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Women in both Palestine and Israel tend to be more active in NGOs and extraparliamentary politics than in formal party politics.1 One reason for this-apparently the same applies to both societies despite the different histories and circumstances of each- is the male domination of both societies and what has been called "blocked opportunities" for women in the formal political arena. There are, of course, other reasons, but women do tend to outnumber men in grass-roots people-to-people activities, though not necessarily in dialogues and definitely not in unofficial, non-governmental track two activities. In fact, women are only rarely (if at all) to be found in track two forums. These are usually organized by men, and are viewed by their participants as close to if not a substitute for official policy-making or negotiations - an arena from which women are regularly excluded. With regard to all types of activity (grass-roots, dialogue or track two), much depends on the organizers.
One broad generalization that can be made is that, whether by choice or imposition, most women peace activists may be found in all-women's groups or encounters, as distinct from mixed people-to-people activities. Whether this is a function of preference, societal norms (and male chauvinism), or mere coincidence, is a question of interest, but perhaps more interesting is an understanding of the differences between the two.
Women's Activities Began in the Mid-1980s
People-to-people activities were organized in some form or another well before the advent of the Oslo peace process, and women participated in some of these, albeit in very small numbers (relative to the number of men). The advent of women's activities of this type began in the mid-1980s, behind the scenes at the UN women's conference in Nairobi, continued in the occupied territories, and were launched more formally during the first intifada (primarily through the Jerusalem Link based upon two independent women's peace centers- The Jerusalem Center for Women and Bat Shalom- established to advance the active involvement of Palestinian and Israeli women in achieving peace and social justice).
Beginning as dialogues, they rapidly included everything from meetings of a track two nature (locally and abroad), to grass-roots activities primarily of a political nature, but also leadership-training courses and feminist discussions. With Oslo, such efforts broadened enormously...