Galia Golan
Posted on | November 17, 2008 | No Comments
Commentator, author, professor, and co-founder of Peace Now
People aren’t afraid to use the word occupation today. I think people who don’t use the word are blind or unjust. I can’t understand them. There are, of course, people on the far Right who believe we liberated these territories in 1967—that the West Bank, Golan Heights, maybe even the Gaza Strip are God-given territories promised to Abraham. They would reject the word occupation.
Statistics show the vast majority of Israelis favor a two-state solution more or less along the lines before the 1967 war. There are many ideas, such as land swaps so that some settlements could be accommodated while Palestinians receive some Israeli land. The truth is we have been very, very close to a solution, we’ve been so close we could almost touch it. There is a general agreement the occupation is not doing anyone any good. Most Israelis believe it is not bringing us security. Some of us also feel it is morally wrong.
Why do you care?
Why? If things are bad, and things are bad, I can’t not do anything. Most people have—certainly, I have—a sense that it’s my country. What happens here is connected with me. I have personal responsibility for the injustices—gender inequality, other inequalities, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the occupation and what happens under the occupation not only to women, but especially to women. These are things I can’t ignore. Israel is my country and this means that what happens here is in some way connected with me and that I have a say in what’s going on.
I cry when I see the kind of society Israel has become. It is not what we thought we were creating—suffering inside the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, poverty in South Tel Aviv, Bedouin villages that aren’t recognized.
I feel that things are being done in my name, in my country, by my government. Even if I didn’t vote for the people who are sitting up there at the moment, I have an obligation to change it. I also feel a strong sense of guilt and unease with the results of our policies.
What gives me hope, as an activist in the peace movement since its inception in 1978, is the young people who come to demonstrate in the occupied territories with us simply because they believe what’s going on is wrong.
Tell us about yourself.
I’m a peace activist. I’ve been active in the Israeli peace movement since its inception in 1978. And I’m one of the founders of the Jerusalem Link, a joint Israeli-Palestinian women’s organization for peace. My life’s work is defined by my beliefs as an active feminist. I was also one of the founders of the Israel Women’s Network, a feminist advocacy organization founded in 1984, which works on the numerous issues connected with women’s rights. As an academic, I also created a women’s studies program at the Hebrew University.
What is the primary issue facing women?
The tremendous gender inequality inside Palestine and Israel, whether violence against women or inequality in earning a living. In both societies, there is tremendous gender inequality and discrimination. Clearly for Palestinians, though, the major issue beyond that is the occupation. They simply want to be able to live a different life.
Here, the conflict has enormous effect on women’s position because Israeli society has become militarized—security is the main issue and the experts in security are men. Women are less valued than men who, of course, are there to defend us. The militarization resulting from the conflict permeates the entire society.
For Palestinians, too, the male is the fighter, the one who is going to bring liberation. Women’s issues become secondary. Even if gender equality was the sole issue at hand, it would be imperative for us to bring about a resolution of the conflict—as things stand now, we are in a life and death situation, and we can’t let the conflict shape a disastrous future for the two people.
We just created the International Women’s Commission for a Just and Lasting Israeli-Palestinian Peace to bring women’s voices to whatever negotiations take place. For too many years, we have seen any number of proposals come and go, while women are never present at the discussions, never consulted, their ideas not heard. We are 20 Israeli women, 20 Palestinian women, and 20 international women creating a vehicle to bring women’s voices to the decision-makers. To accomplish this, we hold hearings around the country—ours inside Israel, and the Palestinian women inside the Palestine Territories—to try to hear what the women want to say with regard to the conflict. The thoughts and opinions of these women are then represented to the world leaders.
Our honorary chairs are the President of Finland, the President of Switzerland, and the Prime Minister of New Zealand. Noeleen Hezyer, who is the head of UNIFEM, is our Chair. We have been in existence for a little over a year now and we’ve already had meetings with Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, and with the Foreign Secretary of Israel, Tzipi Livni. Though we have a long way to go, the fact that we are speaking with one voice—a joint Israeli-Palestinian voice—makes a powerful statement.
Will there be peace in your lifetime?
Everybody on both sides knows pretty much what that solution is going to look like. In my opinion, if there was will to accomplish peace at the top it could be done very quickly. Now, what does that mean? They should be willing to take the chance, when the majority of their constituencies believe in it. There is still a minority on both sides that would oppose any kind of compromise, but it is a minority. As leaders, they need to be willing to take the political effort to bring about a solution. Yitzhak Rabin was one such leader.
An activist since 1978, Golan is a co-founder of peace organizations including Peace Now, Jerusalem Link, and the International Women’s Commission for a Just and Sustainable Israeli-Palestinian Peace. The author of eight books, Golan is Professor of Government at the Interdisciplinary Center of Herzliya and Professor Emerita of The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her many awards include the 1999 Gleitsman Foundation Activist Award.
