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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