Between the Lines: Voices of Women engendering Peace and Democracy A project initiated and coordinated by Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstaetten Between the Lines: Voices of women engendering peace and democracy Edited by Margot Brown and Jenny Zobel A project initiated and coordinated by Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstaetten – AdB This publication has been funded with support from the German Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth First published 2008 by Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstaetten e.V (AdB) Mühlendamm 3, 10178 Berlin The publication reflects the views of the author(s). Nobody else is responsible for any use which can be made of the information contained therein. © Selection and editorial matter Hannelore Chiout, Jenny Zobel and Margot Brown; individual chapters, the contributors. Photos: Archive Hannelore Chiout Typeset in Rotis Antiqua and Rotis Semigrotesk by Martin Hoffmann All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system without permission in writing from Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstaetten e.V (AdB). Printed by H+P Berlin Printed in Germany Acknowledgements These pages contain the story of three groups of women locked together in historical suffering and committed to emerging from that deadlock. These are women who be- came convinced that it is worth struggling to emerge from decades of hostility into a more benign reality. Are women more able to bridge the nationalist and eth- nic gaps than men? The reader can be the judge in read- ing these pages. We would like to express our profound appreciation to the German Federal Ministry for Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth for providing the financial support that made it possible to bring together three groups of women from disparate regions for intense, protracted dialogue, and to do this in as “neutral” a lo- cation as possible. We acknowledge the wisdom as well as the generosity of the Ministry in making this project possible. We would like to thank all participating women for con- tributing their personal narrative of the Trialogue thus documenting the power of hope despite a separating poli- tical reality. We thank all women ever involved in the project. We thank our editors and facilitators from Great Britain, Margot Brown and Jenny Zobel, for their sensitive em- pathy, their careful handling of the different styles and texts presented and for their never ending patience. We thank Ruth Hiller and Ute Iding for their efforts of translating the varying contributions. Arbeitskreis deutscher Bildungsstaetten (AdB), Berlin, Germany Berlin, December 2007 Content 6 Margot Brown · Editorial 8 Time Line 9 Hannelore Chiout · Preface Hannelore Chiout 11 Beyond certainty: expedition into unknown worlds Faten Mukarker 25 An eternal triangle Adina Aviram 31 My personal voice in times of political conflict Anette Klasing 39 Searching Fidaa Narh-Abu Dba 53 Journey of a woman Edna Zaretsky Toledano 57 Weaving the Dream Christiane Reinholz-Asolli 73 Reflections and Thoughts on Ten Years of German-Palestinian-Israeli Trialogue Jameela Alatrash 81 After death Gili Tzidkiyahu 87 Making Connections Katrin Wolf 93 German-Israeli-Palestinian Contacts Rawia Loucia Shammas 109 My identity: between optimism and pessimism Razia Meron 115 Narrative Rima Al Ajrami 121 Finding Inner Peace: S / he who does not have a thing, can not give it to others! Ruth Hiller 127 A Turn of Phrase Sabah Ikhymees 139 My Stories Shira Ohayon 147 Berlin 2007: Wannsee Forum Vered Shomron-Fabian 159 Sitting on a bench in Wannsee, Berlin (Spring 2007) 173 Hannelore Chiout · Postscriptum 176 Jenny Zobel · Telling the pain 179 Biographical notes Margot Brown Editorial diting this book together with Jenny Zobel (JZ) has been an extra- E ordinary privilege. It has felt like an immersion into one of the most challenging conflicts of our generation. In reading this book, you will find a collection of the writings of some of the women who participated in and contributed to a vision of peace through dialogue which is truly inspirational. hroughout this collection there is not only a deeper understanding T of how the conflict in Palestine and Israel impacts on those who are living through it but also a rare insight into the complex personalities of the women who met irregularly yet built such strong bonds. Bringing together such diverse cultural, linguistic, religious and political experi- ences has produced writing which is as intense as it is varied. Some of the pieces you will read reflect on the women themselves while other texts give different interpretations of the same incident. These show what we already know – that we all ‘see’ things differently – but they also remind us that without compassion and understanding these differences can flare into conflict and worse. Certain incidents are recounted by several women, so strong was the impact of the event on the group. These not only show us both the ‘public’ nature of the event but also the silent, private thoughts of the participants. ost of the women writing here do not do so in their first language M and have had their writing translated, trusting to the skill of the translator and then to the editors to mirror accurately what they wished to say. We hope that we have done so. We have deliberately used a ‘light touch’, changing little and cutting less. Our imperative was to let the voice of the women shine through. ne text speaks of the story of the Bat, which for the writer encapsu- O lated the dilemma of difference. I include it here as a reminder of the challenges before us when we allow the differences between us to outweigh what we share in common. 6 The Party nce upon a time, the animals decided that they would live in one O group and the birds would live in another group. So, one day, the animals decided to have a party. The Zebra was the watchman. All the animals came to the party to have a happy time. Then the Bat arrived and said, “Let me into the party, for I am an animal.” But the Zebra said, “No! We are animals because we don’t have wings; you are a bird because you have wings.” So the bat left without going to the party. The next day, the birds decided to have a party. The Vulture was the watchman of the bird party. The Bat heard the party from a long way away and decided he would go. When he arrived at the party he said, “Let me into the party, for I am a bird.” But the Vulture said, “No! We are birds because we don’t have teeth; you are an animal because you have teeth.” So the Bat had to leave without going to the party. The poor Bat was not an animal and not a bird, so he could never go to a party. I say: tell the children of the world, we don’t want to be bats. We want to find our place, to be either an animal or a bird so that we can be happy. By Abraham Marial Kiol, aged 14, Sudanese, Dinka Bor tribe Margot Brown March 2008 7 Time Line “Women Engendering Peace and Democracy” December 1998 First meeting in Würzburg, Bavaria June 1999 Meeting in Jerusalem, En Kerem, Taghba June 2000 Meeting in Bremen July 2000 First publication “Between the Lines: German, Israeli and Palestinian Women in Dialogue” September 2000 Start of second Intifada Between December 2000 – November 2003 Several meetings of German coordinator with coordinators and groups in Israel and Palestine November 2003 German group meets Israeli group in Nazareth and Palestinian group Members in Bethlehem and Ramallah May 2004 German coordinator in Israel and Palestine for preparation of fourth meeting August 2004 – December 2006 German group member working at the International Meeting Centre in Bethlehem, linking Palestinian partici- pants, keeping in touch with Israeli group members December 2004 Preparatory meeting of German coordinator in Israel and Palestine April / May 2005 Fourth Meeting of German, Palestinian and Israeli women: “Between the Lines, Between the Times. Women as Activists against Discrimination, Racism and Violence” February 2007 Preparatory meeting of German coordinator in Israel and Palestine March 2007 Last meeting of the three groups in Berlin “Between the Lines, Between the Times” Writing workshop and preparation of the second publication 8 Hannelore Chiout Preface This publication tries to sum up almost 10 years of an intense and pas- sionate process of finding a common language between women from Israel, Palestine, and Germany. e came together to learn from and strengthen each other in our W common endeavour of protecting women’s rights in our societies, strengthening mutual respect for each other, and fostering democratic values. The original aims of the project were defined as follows: – To explore ‘social spaces’ and processes in trans-cultural groups – To clarify gender and national identities – To strengthen the ability to create dialogue between cultures and countries – To foster participation in political processes that are specific to women – To demanding and establish a network of women from Israel, Palestine and Germany who are working to secure women’s and human rights. his enterprise launched an ongoing and often painful process of T search for rapprochement with each other which we didn’t expect really with regard to our written agenda. Each point of the agenda was abstract and general at the one hand, ambitious and challenging at the other. The women from three national groups – actually four, since the Israeli-Palestinians play a role for their own – shared a commitment to these aims, which was certainly not a given.