Voices from WILPF Israel: Daphne Banai & Taghrid Shbita

The women of Los Angeles, recognizing the extraordinary peace work done by Daphne Banai & Taghrid Shbita, members of WILPF Israel, brought them to the US for a mini-tour. They spoke at three events this weekend and are travelling to San Francisco for another engagement. I attended today's lecture and had the pleasure of meeting Taghrid & Daphne at a pot luck after the event.

Both Taghrid and Daphne believe that US citizens must pressure the US government to stop supporting the occupation. They offer no easy cures for the problem, only the hope that working together, we can affect real change in this horrific situation. Both believe in a two-state solution and dismiss the reasons given by the Israeli & US governments for not negotiating with the Hamas-led Palestinian government.

We can start creating this change in US policy by working together to formulate an alternative, feminist policy on Israel / Palestine. The US Section campaign "Women Challenge US Policy: Building Peace on Justice in the Middle East," is close to releasing a tool-kit to help our branches start feminist round tables to examine current US policy and develop an alternative approach.

For more notes from the lecture, visit my political blog, Social Upheaval.