“Your demonstrations are no good to us”, says rabbi and peace activist Nava Hefetz halfway through the ceremony in the VU Main Building. “It’s easy to take to the streets and shout. But it’s harder to go to your prime minister and tell him how he is undermining peace.”
During the ceremony, solidarity emerges as the central theme uniting these nominees. A solidarity that goes far beyond symbolism. The women leaders of Israel’s Women Wage Peace, the Palestinian Women of the Sun and the French-based Guerrières de la Paix proudly hold their nominations high and talk about how – especially after 7 October 2023 – they continue to hold each other close, amid the loss of loved ones and their fears of losing even more.
“After the 2014 Gaza War, I thought: enough is enough. An agreement must be reached with our Palestinian neighbours, with women at the negotiating table. They are more likely to reach an agreement, often one that is also inclusive and future-proof”, says Israel’s Yael Braudo-Bahat. “We want an end to the occupation and freedom for our children”, Palestinian Reem Hajajreh adds. “To achieve peace, I also have to reach out to the Israeli side. I did not raise my son only to lose him.”“The only possible future is a shared future”, Hanna Assouline of Guerrières de la Paix concludes.
Not sexy
The three groups operate as sister organisations, working together closely in their quest for peace. But their commitment to non-violence raises difficulties at a time when such an approach is out of favour. “War is sexy”, Braudo-Bahat says. “Peace is not bloody enough to report on [in the media]. The impression created is that everyone in the region wants war, but that is far from the truth. There are tens of thousands of people on the ground every day working to end the war.”
“I am going to do something many women have difficulty doing, though it is necessary: talk about money”, she continues. “Peace is underfunded, while war is overfunded. President Trump has just axed a whole series of peace projects and withdrawn their funding.”
Holding onto hope
Resisting for Peace, the documentary Assouline made with Sonia Terrab, is screened after the ceremony. It shows peacemakers in Israel and Palestine struggling to navigate a war zone dominated by violence. A former Hamas fighter has an emotional conversation with the son of murdered Israeli peace activist Vivian Silver; an escalating discussion at a Jewish family’s kitchen table is calmed with a bottle of Calvados.
“No one yet has asked us where we get our hope from”, Braudo-Bahat says as one of the moderators begins wrapping up the session. “We are hope”, Hajajreh replies resolutely. The three women are given a lengthy standing ovation.
Asymmetrical
One person at the ceremony is left with mixed feelings. “It’s more than a conflict they are talking about. The peace of one side is built on the loss of the other.”
Braudo-Bahat describes their situations as “asymmetrical”. “Which may sound rather cold when talking about the tragic consequences of war. But despite the vast difference between us in terms of our freedoms and resources, and everything else you can think of, we may not be equal partners, but we can be egalitarian partners, with the same goal.”