A time of listening at the Canadian Museum for Human Rights- and a movement you can join
By Loraine MacKenzie Shepherd
Our communities are becoming increasingly polarized. Strongly-held opinions are backed by algorithms, confirming the truth of our position and discrediting opposing voices. Fear swells the rising tide of antisemitism and Islamophobia. Many protests for justice and peace are actually inciting further demonization and violence.
There is another way. Women Wage Peace, founded in Israel in 2014 after a Gaza-Israel war, is comprised of Jewish, Arab, Druze and Bedouin women. It has grown to 50,000 Israeli members, the largest grassroots peace organization in Israel today. The movement empowers diverse communities to build trust across divides, leading in turn to a unified demand for diplomatic negotiation, with full representation of women, to bring justice and a secure peace to Palestine and to Israel.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, supporting chapters of Women Wage Peace have been organized around the world. In Canada, there are now chapters in Winnipeg, Vancouver, Toronto and Montréal.
Dr. Amal Elsana Alh’jooj, Rabbi Donna Kirshbaum and MC Dr. Lori Wilkinson.
On April 26, Women Wage Peace Winnipeg held an event in partnership with the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Westworth United Church was one of the sponsors and generous funders. Fully subscribed afternoon workshops covered storytelling, as a way to hold diverse truths together and forge allyship, and practical tools for difficult conversations.
In the evening, key note speaker Amal Elsana Alh’jooj, a Bedouin feminist now teaching at McGill University, followed her presentation with a conversation with Rabbi Donna Kirshbaum, co-founder of Women Wage Peace in Israel. Donna reminded us of political transformations around the world in which women creatively led. She encouraged peace through the lens of restorative justice.
Amal noted the loss of her dear friend Vivian Silver, another co-founder of Women Wage Peace, when Vivian was brutally murdered on Oct. 7. Amal also noted that she lost 52 family members and friends in the subsequent decimation of Gaza. She then described the continuing increase in injustice and settler vigilante violence in the West Bank. She emphasized that peace must walk hand in hand with and justice for everyone.
The sold-out audience of 150 was largely Jewish and Christian (many were United Church), with a dozen Muslims. While we were hoping for a larger Muslim attendance, some of them are prominent Palestinian leaders and others are connected to Muslim organizations. This event has helped to plant the seeds for future bridge-building with Jewish, Muslim and Christian communities. Relationship-building is the key to lasting justice and peace in Israel, Palestine and here at home.
