Day 2, by Rebecca Barlow
May 31, 2007 by nobelwomensinitiative
by Rebecca Barlow, NWI rapporteur, PhD Candidate at the Centre for Muslim Minorities and Islam Policy Studies in Melbourne
Yesterday I wrote about those moments during the NWI conference when the entire room has been left in momentary silence, but it is the afternoon session of day two of the conference that has left me most affected.
This afternoon’s panel focused on Israel and the Occupied Territories. The anguish expressed in the words of the two women who spoke to us (one Israeli and one Palestinian) was tangible, and weighted by the knowledge that these women represented the tragic realities of thousands upon thousands of other men, women, and children on the ground. But these women were not here to simply tell us about their pasts. They were here to talk about the future, and strategies for change. One theme resounded in this respect: there is no military-oriented solution to the problem of Israel-Palestine.
As part of my position as PhD candidate at Monash University in Australia, I tutor second and third year students in Middle Eastern politics. Of course, the Israel-Palestine conflict features predominantly in the course. If I can impart just some of the reality of experiences expressed to me by the women that I have listened to and engaged with today back to my students in Melbourne, it has the potential to make a profound difference to the way we study and engage with the subject matter. What I have realised here today is that while we study conflict and the history of conflict, we must maintain a commitment to study and focus predominantly on peace and strategies for peace. Otherwise, what really is the point?
To speak frankly, it is somewhat difficult to write about such complex, politically sensitive, and sometimes deeply personal issues in a blog. To be even more frank, at this point in the evening of day two I share the sentiments of my Croatian friend who I sat next to during this afternoon’s session and who turned to me at the end of the women’s stories and said: “Okay, now I need alcohol.”
