[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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