Gaza- Wednesday, 16/3/2011
The Palestinian women call for activating and fostering the role of the MP women to put pressure on both governments in the West Bank and Gaza to end the division. This appeal comes through a workshop entitled ” The Palestinian woman.. willing for change and ending the division” organized Wednesday morning 16/3/2011 by the Palestinian woman society for development in cooperation with Pal Think for strategic studies and other four grass roots organizations. The workshop is considered a step to raise the awareness of the people towards reconciliation within the project ” Restoring the Cooperation Amongst Community Actors Towards a Reconciled and Civilized Society” funded by the Swiss government.
The participants in this workshop asked for formulating a youth steering committee to follow up the events after 15/3/2011 and put a plan for the future procedures and activities that aim to achieve reconciliation. They highlighted the role of the family in sowing the values of unity, tolerance and acceptance of the others in their children. They also denoted to the negative effects of the partisan and factional education and culture people give to their children. They called for avoiding factionalism in the process of educating and upbringing the children, the method which reinforces unity and denounces division.
For her part, Hanan Siam, an activist, said that the role of the civil society organizations toward ending the division between Fatah and Hamas parties seems feeble for many reasons, some of which are:
– the complexity of the reconciliation issue.
– the foreign agendas that stand as obstacles in front of any attempt for reconciliation.
– the intervention of other political factions.
Majda Albelbisi, a journalist, praised the role of media led by the Palestinian women in enriching the idea of reconciliation although it is limited. She said that media should be unbiased , work for the interest of the Palestinian people’s unity and away from defaming the Palestinian identity.
It is worth mentioning that this workshop came after the event of 15/3/2011, a national event in which the Palestinian youth from all walks of life targeted the main squares in the West Bank and Gaza calling for ending the division and achieving the reconciliation.
