A Thought About Women Waging Peace

On October 4th, at the end of Rosh Hashanah, women started marching from the four corners of Israel, organized by a grassroots group called Women Waging Peace.  The march culminated on Chol haMoed Sukkot in Jerusalem in a rally held in front of the Prime Minister’s Office with a simple message to all the leaders of our country: “Lead us courageously toward a political agreement.”  Many felt this was naive, but more than 2,500 women all dressed in white, including myself, showed up.  It wasn’t an expression of my leadership.  I didn’t do anything to help organize.  I was just there, in white, with a friend and met some other of our Wexner friends there.  I felt that it was the least I could do — just to come and be counted — on the issue that is the most important for us as Israelis living in Israel.  And to be hopeful when most Israelis are not. 

Alona Lifshitz, WIF Alum (Class 7) opened her Jerusalem Architects Office in 2000; the office offers expert architectural design, consultation and project management for public and nonprofit organizations, as well as work in the private sector for industrial companies.  Previously, she was Director of the Projects Department at the Jerusalem Foundation and Director of the Gilo neighborhood Self-Management Council.  Alona received her Bachelor of Architecture and Town Planning from the Technion Institute of Technology, was a Fellow of the Salzburg Seminar on the Preservation of Art and Architecture and holds a Master in Public Administration from Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.  She can be reached at alonalif@013.net.il.