Women in Black

Women in Black is not an organization, but it is an anti-war movement that varies somewhat in focus in different parts of the world. An estimate that there are about 10,000 activists in this movement worldwide is only a guess, since many women participate on a casual basis while others demonstrate weekly. Though there is no agreement upon constitution between the various segments world wide, many members believe that male violence against women in domestic life and war are connected. Women In Black is often perceived to be a left-wing political group, but many of its members claim that the organization is beyond ideology and is not political.

The first group was formed by Israeli women in Jerusalem in 1988, following the outbreak of the first Intifada (Palestinian uprising). Shocked by what they considered serious violations of human rights by Israeli soldiers in the Occupied Territories and considering the situation of military occupation of one people by another as the root cause, the women decided to hold a vigil every Friday in central Jerusalem, wearing black clothing in mourning for all victims of whatever side and holding signs with the slogan "Down with the Occupation".

The idea of regular weekly vigils seems to have been inspired by the example of the "Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo", in Argentina. (Some of the Jerusalem founders had originally immigrated to Israel from Latin America.)

The initiative soon spread to various other locations in Israel, with women standing weekly in main squares of cities or at junctions on inter-city highways, sometimes needing to face sexual taunts and insults by right wingers obviously since this is a left wing group and occasional physical violence. As was decided early on, the movement did not adopt any formal program other than opposition to the occupation. Local groups were completely autonomous in deciding such issues as whether or not to open participation to men as well as women, and there were many shades of political difference from one place to another.

At the peak of the Intifada there were no less than thirty vigils in different locations throughout the country. The number dwindled sharply after the Oslo Agreement in 1993, when it seemed that peace with the Palestinians was at hand, and picked up again when violent events proved that hope to have been premature.

The first vigils in other countries were started in solidarity with the Israeli group, and took up the Israeli-Palestinian issue directly - often involving Jewish women who felt critical of the policies of the Government of Israel. Soon, however, such groups took up a variety of local social and political issues, and the idea spread fast.

Especially notable were the Women in Black groups in the various fragments of the former Yugoslavia, which in the 1990s confronted the tide of rampant nationalism, hatred and bloodshed, often meeting with violence from nationalists and persecution by police. In Serbia, Slobodan Milošević devoted several speeches to attacking them, calling them "witches" among other negative words.

The organisation remains active and while each group is free to pursue its own goals and activities, they keep in regular contact via e-mail and the Internet and hold annual international conferences. Their most common tactic consists of standing together periodically in various public places, usually in complete silence.

Controversy

In one instance, a United States grouping of Women in Black was accused of mocking and showing disrespect to American soldiers. The Athens, Georgia chapter was the subject of a letter to the Athens "Banner-Herald" in October 2007 for a protest at which an unidentified individual, said not to be a member of the military, allegedly dressed up in a U.S. Army uniform, put pacifist political buttons on it, and held peace signs with the Women in Black. [http://onlineathens.com/stories/100407/letters_20071004012.shtml]

Women in Black in Austin, Texas, was started to hold weekly vigils against US bombing of Afghanistan after September 11, 2001. This group was under regular video surveillance, apparently by right-wing militants. An informal survey by participants suggested that about 60% of passersby who registered a reaction supported the demonstration.

ee also

*Coalition of Women for a Just Peace
*Code Pink

External links

* [http://www.womeninblack.org/index.html Women in Black (international) website]
* [http://www.womeninblack.org.uk/ Women in Black (UK) website]
* [http://www.womeninblack.org.uk/Organise%20a%20Vigil.htm Organize a Vigil]
* [http://www.womensenews.org/article.cfm/dyn/aid/3443 Twenty years' anniversary of the Women in Black]