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.

A Unified Voice

Horrendous Crime of Hatred Against Gays and Lesbians in Israel


Aswat- Palestinian Gay Women- laments the tragic death of the two youngsters at the Tel-Aviv gay center Saturday evening.

Aswat harshly condemns the horrendous attack on the center of LGBT community in Tel-Aviv, resulting in the killing of gay and lesbian activists and severely wounding several others. We call upon our partners and supporters to fight all forms of crimes of hatred, specially, ones directed against the LGBT community.

We are utterly appalled by this crime of hatred that marks an extreme escalation of homophobia in our community, particularly, that it occurred in Tel-Aviv, supposedly, a symbol of pluralism and diversity.

The horrific crime followed a wave of massive incitement of hatred against the LGBT community in Israel, and it is unfortunate that the Israeli government condemns these crimes but frequently tolerates verbal attacks directed from senior government officials against the gay community in the country.

Aswat stands in solidarity with all LGBT organizations and activist in the country; Palestinians and Israelis alike, against the atrocious killings of innocents. We will march together, hand in hand, in Haifa, Tel-Aviv, and Jerusalem against hatred and discrimination, and raise our voices, the voices of justice and freedom.

In Solidarity with all victims of the Crimes of Hate

Aswat- Palestinian Gay Women

Posted by Joan

The MIssing Voices of Women

Nurit Peled lost her daughter to a suicide bomber http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8n6w4_nurit-peled_news "Obama, take away the pain in my stomach," a letter from a woman from Machsom Watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcGm-gxmxHw&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Efacebook%2Ecom%2Fprofile%2Ephp%3Fid%3D578103001%26ref%3Dmf&feature=player_embedded

Women In Black Protest Melbourne

Women In Black Protest Melbourne
Originally uploaded by gxdoyle

Our July Vigil--the Hopes of People Alive on the Street

Our women on the streets: Geraldine, Alex, Marg, Sandra, Esme, Hellen, Karen, Denise, Sivan, Joan--sharing the activist corner with a group of Palestinian Australians giving out literature against the occupation and a protest by Honduran Australians against the coup in their central American country. All I can say is that the gray winter day was transformed by the vitality of human dreaming or a better world--join us for just ten minutes, for an hour on our next vigil, the first Saturday in August, August 1--you don't have to agree with all our politics--we do not always agree with each other but if you are haunted by the ongoing suffering of the people of Gaza, by the images of militaristic aggression against civilian populations that seem to be sweeping the world these days, join us on the streets, where ideas live on the body and passivity is banished. (Joan)

Other images. A passing photographer wrote us, "I shot some images of the Melbourne Women in Black group in action in Bourke Street Mall today-you can see the images here:http://www.flickr.com/photos/28521225@NO2/sets/72157620932148404

Israeli Peace Activist Faces Jail Over Homes Demolition Protest

The sad news comes thick and fast from Palestine and Israel. Before the seizure of the ship reported on below, we received news of the arrest and impending sentencing of Ezra Nawi, a much loved and respected peace activist who have worked with "vulnerable Palestinian families in the hills around Hebron "struggling to keep their homes from being bulldozed." (The Guardian, June 30,2009) A plumber by trade, Nawi, born to a Jewish Iraqi family from Basra, speaks Arabic: "I have seen the checkpoints, the barriers. I've seen everything with my own eyes and I think any decent cannot sit indifferent to this. It is beyond the issue of Arabs and Jews..." And then I read that Ezra Nowi is a gay man with a Palestinian lover who has been imprisoned for entering Israel without a permit to be with his partner and all my issues come together--how is it that peace and those who stand against the rule of the gun are seen as dangers to the state; in this sense, we are all queer who refuse the dehumanization of whole peoples, the deliberate delight in causing pain and loss of hope that comes with an occupying force with the power to demolish homes and personal and communal dignity--"His trial has sparked a broad campaign of support from academics, musicians, artists. 'You have here the whole misery and cruelty of the occupation in a nutshell,' David Shulman, a Hebrew University professor and activist with the Israeli-Palestinian peace group Ta'ayush, wrote in Ha'aretz newspaper.'

Only the peace movement is all its forms can save Israel from itself. Or as Nawi said, "all that will be left is hate." Please find a way to be involved, to make your voice heard.
Joan

Alert: "The Spirit of Humanity" Seized

23 miles off the coast of Gaza, 15:30 pm--

"Today Israeli Occupation Forces attacked and boarded the Free Gaza Movement boat, "The Spirit of Humanity, abducting 21 human rights workers from 11 countries, including Noble Laureate Mairead Maguire and former US Congress woman Cynthia Mc Kinney. The passengers and crew are being forcibly dragged toward Israel. " This cruel response to acts of kindness and concern for the well being of the people Gaza--their hardships just recently underlined by the Red Cross report describing the effects of the Israeli continued closing of the borders so rebuilding supplies cannot get in as well as other necessities of life--is further sad evidence of the national policy of Israel to make life as harsh as possible for the every day people of Gaza--this boat carrying medical supplies, reconstructive supplies and children's toys can be no threat to the power of Israel--but the message of world concern it represents will be Israel's undoing-others who live far away from the walls and checkpoints that make Palestinians invisible except as controlled workers or the hated other do see the faces of the imprisoned, the hopeless, the suffering--this Jewish woman sees their faces and joins with so many Jewish voices in Israel and without, and others, who say the shanda, the shame, is growing with every passing desperate day. ON JULY 4TH, from 12-1, WE WILL BE STANDING IN FRONT OF THE GPO IN DOWNTOWN MELBOURNE AS WE DO THE FIRST OF EVERY MONTH TO PROTEST THIS ACT OF SEIZURE AND THE DAILY VIOLENCE OF THE OCCUPATION. To register your own protest, e-mail Mark Regev, the public relations voice of this regime, in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office--mark.regev@it.pmo.gov.il

You can fax the Israeli Ministry of Justice at +972 2646 62357

More information: Jewish Peace News, jnp@jewishpeacenews.net and http://www.freegaza.org/

As the chairperson of Free Gaza Movement Huwaida Arraf said, "Israel's deliberate and premeditated attack on our unarmed boat is a clear violation of international law and we demand our immediate and unconditional release."

Joan

June Vigil and Those Who Came Before

From Geraldine: Standing on the Women in Black Vigils in Melbourne is for me quite special, always fun, as well as encouraging. It gives me a strange sense of deju vu, though.

I have just finished compiling a website and book on the Women's Movement in Victoria, and standing with you makes me aware that we are not the first to be standing on the streets of Melbourne for peace. It is a good feeling. I feel the presence of ghosts and I think they approve.

During WW1, feminist women stood on the streets of Melbourne selling their paper, The Women Voter. Their message was peace. It wasn't just the pleasant chat with the public that I experience on our vigils, they were attacked by the crowd at least once. Perhaps it is not surprising--these women did not mince their words, as these quotes show:

"WHO LOSES THE WAR? The men who lose their lives. The women who lose their husbands, brothers and sons. The children who lose their fathers. The workers who lose their wages, who have to pay high rents and high prices. The fathers who love their boys. The mothers who have to go out and work too soon before and too soon after the boys' birth. The child who goes to work instead of school. The babies who die from want and lack of care, sacrificed to feed the fires of war...The soldiers widows and orphans who will starve on their pensions. The nation which is robbed of its young men and unborn children. All those who have brains to think and hearts to love humanity...War is out of date. Under modern conditions it cannot accomplish what those who support war want it to accomplish. Every deadly weapon is met with the invention of a still more deadly weapon..."

Also like Women in Black, these women insisted on talking with women from the other side. in 1915, women of different nations--from "enemy," allied and neutral countries--held an International Congress of Women for Permanent Peace at the Hague, Holland. Their words all those years ago: The following resolutions have been adopted by the International Congress at the Hague and also by the Women's Peace Army, Headquarters, 215 Latrobe Street, Melbourne--This international Congress of women of different nations, classes, creeds and parties is united in expressing sympathy with the suffering of all, whatever their nationality, who are fighting for their country or labouring under the burden of war. Since the mass of people in each of the countries now at war believe themselves to be fighting, not as aggressors, but in self- defence, and for their national existence, there can be no irreconcilable difference between them, and their common ideals offered a basis up on which a magnanimous and honorable Peace might be established. The Congress, therefore urges the governments of the world to put an end to this bloodshed and to begin Peace negotiations..."

Three Australian delegates--Vida Goldstein, Cecilia John and Eleanor Moore--travelled ten weeks to attend the Congress. Their first act was to demand the raising of the blockade in Germany, immediate relief measures and if necessary food rationing in every country. They believed there would be another war in 20 years if the Versailles treaty went ahead, in their words, "creating all over Europe discords and animosities which can only lead to future wars, generations condemned to poverty, disease and despair."

It seems to me that with the Women in Black vigils, we are following a tradition amongst feminist women that probably wasn't even new a century ago. We stand with their words and their courage in our hearts. (More information about Australian women's involvement in the peace movement, can be found in her book, Women Working Together:Suffrage and Onwards, 2009, www.womensweb.com.au)

Women in Black, Fresno, California, USA and the 'Defence' Against Them

Hellen's Work: 4/6/9, Victorian Invitation to Discuss a National Action Plan for Women, Peace and Security

The women with whom I stand on the first Saturday of every month have long histories of activism in Australia. Hellen, the one who travels the furthest to stand with us every month, is a tireless traveler for the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Victoria. Every month she lets us know how grassroots people around the world are thinking issues like "security" and "defense." Here is the text of one of her invitations:

"Should Australia become the 14th country to develop a national action plan to implement United Nations Security Council resolution 1325 on On Women, Peace and Security?"


The latest Defence White Paper 2009 continues to see heavily armed force as a priority for the economy and security, with denial the only response to consultations and submissions on other priorities for the security of non combatants, human heritage and a human favouring environment on this unique planet.

If you teach for a better world, are in a peace and security group, a group attending Asia Pacific conferences, a recompense for victims of past wars group, a group for eliminating violence against women, a protest against war and war games group, an environmental or human rights organization, please attend or send delegates to this unprecedented consultation.

There are links between violence to women, violence to the earth and militarism. 'Domestic' violence and environmental damage get support from the sanctioned armed violence of armed force priorities in defence and security.

The disconnects between security and militarism, and defence and militarism need to be considered in ways that men in their male war specialities stances seem unable to do, but women and men who understand the security of non-violence can change the priorities in defence.

This is UNSCR 1325 and 1820 for which we need your participation to make a national action plan.

Please be part of and support a NAP for Peace and Security.


Such sanity of questioning.
Joan for WIB, Melbourne

Such sanity