The week in Jerusalem for the International Women in Black Conference was a week of sadness, inspiration, joy, information and awe. 750 women from 44 countries met. There were 1000 women at the regular Friday vigil and 500 women boarded ten buses to visit Ramallah and other villages in the west bank. We held a vigil on both sides of the enormous Qalandiya checkpoint; joining with the Palestinian women we had met in Ramallah and who couldn't attend the conference in Jerusalem because they weren't allowed access. One our Palestinian sisters was arrested and we sat in our buses until we were sure she had been released. I will write in more detail over the coming weeks and months, but here are some pearls of wisdom I brought home with me:

• Some women were detained 8 hours at the airport, the media did it's best to ignore us - but couldn't ignore a vigil of 1000 women! - Gila, Jerusalem
• WIB chooses Justice and Care together - Lepa from Belgrade
• Don't be tricked by your own leaders - Lepa from Belgrade
• The Jews are building a jail for themselves; this machine will eat itself - Yana, Women's Coalition for Peace
• This is not about suffering; it’s about what we can do differently. The process of liberation begins from within - Salwa, Palestinian citizen in Israel
• Move from protest to Resistance - Dalit, Tel Aviv
• Fear is not a good leader - but a good advisor - Dalit, Tel Aviv
• Ask constantly 'what are we doing this for?' Dalit, Tel Aviv
• We must be aware of the limits of democracy - Staza, Belgrade
• Sanction my country and those outside that also profit - BOYCOTT ME! - Rela Mazali, Israeli anti-militarist

The day after the Conference the women from the International Women's Peace Service (IWPS) took us to the Salfit region where there are 22 villages and 24 settlements, one that has an industrial area whose effluent flows down to the villages. We saw how the wall separates villages from their crops, children from their schools, the ill from medical facilities. We also met strong women in villages and on councils who are doing what they can to support those dispossessed and to provide both physical and mental health services

The women I met while walking, riding buses, marching, singing, eating, women who live their lives striving for peace and freedom and who shared their wisdom with me include:

Shena and River and Judith from Sheffield - all social workers in different fields;

Suzanne and Cheryl Sayra and Twila from Detroit - Twila retuned to some Palestinian villages where she worked last year; Joan, a Dalit woman from Puna, working to help empower other Dalit women;

Lucy and Cynthia from Puna -Vipassana meditators WIB and Catholic nuns who run a centre for battered and destitute women and children;

Ronnie and Bernadette and Suzie from Canada;

Rosie and Chris and Sue from Edinburgh (WIB meet on Saturdays across from the Waverly steps);

Julie from New York now living in Paris;

Edith from Argentina now living in Israel and who spreads the message of peace through painting and collage;

Ingrid from Germany;

Charity from Nigeria;

Marie-Jose from Congo, now a refugee in Israel;

Lepa from Belgrade who has watched the same carnage in her country and started WIB and now works with sexually abused women;

Rebecca from London, one of a group of 1000 women nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize an d the original Brigit Evans who Judy Small talked to at Greenham Common;

A group of wonderful inspirational Spanish women who are now consulted by their new government on matters of peace and will host the next WIB conference; and The many women with whom the language barrier was an obstacle but with whom I could still laugh and cry.

Yes, there were issues I would have liked to have seen handles differently, yes it was disappointing that the lesbian workshop was cancelled but being the wonderful women we are we still made opportunities to connect and sow seeds of friendships and build further networks and that is what makes women in Black strong. What I brought back with me – in words and deeds and feelings - will fashion my thinking for years to come. Thank you, thank you all.

Wilma

Canberra, Australia