Dear sisters and friends,

In the midst of the war, the World Pride events were taking place in Jerusalem the last week. They had been postponed from the last year because of the disengagement. This year the March was cancelled because of the war. But all the other events were taking place. There was an overwhelming religious reaction to the march which was a product of Jewish-Muslim-Christian fundamentalist unity. Why don't they find this unity for creating a process of justice, reconciliation and peace for all? Why do they unite in hating lesbians, gay, bisexuals and transgender? Of course, there are inter-religious meetings of different Muslim, Jewish and Christian groups in search of peace. But the power is not in the hands of people who would like real change in basic values and the end of every oppression and suffering.

In my worst dreams I did not imagine that the war will be so long and painful. Today they declared a cease fire. We, in the radical left were out on the streets from the first days confronting feelings of hate and racism. We are regarded traitors more than ever. The Zionist parts of the peace movement started to wake up last week. Our historic role is to be catalysts of the mainstream peace movement. But it is important to mention that from the beginning of the war also individual Zionist peace activists took part in our demonstrations.

In the first 2 weeks I went to the anti-war vigils in Jerusalem everyday. Jerusalem is not part of the current war zone which means that here it is possible to continue our regular lives. But the sorrow and pain because of the widespread suffering is tremendous. I hardly can concentrate on my work. I am taking part in the feminist organizing concerning the war. We who work with women from disenfranchised communities - who disagree with us politically - are looking for ways to discuss the issue of security and war from feminist perspectives based on their experiences. We also plan a gathering of activists for our own political discussion besides the constant demonstrations and activities that are taken place, though marginalized and hardly represented in the media.

Every Saturday, Jews and Palestinians in Israel march in Tel Aviv against the war. Among other slogans we also shout that we refuse to be enemies. Asking a Palestinian friend what sustains her in this horrible situation, she immediately said that the Jewish-Arab demonstrations in Tel Aviv. Although our voices are hardly heard in the public. We insist on marching together. We insist on being together and saying among other things that: We are against the war, We don't want to kill and be killed in the service of the US, Both in Haifa and Beirut children want to live, We refuse to be enemies. I go out the street to express my views publicly. I go out to express my opposition to solving conflict with arms. I go out to express solidarity, I go out on the streets to be with my Palestinian friends.

So much pain and suffering on both sides. The suffering and destruction in Lebanon is greater and I feel horrible about it. It is done in my name. It is done in our name. But also here there is destruction on many levels of life. I mourn the suffering of the wounded, the dead and their families, the refugees in Lebanon, the ones whose houses were destroyed, women, men and children in the war zone who were thrown into destruction, anxieties and greater poverty. Two friends of mine have old parents in Haifa who are survivors of the Holocaust. They didn't want to leave their homes and their children were really worried. Lately we started to hear about the experiences of old and sick people who cannot go to the shelters. The horrible situation in Gaza and the west bank is not at the centre of public attention. This is also done in our name.

Feminist organizations in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and other places organize around women's needs like single mothers with children and poor women. Finally the media mentions also feminist critique of the war. Nevertheless our world view is still marginalized. The critique was there from the beginning, but the media did not respond to it till now. The stickers in the streets claiming Israel is going to win the war are around everywhere. What does it mean to win a war? The division between Jews and Arabs or Israelis and Palestinian is growing. We are creating more hate towards us. We are going to face even worse economic and social problems. Many are killed. Many are injured. More money will be given to the army and less and less for health, education and welfare. I think we still cannot imagine the inner social destruction that Israeli society is going to face. The chances of a real peace process between Israel and Palestine look less and less possible already for a few years. We lost hope to witness and take part in a process of justice, reconciliation and living in peace for Jewish and Palestinian people in the Middle East. No matter how important is the struggle against any kind of religious fundamentalism the core of the problem here is the national conflict.

As I already mentioned, we witness the racist attitudes, dehumanization and hate toward the enemy. One dimensional attitude towards a large community, this time here towards the Muslim Arabs. This is a widespread phenomenon everywhere. As feminists we should discuss this concept of the enemy in depth and oppose it. Only through the deep notion that all humans in the universe are connected can we really create change. It won't be easy for us because Patriarchy, Militarism, Fundamentalism, Capitalism and every oppressive system is regarded by us as the enemy. We witness the ruins and destruction of those oppressive systems everywhere. We know that men in power or men in the arms industry are part of those systems and benefit from them. How do we relate as feminists to those enemies? Do we have a unique contribution to the concept of the enemy?

I hope that the cease fire will help me to get back also to my everyday work with women directors. Those are women who by being directors within the welfare office and of social change organizations will have to deal with the new social and economic challenges that people from disenfranchised communities will have to meet. This tremendous responsibility puts a special burden on them. In our project we also want to expose them to feminist critique of social rights and change.

I hope each of you is well.

Love and hugs,

Yvonne Deutsch