Women’s Empowerment in Interfaith Meeting in Sderot

Our Abrahamic Reunion visited Sderot on the southern border with Gaza to pray for an end to the violent conflict, and to bear witness to the suffering of the Israelis being bombarded daily by rockets from Hamas for eight years. We were Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Jews — Palestinians and Israelis — all male clergy except for me (my Muslim woman counterpart was ill). One Sufi Sheik had sisters and a daughter in Gaza. A Catholic Malekite priest brought his Christian, Druze, and Muslim high school students from Nazareth area to meet with the high school students in Sderot. We sat in a classroom that was a fortified building – a chilling reminder of their reality. The children spoke beautifully and deeply — immediately bringing up and confronting the core issues that separate everyone and create fear and mistrust. The clergy were each asked to offer prayers – which were quite lovely and meaningful, especially in that context. I indicated to the hosting rabbi that we had not heard the voice of women and he called on me. I spoke simply as a mother and told them my prayer came not only from my head and heart, but from my womb — and my prayer was that no other child should ever have to suffer as my son did as a survivor of a Hamas suicide bomber’s attempt to kill him. In response to the fear and caution that some of the students had expressed, I told them that they had already done the hardest work — just walking into the room and sitting together was the first and most important step in overcoming fear, mistrust, and feelings of vengeance. I pointed out that right now the majority of Israelis and Palestinians would never come into this room or talk to the “other” – so they already began the long road towards reconciliation.

What was most gratifying to me afterwards was that several of the clergymen each told me that I had said the most important words. Not because I wanted praise, but because this was another significant step for them in recognizing the equal value of what a woman, even a lay leader, can contribute to our public prayer meetings. Since we formed the Abrahamic Reunion over five years ago with 10 clergymen and two women spiritual leaders, it has been an uphill struggle for the two women to be equal participants in the public meetings of our group although they have no problem with us doing the organizational work behind the scenes. So I have no illusions about the difficulty of our task for equal women’s participation or the need for patience and perseverance. In the patriarchal societies of our region, it is much more complex than in Western societies, and the work has to be forceful but subtle. Moreover, those of us who are on this path know that the sisterhood of women and the support of men all over the world is a deep comfort that empowers and strengthens us. Your love enables us to demonstrate the necessity for, and the benefits of, women’s contribution to public discourse on peace.

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