[Peace-discuss] Fwd: Fw: A Ray of Sunshine

[Al Kagan]

>Delivered-To: akagan at alexia.lis.uiuc.edu
>Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2001 02:11:34 +0200
>From: Warren Day <warren.day at NAU.EDU>
>Subject: Fw: A Ray of Sunshine
>To: alex alvarez <alex.alvarez at NAU.EDU>, don.jacobs at NAU.EDU,
>	geeta Chowdhry <geeta.chowdhry at NAU.EDU>, john.sewell at NAU.EDU,
>	miguel Vasquez <Miguel.Vasquez at NAU.EDU>, robert.poirier at NAU.EDU,
>	sandra.lubarsky at NAU.EDU, warren.day at NAU.EDU,
>	Sheila Nair <sheila.nair at NAU.EDU>,
>	sanjay Joshi <Sanjay.Joshi at NAU.EDU>, Anne Scott <Anne.Scott at NAU.EDU>,
>	karen <onemint2 at aol.com>, anne ainsworth <twomint2 at aol.com>,
>	aleticia <at22 at dana.ucc.nau.edu>, carol <carol.thompson at NAU.EDU>,
>	dsherman <itomni at hotmail.com>, Jesse Urban <jessica.urban at NAU.EDU>,
>	karlstrom <Fkarlstr at pc6.apscc.nau.edu>, kyrsten <ksinema at home.com>,
>	norm wallen <norm at infomagic.net>,
>	meeting of the minds <motmflagstaff at yahoo.com>,
>	Ann P <STROWN4 at hotmail.com>,
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>	"michael.vollmer" <michael.vollmer at NAU.EDU>,
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>X-Priority: 3
>Status:  
>
>Friends, as the year 2001 winds down, may this message from Jerusalem be a
>symbol of hope for all the world, as we seek peace.
>
>Subject: Fw: A Ray of Sunshine
>
>
>>  Forwarding note from: Razia Meron <raz-eyal at actcom.co.il> Sat, 29 Dec 2001
>02:48:04 +0200
>>
>>
>>  From: "Gila Svirsky" <gsvirsky at netvision.net.il>
>>  To: "Coalition of Women for a Just Peace" <CWJP at yahoogroups.com>
>>
>>
>>  Friends,
>>
>>  Today was a ray of sunshine in an otherwise bleak Middle East.
>>
>>  At 9:30 a.m., the organizers were still discussing whether the march
>>  should be held single file or two-by-two, as the police refused to grant
>>  us a permit to walk in the streets, wanting to contain us on the broad
>>  sidewalk.  By 10:30 a.m., we saw there would be no hope of containing the
>>  vast crowd that had showed up.
>>
>>  An amazing 5,000 people, most dressed in black, turned up for today's
>>  events, beginning with the March of Mourning for all the victims --
>>  Palestinian and Israeli -- of the Occupation.  Responding to the call of
>>  the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace, people from all over the world
>>  found their way to the vigil plaza today.  When the signal came to begin,
>>  we were all mixed up with each other -- Israeli, Palestinian, European,
>>  American -- and began a slow, solemn walk, in silence (mostly), with only
>>  a funereal cadence sounded by two women drummers at the center of this
>>  long procession.  Although the extreme right wing staged a
>>  counterdemonstration at the beginning of our route, their small number
>>  (about 30) and angry shouts only served to dramatize the power of our own
>>  dignified presence.
>>
>>  We led with a huge banner, "The Occupation is Killing Us All", as well as
>>  hundreds of black hands with white lettering "Stop the Occupation", and
>>  scores of signs calling for peace, a state of Palestine beside the state
>>  of Israel, and sharing this beautiful city of Jerusalem, loved so long by
>>  so many.  It was an unseasonably warm and balmy winter morning, and we
>>  were suddenly feeling hopeful and powerful marching together this way.
>>  Although the police were trying to keep us all walking on the sidewalk,
>>  soon we burst our seams and spread out into the road, blocking traffic
>>  along the route.  And Ezra, long-time supporter of Women in Black in
>>  Jerusalem, walked among us, handing out a thousand red roses to Women in
>>  Black until the roses ran out, though the women did not.
>>
>>  We made our way slowly toward the broad, new plaza just outside historic
>>  Jaffa Gate, one of the main entrances to the Old City of Jerusalem.  By
>>  the time everyone arrived, we had filled up the plaza completely, with
>>  spillover inside the gate and along the roads leading up to it.  Past the
>>  stage, participants could see as backdrop the beautiful Citadel, rising
>>  from the walls of the Old City, with the Valley of Gethsemane spread out
>>  beyond in a breathtaking view.
>>
>>  The entire program was moderated in Hebrew and Arabic by Dalit Baum and
>>  Camilia Bader-Araf, co-MCs.  They acknowledged the Knesset members who had
>>  joined us for the events -- Muhammed Barake, Naomi Chazan, Zehava Galon,
>>  Tamar Gozansky, Anat Maor, Issam Makhoul, and Mossi Raz -- as well as the
>>  delegations from Belgium, Canada, England, France, Italy, Portugal, Spain,
>>  and the U.S.  Marcia Freedman, former Israeli MK and long-standing Woman
>>  in Black, read the list of 118 locations around the world where solidarity
>>  events were planned for the same day (from Adelaide to Zaragoza -- see our
>>  website for the full list).
>>
>>  Speeches opened with Shulamit Aloni, first lady of human rights in Israel
>>  and former government minister, comparing our struggle to end the
>>  occupation with the struggles led by Nelson Mandela and Martin Luther
>>  King, reminding us that although the task is arduous, it will inevitably
>>  be crowned with success.  She was followed by other powerful speeches --
>>  Nurit Peled Elhanan, winner of the Sakharov Peace Prize, awarded by the
>  > European Parliament, and mother of Smadar, 13 years old when she was
>>  killed by a terrorist bomb in Jerusalem; Zahira Kamal, courageous
>>  Palestinian activist for peace as well as the rights of women and workers,
>>  who found a way to outwit the closure in order to reach Jerusalem and
>>  address this rally; Luisa Morgantini, irrepressible Italian member of the
>>  European Parliament and devoted supporter of the women's peace movement in
>>  the Middle East; Khulood Badawi, chair of the Association of Arab Students
>>  in Israel; and Vera Lichtenfels, a 17-year old Portuguese peace activist,
>>  representing youth all over the world who are working for peace.
>>
>>  These speeches were eloquent and inspiring, but I myself was especially
>>  moved by the ceremony of torch lighting by 13 Israeli organizations who
>>  have shown extraordinary commitment to activism for peace and human
>>  rights.  Each representative lit a torch about one aspect related to their
>>  work -- the killed, the wounded, the homes demolished, the trees uprooted,
>>  the children whose lives were fractured, as well as the efforts of those
>>  who refuse to give in to the despair, but keep on struggling to transform
>>  this nightmare into a vision of peace and partnership (see below for the
>>  names and descriptions of these organizations).
>>
>>  These are words that one simply doesn't hear in this region, so publicly,
>>  by Israelis and Palestinians together.  And then we held a concert rarely
>>  heard in the Middle East -- a "peace happening" of Palestinian and Israeli
>>  performers.  It opened with the Elisheva Trio -- 3 talented black Jewish
>>  women from Dimona, singing peace songs in soul and rock arrangements.
>>  There were readings of poetry and plays, a performance piece, and an
>>  amazing duo of young Palestinian rappers from Lydda/Lod doing Arabic and
>>  Hebrew political lyrics.  Ending it all was a hopeful reprise by the
>>  Elisheva Trio, with many in the crowd holding hands, swaying, and singing
>>  together.
>>
>>  When the concert was over, few wanted to leave and let go of the feeling
>>  that peace is really possible.  Fortunately, we didn't really have to,
>>  because Peace Now was holding its own optimistic rally just inside Jaffa
>>  Gate, with Palestinians and Israelis signing a Peace Declaration and
>>  releasing doves into the sky over the city.  Palestinians and Israelis
>>  wandered in and out the streets of the Old City trying to hold tight to
>>  the beautiful warm thaw in the air, within this long winter of violence
>>  and tragedy.
>>
>>  This evening, I watched Israeli TV to see if anything was reported about
>>  the hope for peace that had swept through Jerusalem today.  I saw nothing
>>  about either the Coalition of Women for Peace or the Peace Now events,
>>  though I did hear that the Coalition action made the radio news several
>>  times today.  We are used to this by now, and it brought to mind the words
>>  of Shulamit Aloni earlier today:  "Even though Israel's 'patriotic' media
>>  seek to ignore you, there is no doubt that your voice will be heard and
>>  that a great many others will join your cause.  You will break through the
>>  silence because yours is a vision of freedom, justice, and peace."
>>
>>  May it come to pass.   Today I feel more hopeful than I have for a long,
>>  long while.
>>
>>  Thank you to everyone all over the world who joined us in solidarity
>>  today, whether in vigils, through contributions, or in your hearts.
>>
>>  Shalom, salaam,
>>  Gila Svirsky
>>  Jerusalem
>>
>>  _________________________
>>  Special thanks for their support, which made this event possible:  Svinna
>>  till Svinna Foundation, the Moriah Fund, Sally Gottesman, the Steve Berman
>>  Social Action Award, and many individuals from all over the world.
>>
>>  The organizations represented at the torch lighting ceremony (in
>>  alphabetical order):
>>
>>  **Bat Shalom - the Israeli side of The Jerusalem Link: A Women's Joint
>>  Venture for Peace, seeking peace through partnership with Palestinian
>>  women.
>>  **Gush Shalom - determined fighters to end the occupation, recent
>>  recipients of the "Alternative Nobel Peace Prize".
>  > **High School seniors - a group of Israeli high school seniors who signed
>>  a letter asserting their refusal to serve in the army to support the
>>  occupation.
>>  **Israel Committee Against Home Demolitions - seeking to expose and end
>>  the crime of demolishing homes of Palestinians.
>>  **Machsom Watch - women monitoring military checkpoints to end the abuse
>>  of Palestinians at these locations.
>>  **Mothers and Women for Peace - formerly the 4 Mothers Movement, who were
>>  instrumental in getting Israel out of Lebanese occupation.
>>  **New Profile - seeking to end militarism in Israeli society and support
>>  conscientious objection to army service.
>>  **Peace Now - mobilizing to end the occupation, and focused on the
>>  illegality of the Israeli settlements in the territories.
>>  **Rabbis for Human Rights - bringing a religious Jewish perspective to the
>>  struggle to end the injustice of occupation.
>>  **Ta'ayush - a partnership of Jewish and Palestinian citizens of Israel,
>>  providing aid and resistance to the occupation throughout the territories.
>>  **TANDI - struggling for rights for Arab women, and coexistence between
>>  Jews and Arabs within Israel.
>>  **Women in Black - holding vigils throughout the world to stop violence
>>  and injustice, founded in Jerusalem in 1988 to end the occupation.
>>  **Yesh Gvul - encouraging soldiers to refuse service in the occupied
>>  territories.
>>
>>  One picture is already up at our website:
>>  Web site of the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace:
>>  http://www.coalitionofwomen4peace.org
>>
>>  If this message was forwarded to you, you can subscribe to the list
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>>  POB 48005, Tel-Aviv 61480, Israel
>>  E-mail: newprofile at speedy.co.il
>>  Voice box: ++972-(0)3-696-11-37
>>  Website: http://www.newprofile.org/
>>
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-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu