Reem Alhajajra i Yael Admi: "When women are part of peace agreements, the agreements work."

BarcelonaPalestinian Reem Alhajajra and Israeli Yael Admi received awards this Thursday the Catalonia International Prize awarded by the GeneralitatBoth are driving forces behind Mother's Call, an initiative comprised of Palestinian and Israeli women that seeks to "restore hope" to both communities by fighting for a peaceful and negotiated resolution to the decades-long conflict. We spoke with them a few hours before they received the award.

How did Mother's Call come about?

— Reem: We met and started thinking that we had to do something with a feminist perspective, something that included women's voices and, most importantly, connected us as mothers. After nine months of work, Mother's Call was launched. It wasn't easy; it took a lot of time, and obviously, juggling work and family also complicated things. It all stems from our experience as mothers and with a clear demand: we don't want our children killed, and we want to be part of the peace process. There is another way that doesn't involve war and killing people. We ask our governments to return to the path of negotiation.

Who are the members of Mother's Call?

— Yael:It's intended for Israeli and Palestinian women, but one of our main goals is for women from all over the world to support our movement. We want to find the right words to express our feelings and be a space for people who have lost hope.

What is the relationship like between the Palestinian community and the Israeli community?

— A: There is a relationship, and at the same time, there isn't. We live on the same land, but there have always been difficulties and obstacles preventing us from connecting, especially in light of the situation of the last few months. Furthermore, there is a wall between us and them. This wall, the borders, the checkpoints… all of this has halted the relationship and practically eliminated any points of contact between the two communities.

— AND: These walls prevent us from continuing our relationship and commitment. And we need that relationship to continue. Especially in these times of war, we need to build bridges and relationships. We also want to forge alliances around the world, and we need the support of women everywhere to amplify our demand, which is to stop the war and initiate a diplomatic process to find solutions. We ask to be part of that process, of the agreement, because we know that when women are part of these processes, solutions work.

Do you think, then, that the conflict would have been different if women had been involved in the high-level negotiations?

— AND: Now we need the skill to build trust between our people and our governments. And we also need empathy and solidarity, which are the most important skills we have as women. We don't have to agree on everything, but we must be able to see each other's suffering. We must find a path to reconciliation. All we want is for our children to be able to pursue their dreams. And if we want lasting peace, we must find a way to reconcile both communities.

But today there is an immense material gap between the two communities.

— AND: Absolutely. The discussion is asymmetrical; we live in very different realities. Reem and the rest of the Palestinians live under military control. Our realities are very different, but we must remain united and work toward a solution to the conflict.

Is peaceful coexistence between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine possible?

— AND: It is entirely possible. We can do it. We can find a way to live in freedom, with guaranteed rights, with prosperity, with dignity, with security, with peace… It is possible. There have been many conflicts in the world that have been resolved positively. The government is not making it easy, but we will not cease in our struggle to create the opportunity to resolve the conflict.

— A: Our leaders aren't thinking about how to achieve peace. For now, all we can do is demand that they return to the path of negotiation.

How can it be explained that Israel has come to commit genocidal acts?

— A: This explains why Netanyahu's government believes that if it stops the war, it has nothing to gain, so it constantly escalates it. The war in Gaza is also a form of propaganda and a way to maintain the world's attention.

— AND: Stopping genocide is our highest priority mission.

In recent months we have seen the most brutal phase of the conflict, a conflict that already existed before October 7, 2023. How did you experience it then?

— A: Before the genocide, we could see that the pressure and tension under which our society lived would one day explode. We spoke about this on October 4, 2023, before the war even began. We were already saying this then: that people need their rights guaranteed and that the Palestinians were under immense pressure.

— AND: It's hell. I speak for myself. In 2014, when Israel repeatedly bombed the Gaza Strip, we already said "enough." Back then, we couldn't imagine what was coming and the amount of suffering it would cause. We must put all our energy into ending the conflict and holding our government and the international community accountable.

What do you think of Trump's peace plan?

— A: Trump's plan only includes halting the war in Gaza; it doesn't address the future of Palestine as a whole. It offers no solutions to the situation in the West Bank, to settler attacks, or to abuses in Israeli prisons. The most significant aspect of this agreement is that it excludes women; we haven't had a voice. Only men participated in the negotiations and the signing of the agreement; we were completely disregarded.