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krarn Travel, the largest U.S. tour
operator to Israel, introduces new
money saving packages to Israel this
winter. Now available with TWA's
non-stop service to Tel Aviv on
Fridays.
-
Choose from 10 or 15 day tours to. Tel
Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias 'and Jerusalem.
Sightseeing, breakfast and hotel
accommodations included.
Or mix and match from select hotels
in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv on one of
our 6 night hotel packages ,and we'll
provide you with a free car during
your stay.
To find out more about Isram's new
TWA Friday packages and wide
selection of quality tours to Israel, ask
your travel agent or call:
(212) 477-2352 • (800) 223-7460
*Packages must be purchased with air tickets ,
utilizing the lowest applicable airfares.
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CLASSIFIEDS
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Call The Jewish News
354-6060
Do Women Make
Better Peacemakers?
JOEL BAINERMAN
Special to The Jewish News
A
re women
better
peacemakers than
men? If more women
were involved in interna-
tional politics could a
peaceful resolution to the
Palestinian-Israeli conflict be
found?
A group of Palestinian and
Israeli women think so. They
gathered recently in Brussels,
Belgium, at a women-only
conference to discuss, among
other things, what role
women can play in the search
for peace in the Middle East.
In fact, it was probably the
first time a gathering of
minds dedicated to the resolu-
tion of the conflict had a uni-
quely feminist perspective.
The sessions started out
with a bang, with Palestinian
women recounting their per-
sonal experience during the
intifada and reports of condi-
tions in the West Bank, the
closure of schools and the pro-
blems of collective punish-
ment. Some the the Israeli
participants reminded their
counterparts of the horrors
experienced by victims of
PLO terrorism.
By midday, the tone sud-
denly changed. The solid
white lines which had been
drawn between the sides
vanished and the collection of
political' adversaries became
merely two groups of women,
each with their own concerns,
but united in the efforts to
deal with the central issues.
Professor Galia Cohen,
head of the political science
department at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem, says
that the difference between
the Belgium peace conference
and others she attended in
The Hague and at Colombia
University in New York (mix-
ed, but mainly men) earlier
this year was that the women
passed through the rough
spots first, and then got to the
nitty-gritty.
"The earlier meetings
started off pleasantly and
then became ugly. The
political issues were virtual-
ly the same, but with only
women present there was
more empathy and under-
standing, more of a desire to
cooperate and formulate com-
mon goals. As women I think
we were more impatient with
side issues and more eager to
address the main concerns:'
Despite the common
ground, a joint declaration
could not be reached. They
did however decide to
establish a network of Palesti-
nian and Israel women to
keep up the contact, and to
pursue certin attainable goals
such as getting the schools in
the territories reopened.
The conference reaffirmed
many of the participants' con-
clusions that the intifada has
given Palestinian women the
opportunity to gain equal
political footing with their
male counterparts.
In many, if not all Arab
societies, women are still very
much delegated to a second-
class role. Yet because of their
access to higher education,
Palestinians are probably the
most liberated of all Arab
women.
Professor Naomi Chazan, a
political scientist at the
. . with only
women present
there was more
empathy and
understanding,
more of a desire to
cooperate and
formulate common
gOals."
Hebrew . University in
Jerusalem, says that because
women have been denied
leadership roles in Palesti-
nian political organizations,
and because the intifada is
very much a human, rather
than a military event, Palesti-
nian women are using it as a
means to express themselves
politically.
Palestinian activist Rana
Nashashibi agrees that the
intifada has given Palestinian
women a "reason" to become
politically active. She adds
that it hasn't been easy for
women to defy their tradi-
tional roles in Palestinian
society to go out in public to
participate in
demonstrations.
"Now is the time to push
the agenda of feminism in
Palestinian society. Our en-
trance into the political arena
is bound to change our
husbands' attitudes to
domestic issues, yet I doubt
whether they will be able to
accept the new status of
Palestinian women."
The Dean of the Faculty of
Arts at Bir Zeit University,
Dr. Hanan Mikhail-Ashrawi,
contended that it is Israeli,
not Palestinian, women who
need to be liberated from the
shackles of a male-dominated