[Nettime-bold] (Fwd) www.womense-news.com - NY WOMEN IN BLACK IN THE NEWS

["Ivo Skoric" <ivo@reporters.net>]

------- Forwarded Message Follows -------
  
>    
> October 4, 2001 
> 
>   
> Women in Black Stand Silent, Oppose War, Reprisal 
> Run Date: 10/04/01 
> By Cynthia L. Cooper
> WEnews correspondent 
> Women in Black, an international network of women
> protesting war, holds silent vigils worldwide to
> protest U.S. plans to wage war following the Sept.
> 11
> terror attacks. Their silence also underscores
> women's
> historic voicelessness.
>  
> 
> NEW YORK (WOMENSENEWS)--At first, four women dressed
> in black formed a line on the wide, white steps of
> the
> New York Public Library, 15 feet in front of one of
> the guardian lions. In addition to black pants,
> black
> shirts and black jackets, some wore black head
> scarves--to demonstrate solidarity with Muslim women
> who have been assaulted or harassed in blind
> reprisals
> for the Sept. 11 terrorism attacks. 
> 
> Even in the aftermath of terrorist bombings, these
> peace activists deliver no speeches, chant no
> slogans
> and invite no male participants. And, they say,
> these
> are precisely the elements that make the
> international
> human rights group, Women in Black, effective. 
> 
> On Wednesday evening, the women in line were soon
> joined by more women, most wearing black but some
> gray, denim and khaki, until over two dozen
> stretched
> across the white stone steps to create a stark and
> imposing image. A plain cloth banner announced:
> "Women
> in Black Against War." 
> 
> The women stood without speaking for the next hour. 
> 
> "At times like this when people don't know what to
> do,
> we allow for people to communicate in silence," said
> Indira Kajosevic, one of the participants. "Silence
> is
> very powerful. I am mourning the victims of
> violence,
> and I am making a public statement about that." 
> 
> Women in Black Silently Focuses on Historic
> Voicelessness of Women
> Women in Black is a loose international network of
> women who share a common philosophy of opposition to
> militarism and violence and use a similar style of
> silent demonstration. Without a formal organization
> or
> officers, they convene at standard times for peace
> vigils in public squares, wearing black clothing of
> bereavement. Only women are invited to participate. 
> 
> "There's a strong communal energy among women
> together," said Stephanie Damoff, a philosophy
> student
> who began standing in the vigils in New York several
> years ago. "It makes people stop and think." 
> 
> The silence is a contrast to noisy demonstrations, a
> familiar part of the anti-war protests during the
> Vietnam years. "There are already too many words
> about
> the issue," said Pat DeAngelis, a longtime
> participant. And silence, said Kajosevic, draws
> attention to the historic voicelessness of women. 
> 
> The first Women in Black protests began in Israel in
> 1988 to mobilize sentiment for peace with
> Palestinians. In 1991, a group formed in Belgrade,
> where women stood weekly in the Republic Square to
> protest war in Yugoslavia. Allied groups sprang up
> in
> Azerbaijan, Canada, Denmark, England, France,
> Israel,
> India, Indonesia, Italy, Scotland, Spain,
> Switzerland
> and Turkey, and in several U.S. locations, including
> San Francisco, Portland, Ore., Ann Arbor, Mich.,
> Rhode
> Island and Arizona. 
> 
> The Belgrade group, which has been particularly
> active
> in "street manifestations" and programs offering
> assistance to displaced women, was awarded a
> Millennium Peace Prize for Women by the United
> Nations
> Development Fund for Women and International Alert,
> a
> global women's awareness program, in March 2001. In
> June, eight Danish and Norwegian parliamentarians
> nominated Women in Black for this year's Nobel Peace
> Prize. 
> 
> Women in Black Urge Male Leaders to 'Step Back From
> War'
> Monthly New York vigils have been ongoing since
> 1993,
> at first located across the street from the United
> Nations to protest the rape of women as a tool of
> war
> in the former Yugoslavia. At times, the women have
> joined with local action groups, such as Women in
> Mourning and Outrage, an organization that formed in
> response to the New York City police killing of
> Amadou
> Diallo, an unarmed immigrant from Guinea. 
> 
> After the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, the New
> York
> group changed its monthly vigils to weekly ones. 
> 
> A flyer handed to passersby at the library calls on
> government officials to "step back" from war. 
> 
> "We mourn the dead and feel deep sympathy with the
> bereaved and injured," the flyer says. "Those who
> perpetrated the violence must be brought to justice
> under international law." 
> 
> Unlike a conventional nonprofit organization, Women
> in
> Black does not have officers, staff or an operations
> center. Core members make collaborative decisions
> and
> take on particular assignments, such as Internet
> postings or photocopying. Money, when needed, is
> collected in a coffee tin. 
> 
> "We are not interested in power; we are very
> interested in social change," said Kajosevic, who
> joined New York vigils after moving from Belgrade in
> 1994. "It's a means of mobilizing," she added. 
> 
> Women in Black groups around the world act
> independently. But an international network comes
> together yearly. At the tenth reunion in Novi Sad,
> Yugoslavia, in August, 250 women from 16 countries
> attended and made opposition to violence in
> Macedonia
> a priority topic. 
> 
> The idea of acting in concert with women around the
> world is central for many regulars. 
> 
> "I have a tremendous sense of solidarity with all
> our
> sisters around the world facing conditions of
> violence
> and war," said DeAngelis, who has sometimes
> maintained
> the vigil on her own in rain and cold. "It's
> terribly
> important to take a stand against injustice and to
> take a visible stand." 
> 
> Responses to that stark and silent stand are not
> always positive. One man raised his fist and yelled,
> "Bomb them, bomb them!" But a woman spectator
> stopped
> and pointedly shook the hand of every woman in the
> line. 
> 
> "It's effective," said Damoff, adding, "but slow and
> steady, not big and splashy." 
> 
> Cynthia L. Cooper is a free-lance writer in New
> York. 
> 
> 
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> 
> For more information:
> Woman in Black:
> http://womeninblack.net/ 
>  
> 
> 
> 
> =====
> “The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a
> descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks
> to destroy.  Instead of diminishing evil, it
> multiplies it.  Through violence you may murder the
> liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish
> the truth.  Through violence you murder the hater,
> but you do not murder hate.  In fact, violence
> merely increases hate…Returning violence for
> violence multiples violence, adding deeper darkness
> to a night already devoid of stars.  Darkness cannot
> drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate
> cannot drive out hate:  Only love can do that.”
> 
> __________________________________________________
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> 


=====
“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it s
eeks to destroy.  Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.  Through violence you may murder t
he liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.  Through violence you murder the h
ater, but you do not murder hate.  In fact, violence merely increases hate…Returning violence for v
iolence multiples violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.  Darkness ca
nnot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate:  Only love can do tha
t.”

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
NEW from Yahoo! GeoCities - quick and easy web site hosting, just $8.95/month.
http://geocities.yahoo.com/ps/info1


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