well. The family that came by, parents with a teenage girl and as the young woman reached for the flyer, her mother pulled her back as if she was going to put her hand into fire. She turned to me, her face contorted with anger, "how dare you, my uncle was Jewish!"

"But I am Jewish," I said. Her face so close to mine I could see her eyes clenching with disbelief. She spat at me and then, pulling the young girl behind her, marched away. For a long time after, I thought of that young woman, how close she had come to exploring something for herself and how terrifying this was to her care takers.

Our Flyer for February

Make 2010 The Year We End Israel's Blockade of Gaza

Women in Black, Melbourne, dedicate this vigil to the International Gaza Freedom Marchers, young and old, including 85 year old Holocaust survivor, Hedy Epstein, who risked their lives to bring medical supplies to Gaza.

These people, ordinary citizens of Gaza, of Israel, of 40 other countries, want another kind of world where children do not play amidst the rubble of their homes, where military force does not deny peace-seeking people from negotiating solutions to their conflicts, where young people can have hope for their future.

We stand as Jewish feminists and our allies to oppose Israel's occupation of Palestinian lands, to call on Palestinian and Israeli leaders to take steps towards peace that are yet to be taken, to end the siege of Gaza and to freely allow dissent.

We stand to challenge the carnage inflicted by armed force on any people, to examine the fears that may drive us to blame and dehumanize each other, to protest the use of all forms of violence: rape,terrorism,collective punishment,militarism, suicide bombings,targeted assassinations and coerced population movements. These actions will never resolve conflicts between nations and peoples.

We stand to reject all forms of racism, including anti-Arab and anti-Muslim racism and anti-Semitism.

Join our monthly vigils, the first Saturday of each month, 12-1, on the steps of the GPO building on the corner of Bourke and Elizabeth Streets.

Our vigils members for February--Sivan, Dianne, Esme, Geraldine, Hellen, Joan, Hinde.