ISRAELI WOMEN SPEAK OUT ON PEACE
Discussion during a recent conference in Israel on "Violence Against Women" turned to "Women and War". Below is an account of what was said. The source is the Jerusalem Post of November 3, 1982.
War is the ultimate barbarity created by man, perpetrated against people; bombs do not discriminate between women and men, children and old people, those who willingly
fought the war, or those who took a stand against it. But war, and the threat of war, exact a particular price from women.
I t was this price — the way that war specifically affects our lives as Israeli women - that was the theme of one of the workshops held recently as part of the f i f th national feminist conference. The overall theme of the conference was "Violence Against Women", and it attempted to cover all aspects of such violence — not only the more obvious brutality of rape and battered wives, but also the more subtle and insidious forms of violence against women, such as pornography, violence within the family, the violence done to women through sexist language. Although these and other workshops were well attended, a large proportion of women at the conference felt that it was unrealistic to devote
time to these issues in the current circumstances, that the issue to be dealt with now was women and the war.
In her opening presentation, Graziella Daniel stressed the ways in which war particularly affects women, and further alienates us from the mainstream of society. War is the one single facet of our lives that is most exclusively the domain of men. ... "War in men's eyes is not our war. We are not maimed and killed in battle — what right have we to take a stand on the war, to oppose it?"
Yet, Daniel stressed, women do have a right to take a political stand against the war. "Our silence gives tacit approval to those who wage war; by not opposing it, we add our strength to the war effort. And war, and the societal values that condone war, do more than anything else to dehumanize our lives.
"The threat of war is used by the government as a means to control the population, and to maintain the low status of women. The threat of war means that we have to unite in the face of the common enemy, so again all social problems are swept under the carpet, again women's issues are relegated to a back seat. How can they be important, when we are fighting for survival?
"As feminist women, we have to make the connection between an ideology of war, and our vital life interests, which are further and further regressed by a siege mentality. We have to understand the propaganda of fear, of the enemy without, waiting to destroy us — a fear exploited by both sides as a means of controlling society, and of oppressing women." ...
Another theme running through the workshop was the way in which the values of war — the ultimate in organized violence — influence our daily lives. Several women talked
about the way this violence filters through into civilian life. We come to accept physical violence as a norm, we become immune to it. ... It is also not such a big step between military chauvinism, and chauvinism of the sexual variety. "Soldiers become heroes, physical strength, aggressiveness, become prized traits of character," said Shifra Jacobson of Jerusalem. " I want to make another point. The army exists to 'defend me from my enemies.' But under this protective guise, I am intimidated and oppressed. I am a victim of the system, and am powerless to change this because I have no voice in decision making.
The climate in Israel has changed considerably over the last year. At last year's national feminist conference, a workshop on Women and War was divided over whether feminist women should be fighting for equality within the army, or totally opting out of the military. This year, the war has radicalized many women, and there was a strong consensus that we must fight militarism in all its forms, that a militaristic society further reduces the power of women.
What of the future? Three courses of action were outlined in the last part of the workshop. The first was to become involved politically, to understand the political processes
and the machinery of power — and to use this understanding to further our own interest.
The second course of action suggested was for women to unite and get in touch with their own strengths. ... And the third choice is to work with Palestinian women. And of
course, all these courses of action should be embarked upon simultaneously. "Our strength lies in the extent to which we can work with Palestinian women," said Katznelson. ...
If women are able to reach out to each other, across borders, to join their strengths and find a way to make their voices heard, there is yet hope of a better world — a world
in which war will cease to exist as an option for solving political conflicts.