At-Home with Gila Svirsky

Jerusalem
9 May 2001
Subject: International Campaign - Stop the Occupation!

Please forward!!

A Call to the International Community of Conscience

This June, peace activists will be marking the 34th year of Israel's occupation by a series of public actions in Israel, Palestine, and cities throughout the world.

We invite you to join in solidarity with an event sponsored by the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace, in cooperation with like-minded organizations:

A mass vigil of Women in Black, joined by men dressed in black

on Friday, June 8, 2001, in West Jerusalem, Israel.

On or about that day, women and men from all over the world are planning to hold their own “Women in Black” vigils that call for an immediate end to the occupation. We already know of vigils planned in San Francisco, New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Seattle, Melbourne, and Toronto, and many more are now forming. Many will be joining us in Israel and Palestine, including an Italian delegation that is coming under Luisa Morgantini, a member of the European Parliament. Come, if you can.

If you cannot come, hold a solidarity vigil wherever you live. The principle is simple, and can be done by one person or a group: Wear black, hold signs that say “End the Israeli Occupation,” and stand for one hour in a public location. You can hold this vigil at a time and place that is convenient for you.

As every Women in Black vigil is independent and autonomous, each group can determine its own format, signs, and agenda. What we have in common is “End the Israeli Occupation.”

The more vigils = the more impressive the media coverage = the more the political leadership around the world will get the message: This occupation is unacceptable. Period.

If you are planning to organize a vigil in your city, please contact Bat Shalom immediately at batshalo@netvision.net.il with the following information:

LOCATION: City and Country
CONTACT NAME:
CONTACT EMAIL ADDRESS:
CONTACT TELEPHONE NUMBER:

We will be sending further information in the coming weeks.

We are outraged at the escalating violence and 34 years of occupation.

We need your help to stop it.

The Coalition of Women for a Just Peace - member organizations

Bat Shalom; Machsom Watch; Mothers and Women for Peace (formerly Four Mothers Movement); New Profile: Movement for the Civil-ization of Society in Israel; NELED: Women for Coexistence; Noga Feminist Journal; TANDI: Movement of Democratic Women; Women Engendering Peace; Women in Black; and WILPF - Israel chapter.

Our Principles:

• An end to the occupation.
• The full involvement of women in negotiations for peace.
• Establishment of the state of Palestine side by side with the state of Israel based on the 1967 borders.
• Recognition of Jerusalem as the shared capital of two states.
• Israel must recognize its share of responsibility for the results of the 1948 war, and find a just solution for the Palestinian refugees.
• Equality, inclusion and justice for Palestinian citizens of Israel.
• Opposition to the militarism that permeates Israeli society.
• Equal rights for women and for all residents of Israel.
• Social and economic justice for all Israel's citizens.
• Cultural, economic, and social integration of Israel into the region.