[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 170 (Tuesday, November 29, 2016)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6541-S6542]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN WOMEN WAGE PEACE MOVEMENT
Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, for decades people around the world have
witnessed seemingly intractable conflict in the Middle East, and those
who live there have suffered through generations of violence. While the
peace sought for that region has been elusive, organizations such as
the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in Southern Israel have
continued the struggle to promote conflict resolution and unity to
counter forces of hate and violence. Vermont Rabbi Michael Cohen is one
of the founding faculty members of the Arava Institute.
In October, Rabbi Cohen wrote of the Women Wage Peace movement in
Israel after thousands of people from different political and religious
backgrounds joined together to march in support of peace in that
troubled region.
The Women Wage Peace movement, founded by a small group of Israeli
women, has grown over the years in both force and numbers. Its mission:
to demand a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians. The
rallies took place throughout the country, with a final march, the
March of Hope, taking place in Jerusalem.
Rabbi Cohen, together with many other students, staff, and faculty of
the
[[Page S6542]]
Arava Institute and community members from Kibbutz Ketura where he
currently teaches, attended one of the rallies at the official Israeli-
Jordanian border crossing along the Eilat promenade, and, the following
day, at Qasr al-Yahud, the Jordan River baptismal site.
At the baptismal site one of the members of Kibbutz Ketura recognized
a man sitting on the Jordanian side of the river who had visited the
Arava Institute earlier in the summer. The man had come to support the
March of Hope from the Jordanian side, while members of the Arava
Institute showed their support from the Israeli side. The two men
exchanged warm words from across the river epitomizing the goals of the
movement.
The Middle East is facing one of its most unstable and dangerous
periods in modern history. Entities like the Arava Institute, along
with the Women Wage Peace movement, offer hope that peaceful
coexistence is possible in the Middle East. Women, men, Israelis,
Palestinians, Christians, Muslims, Jews, youth, and elders have joined
together to remind us that we are all connected as members of one
international community.
I ask unanimous consent that Rabbi Cohen's October 26, 2016, post,
``A rabbi in the desert: A reminder of what can be,'' from the Arava
Institute blog be printed in the Record.
There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in
the Record, as follows:
[Oct. 26, 2016]
A Rabbi in the Desert: A Reminder of What Can Be
When I was five I attended my first political rally. It was
the March on Trenton which paralleled the famous March on
Washington and Martin Luther King's ``I have a Dream
Speech.'' The event in Trenton, New Jersey, as well as others
around the country, were held for people who could not make
it to the nation's capital to show nationwide support for the
message of the event.
Fast forward fifty-three years later, and the grassroots
Israeli-Palestinian ``Women Wage Peace'' movement decided on
the same format; rallies throughout the country followed by a
rally in Jerusalem. So during the week of the Sukkot holiday,
I found myself standing at the official Israeli-Jordanian
border crossing between Eilat and Aqaba with members of the
southern Arava valley communities including Kibbutz Ketura
and students, staff, and faculty of the Arava Institute. The
message of the rally was women demanding, with men invited to
participate, a model of political leadership that would
transform decades of failure when it comes to a settlement of
the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. ``Right, Center, Left
Demand a Peace Agreement'' was the slogan of the rally. After
a march along the Eilat promenade there were a number of
speeches including one by the mayor of Eilat.
The following day many of us got up before the sun so we
could travel first to Qasr al-Yahud, the Jordan River Baptist
site and then onto Jerusalem. At Qasr al-Yahud we joined
together with hundreds of Palestinians. People shared smiles,
food, and a sense of doing something important together. It
was a powerful sight as we marched, many hand in hand, from
the gathering point to the baptismal site.
There, participants mingled with Christian pilgrims who had
come to the site for baptism ceremonies. The Jordan River at
that point is some fifteen feet wide and on both sides steps
allow pilgrims easy access to its holy waters. A member of
Kibbutz Ketura pointed out a man with white beard sitting on
the Jordanian side of the river who had visited the Arava
Institute shortly after our arrival this summer! He owns a
farm near that spot and is working with Dr. Clive Lipchin,
the Director of our Center for Transboundary Water
Management, and Arava alumnus and researcher Suleiman
Halasah, to install the prototype of a new solar desalination
system in Jordan. He came to support the March from the
Jordanian side of the border. I called across the river and
border. He immediately recognized me and we had a
conversation much to the delight and surprise of those who
listened to us. This extraordinary encounter modelled what
the Arava Institute is capable of creating, and by extension
what the Women Wage Peace event was all about.
The rally was addressed by Liberian Nobel Peace Prize
laureate Leymah Roberta Gbowee, whose story of empowerment,
bravery, and strength resonated with the marchers. From Qasr
al-Yahud we continued on our way to Jerusalem, where our
numbers swelled to 20,000 as we marched past Israeli
government ministry buildings, the Knesset, the Prime
Minister's office, the President's House, and finally ended
up a block from the Prime Minister's residence. The marchers'
spirits were uplifted by the sight of so many people snaking
their way through the streets and neighborhoods of Jerusalem.
At the final rally, Yael Deckelbaum led us in her touching
song ``Prayer of the Mothers''.
The day was called the March of Hope. Hope is one of the
great motivating forces in our lives; it allows us to reach
forward to what we want. The day was a strong reminder of
what can be. The activities of the Arava Institute are daily
reminders that hope can also be lived as a reality.
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