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Bridging Divides Through Shared Pain and Hope: Reflections from the Women Wage Peace and Women of the Sun Dialogue

Women’s Voices 

The Georgetown Institute for Women, Peace, and Security (GIWPS) hosted a virtual conversation on November 6, 2025, between Women Wage Peace (WWP), an Israeli movement, and Women of the Sun (WOS), a Palestinian civil society organization, the only two women-led groups working together across the Israeli-Palestinian divide. Both groups were recipients of the 2024 Hillary Rodham Clinton Awards. The event was intended to continue GIWPS’ engagement with their ongoing and meaningful work. Since last year, the personal losses experienced by the women on both sides have deepened—not diminished—their commitment to peace.

Both organizations paid a painful price in the last two years: members of WOS have been killed in Gaza, and WWP lost members in the attacks of October 7, including their co-founder. Their shared grief became a unifying force, leading them to issue The Mother’s Call, a joint appeal urging leaders to begin peace negotiations with full representation of women and an unwavering commitment to a political solution.

Yael, the co-director of Women Wage Peace, recalled how the movement was born in 2014 after yet another Gaza war, when Israeli women declared “enough is enough” and mobilized across divides. Eleven years later, their partnership with Women of the Sun—and their shared drafting of The Mother’s Call—represents one of the most significant Israeli-Palestinian grassroots peace efforts in recent years.

Reem, who leads Women of the Sun, spoke candidly of the difficulty of meeting Israelis, especially amid daily political hardship and suspicion. “We are accused of collaborating,” she said, “but our collective grief and pain are what keep us moving forward.”

Yael reflected on the long journey to build trust: “It took us nine months to draft The Mother’s Call and a year and a half to build the relationship before October 7th.”

The Humanitarian Reality on the Ground

The conversation touched on the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in Gaza and the West Bank, especially for women and girls. Reem recounted women giving birth without access to safe facilities, families unable to find milk for their children, and aid convoys being blocked. 

“We are trying to send feminine hygiene aid to women in Gaza and cannot. Even washing is impossible. Every corner is filled with fear,” she said. 

In the West Bank, she noted, daily incursions and violence have turned refugee camps into “open-air prisons.” Civil servants have gone unpaid, schools have halted, and non-violent activists are trapped between accusations of collaboration and terrorism.

WOS and WWP are among the few organizations still focused not just on documenting suffering, but on proposing solutions, from psychosocial support for children to rebuilding community centers and women’s cooperatives.

Beyond the Ceasefire: The Struggle for a Political Horizon

For both women, the current ceasefire is fragile and insufficient. Reem described it as “a temporary refuge, the last hope to survive,” stressing that Palestinians continue to live in fear and uncertainty. 

“We have never experienced a permanent ceasefire,” she said. “Every day we worry the war will start again.”

Yael added that “a ceasefire must evolve into a political process. Otherwise, the suffering will only continue.” She called for international pressure to ensure that the ceasefire leads to meaningful peace negotiations.

Women as Political Actors

Both Reem and Yael emphasized that peace cannot be made without women at the table. Yet, Reem noted, “Unless we are affiliated with an agenda that serves a political group, we cannot have a seat at the table. So we decided to build our own movement.”

Through WOS, Palestinian women are being trained in communication, advocacy, and leadership, creating a generation of women prepared to influence political agendas. On the Israeli side, Women Wage Peace is training its members to be ready for future negotiations: “We are preparing now,” Yael said, echoing Northern Ireland peace leader Monica McWilliams, who mentioned in one of their conversations that the transition to peace in Northern Ireland happened suddenly, but women were prepared when that happened.

Global Solidarity and the Path Forward

Both groups called on the international community to stay engaged. “Do not give up on us,” Yael urged. “People may think there is no hope for this region. But peace is the path to security.”

Reem echoed that appeal, highlighting that funding cuts—especially from USAID—had curtailed critical programs. Yet even at this very challenging time, she said, “we found new ways to connect, online and across borders. The dialogue cannot stop.”

A Mother’s Call to the World

The dialogue between Women of the Sun and Women Wage Peace stands as a testament to courage in the face of grief and conviction in the face of despair. Their “Mother’s Call” is not only a cry for their own children’s safety, but it is an invitation to the world to believe, once more, that peace is possible. The session closed with a message of hope from Reem that resonated deeply: “We are the hope, and we will continue to work until peace prevails.” 

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