Israeli Consultation - November 2009
In November 2009, Inclusive Security’s Middle East team traveled to Jerusalem to continue its work promoting the participation of women in peace processes to resolve the protracted Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Women have been disproportionately affected by the conflict and have specific ideas on how to settle the core disputes; often, however, they have simply not been asked to share their perspectives.
To address that problem, Inclusive Security has developed a roster of Israeli women who are experts on the core and technical issues likely to be addressed in negotiations. The roster, which will be completed and shared publicly this spring, is intended as an advocacy tool to advance women’s participation in the negotiations. (A
parallel effort to promote Palestinian women technical experts is also underway with support from the
Open Society Institute.)
The core event of the consultation was the convening of 15 women on our recently-developed roster of Israeli experts to discuss their priorities and options for moving forward. While some of the women who participated have long advocated for women’s inclusion in the peace process and have previously worked with Inclusive Security, we also met new allies, including several women who had not previously considered the particular contributions that women can make.
After an introduction to the field of women, peace, and security, and a lengthy discussion of the challenges women face in Israeli society, the group discussed how it might continue to work together to advance their perspectives within the Israeli government and broader society. For example, they discussed the possibility of creating an “information coalition” to jointly advocate for an increase in the number of women in Israeli government leadership. Consensus emerged that many organizations in Israel worked on peace but that few adequately address the issue of women’s participation. The participants also recognized that the women in the room came from many different political parties and that their diversity could be a strength in their ability to influence a broad sector of society as they work together to advance their agenda.
In March 2010, Inclusive Security staff will return to Jerusalem for further discussions with women listed on the roster about developing an informal coalition of women advocates for increased women’s participation in Israeli foreign policy.
In addition to conducting training, Inclusive Security staff also met with staff at the:
For more information about Inclusive Security’s work in the Middle East, please contact Rebecca Miller or Allison Shean.