A spirit of enquiry permeated the workshop on women in the region led by Caroline Gellenter and Imbar Tamari.
Caroline spoke about her experience of participating in a series of delegations to Palestine, initially through the International Solidarity Movement (ISM) and then through the International Women's Peace Service, which organises an team of women to work and live for extended periods in Haris, a village in the West Bank.
Imbar spoke about her experience of growing up in Israel and becoming active in women's organising against the occupation through organisations such as Women in Black.
A lively discussion ensued in which a number of the participants spoke of their own experiences of growing up in Jewish households and close or more distant encounters with various Zionist organisations that wanted to carry them off to the "Promised Land" of Israel.
There was debate about consensus organising - and I think a consensus that it can be a useful tool in small groups of people who know each other well and have a fair degree of political agreement in the first place but a dangerous way to reproduce existing hierarchies in the broader movement.
Issues were raised about the strengths and dangers involved in solidarity exchanges - how to avoid the idea that it is the visitors who are those with knowledge and skills? This led to an exchange on the relative importance of working to raise solidarity here.
All of this and more that have forgotten was packed into the little time we had in an atmosphere that did not suggest there were right answers to all the questions but hopefully left us all stimulated to do more, or to be more effective in what we do through sharing our experiences
To find out more about the International Women's Peace Service go to: http://www.iwpspal.org/en/index.php
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