Israeli & Palestinian Women Leaders to Promote Middle East Peace - UNIFEM

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UNIFEM News Release
Prominent Israeli and Palestinian Women Leaders to Hold Unprecedented
Meeting at UN with Women Heads of State to Initiate New Middle East Peace
Negotiations
Delegation of Israeli, Palestinian and international women leaders achieve
historic agreement on principles for Middle East peace and urge
international support.

Date: 18 September 2006

Media Inquiries:
Nanette Braun, Communications Specialist, UNIFEM Headquarters, +1
212-906-6829, nanette.braun@unifem.org

United Nations, New York — A delegation of top Israeli, Palestinian and
international women leaders arrive at the United Nations on September 20th
to meet with President of the Republic of Finland Tarja Halonen, at a time
when Finland holds the Presidency of the European Union, in an effort to
marshal high-level political pressure to restart negotiations in the region.
Joining the President of Finland will be President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf of
Liberia, Africa’s first elected woman head of state, who traveled to the
occupied Palestinian territory in 2001 to hear the stories of women living
in conflict as part of the Independent Experts’ Assessment on the impact of
war on women, commissioned by the United Nations Development Fund for Women
(UNIFEM). It is hoped that together these leaders, representing both the
North and the South, can begin to focus international attention on the need
to resolve the long-standing Israeli-Palestinian conflict so as to prevent
broader conflict in the region. Taking advantage of the opening of the 61st
Session of the UN General Assembly, they are also meeting with Mr. Amr
Moussa, who heads the League of Arab States, and with critical foreign
ministers, as well as with high-level UN officials.

The International Women's Commission for a Just and Sustainable
Israeli-Palestinian Peace (IWC) convened in 2005 by Noeleen Heyzer, the
Executive Director of UNIFEM, at the urging of Israeli and Palestinian women
leaders, was established to ensure the meaningful participation of women in
mainstream peace negotiations. IWC maintains that implementing UN Security
Council Resolution 1325, which mandates women's involvement in conflict
resolution, is critical to restarting negotiations and improving their
outcomes. The IWC charter stresses the goal of bringing an end to Israeli
occupation through immediate final status negotiations, leading to a viable
sovereign Palestinian state alongside the state of Israel. Since its
inception, IWC has succeeded in joining women living in different realities
and experiences to speak out on the most difficult political issues in one
voice.

Leading the delegation to New York are Dr. Hanan Ashrawi, Member of the
Palestinian Legislative Council, and Dr. Naomi Chazan, former Deputy Speaker
of the Israeli Knesset and professor of political science, Hebrew University
of Jerusalem.

The IWC has agreed to the following principles, which will be presented to
the heads of state in New York:

  a.. Civilian lives, especially those of women and children, must not be
used as bargaining chips in efforts to resolve the escalating conflict in
the region.
  b.. Negotiations and mutual agreements are the only legitimate means to
bring about a just and sustainable solution. Unilateral measures will
undermine a two-state solution and never bring lasting peace.
  c.. The Arab League Initiative of 2002 provides an appropriate framework
for the resolution of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and for
comprehensive peace in the region. This initiative could lead to the
realization of “a new Middle East” that the people in the region desire,
rather than one that would be externally imposed.
  d.. The escalating crisis demands an international conference be held
immediately to launch permanent status negotiations based on relevant UN
resolutions and international law and to decide mechanisms for
implementation.
  e.. In the interim, the international community must insist on a complete
cessation of hostilities and protection of people in both Lebanon and the
occupied Palestinian territory (oPt), according to international law. This
should be followed by the promotion of good will measures such as: exchange
of prisoners; free movement of people and goods and the cessation of the
construction of the separation wall in oPt to pave the way to permanent
settlement negotiations.
Members of the IWC at the UN meeting will include: Dr. Hanan Ashrawi,
Member, Palestinian Legislative Council; Ms. Zahira Kamal, former Minister
of Women's Affairs, Palestinian Authority; Ms. Samia Y.M. Bamieh, former
Director of European Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Dr. Naomi Chazan,
Professor of Political Science, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ms. Aida
Touma-Sliman, General Director, Women against Violence Organization; Dr.
Galia Golan, Professor Emeritus, Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Ms. Leire
Pajin Iraola, State Secretary for International Cooperation, Spain; Ms.
Noeleen Heyzer, Executive Director of UNIFEM; and other prominent
international figures from Europe and the United States.

In August, 2005 Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas recognized the IWC
through an official decree. Before leaving for the UN meeting, the
Palestinian delegation met with President Abbas to brief him and gained his
support. In Israel, the IWC launch coincided with the adoption in the
Knesset of a law calling for implementation of UN Security Council
Resolution 1325, giving credence to the IWC.

With support of its international members and facilitation of UNIFEM, an IWC
delegation visited Brussels in December 2005 to meet with EU officials. A
visit to New York and Washington took place in May 2006, providing the IWC
with a dialogue with high-level officials in the United Nations and in
Washington, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, and UN
Under-Secretary for Political Affairs, Ibrahim Gambari.

Going forward, the IWC hopes to achieve a breakthrough in negotiations and
offer policymakers a stake in resolving the Israel-Palestine conflict with
fresh, incisive political analysis and innovative proposals from women
leaders for actions and strategies that can serve to advance the peace
process.

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Received on Fri Sep 29 10:22:09 2006