"Jerusalem Women Speak: Three Women, Three Faiths, One Shared Vision" is the subject of a Gender Studies Program lecture at 7 p.m. Oct. 12 in Memorial Ballroom, Hall Campus Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.
Jala Basil Andoni, Hekmat Besisso-Naji, and Ruth El Raz argue that for the good of all, occupation should end through nonviolent means to bring a just peace and a brighter future for their children, their communities, and their societies.
Jala Basil Andoni currently works with the Wi'am Center for Reconciliation and the Arab Educational Institute (AEI) in Bethlehem, and is a leader of the women's group at the Alternative Information Center (AIC) in Beit Sahour.
Hekmat Besisso-Naji, a Muslim Palestinian originally from Gaza, currently lives in Ramallah and has spoken to audiences in the U.S. and Europe through Peace x Peace, Joining Hands Against Hunger (a Presbyterian Church initiative) and the Faculty for Israeli - Palestinian Peace. She currently works as a Community Trainer, where her main task is to organize, carry out, train, and evaluate nonviolence training and other projects.
Ruth El Raz currently works as a therapist at the Counseling Center for Women in Jerusalem, which she helped found. She is also a board member of the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions (ICAHD), and Bat Shalom, the Israeli side of Jerusalem Link, a joint Israeli/Palestinian women's peace organization.
Partners for Peace seeks to educate the American public about key issues in the effort to secure peace and justice among Palestinians and Israelis. They bring to American audiences and the media the voices that often go unheard: the voices of Palestinian and Israeli women.