womenforpeace Archives

The Eyes of Beauty Don’t Belong to the World—They Belong to You

Author: T from Palestine
Published: December 7, 2025
Categories: in Analysis, Countries, Culture and Heritage, English, Gender and LGBTQ, Identity, Israel-Palestine, Latest Articles, Life Style, Opinion and Analysis, Palestine, כללי
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, change, Culture, family, gender equality, genderequality, hope, Humanity, identity, Inspiration, IsraelPalestine, MENA, palestine, traditions, women, women rights, womenforpeace, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders, youth

Have you ever glanced at your reflection and felt like a stranger was staring back—flaws magnified, confidence vanished in an instant? I’ve been there, caught between the safety of a loving childhood and the harsh whispers of adolescence that told me my features weren’t “right.” I used to spend afternoons in my room inventing songs, […]

Whose Responsibility is it?

Author: Ma’ayan
Published: December 24, 2024
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, Education, English, Human Rights, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Latest Articles
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: #thinkactyala, activism, change, coexistence, conflict, discovertheregion, education, family, hope, Humanity, identity, Inspiration, israel, IsraelPalestine, love, MENA, palestine, peace, peace activism, peacebuilding, tolerance, women, womenforpeace, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders

“You are not an observer, you are a participant.” ― Thích Nhất Hạnh. There is a moment when you can’t sit still anymore. An energy bustling from within you makes you speak or take a step. You are standing in line and hear a conversation you think could be different if you were part […]

Why I No Longer Talk to Westerns About Peace (And what can be done to start talking about it again)

Author: Anonymous
Published: December 16, 2024
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, English, Friendship, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Opinion and Analysis, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: change, conflict, identity, israel, IsraelPalestine, peace, peace activism, peace privilege, peacebuilding, sociology, the west, Travel, war, womenforpeace, yala young leaders, yalayoungleaders

While traveling and especially while hiking, sleeping in hostels or guest houses, you talk to all sorts of people. It was mid-April, probably the best season in Northern Spain, and my first meaningful conversation on the Camino del Norte was with an Irish author, just before descending to a beautiful coastal town named Zarautz. It […]

قصة نور Nour’s Story

Author: Nour Yahya
Published: December 9, 2024
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Current Events, Education, English, Human Rights, Israel-Palestine, Palestine, Politics, Videos
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: activism, conflict, education, gaza, gazawar, gazayouth, hope, identity, israel-palestine, IsraelPalestine, Life in Gaza, Palestinian Women, women, womenforpeace

Photo Essay | نهج الباشا Pacha Street

Author: Khaoula, Tunisia
Published: April 6, 2017
Categories: in Civil Activism, Gender and LGBTQ, Photo Essays
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: change, education, empowerment, genderequality, tunisia, women, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders, youth

Pacha Street is one of the main veins of the Medina. It starts from Zeitouna Mosque towards Bab Swika. Everyday hundreds of kids and teens pass through Pacha Street to go to the Bacha high school or to Ben Achoor library to study and prepare for their exams. In the previous century, Ali Pacha built […]

Photo Essay | Letter to the Young Me

Author: YaLa Women
Published: March 8, 2017
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: genderequality, MENA, women rights, womenforpeace, womensday, womensrights, youngme

Today women around the world still have to fight for equal rights, equal respect, equal pay… What if we were all raised in the same way? what if we were offered the same opportunities since childhood? What if both boys and girls were told that they are strong, smart, important and that they can become […]

Firas Allabbad from Syria today living in Zaatary Refugee Camp

Published: October 5, 2016
Categories: in Current Events, English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: syria, SyrianCivilWar, women, women rights, womenforpeace

The phenomenon of Syrian men leaving their wives and children once they reach Europe is disturbingly high especially because there are no laws that protect women rights or that prevent husbands from running away from their responsibilities. Because of the war, the social situation of Syrian women is destroyed and turned them into both mental […]

Freedom for Hijabis by Meryam El Bouhati, Morocco

Published: May 17, 2016
Categories: in English, Gender and LGBTQ, Tolerance
Comments: 2 Comments
Tags: gender equality, headscarf, hijab, hijabis, women, womenforpeace

I like watching Youtube videos. One of my favorite youtubers, called Marie, recently posted a video where she talks about Rafael Nadal’s underwear ad and the effect it had on her. She says; the nudity of a man, to which she was not used to, has brought out the female in her. Every time she […]

“The Role of Women in Peace Building” by Ayman H. Fakhereddin – Palestine

Published: March 5, 2015
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English, Gender and LGBTQ
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: palestine, peace, women, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

Peace building needs the involvement of women. Women’s roles in peace building in Bosnia, Northern Ireland, Rwanda, Sri Lanka, Liberia, Kashmir, and many other places in the last decade highlight the importance of moving women beyond the “humanitarian front of the story.” Women have influenced, and can continue to influence peace-building processes. They go beyond […]

Open Letter to our Christian friends by Sahar Amarir from Morocco

Published: December 25, 2014
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: christmas, MiddleEast, peace, shareyourstory, solidarity, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

Dear Middle Eastern Christians, I know this year has been difficult for you. I know the previous years were too. Maybe you think I’m supposed to not understand because I’m Muslim; so how could I understand you as Christians? I don’t know about the sound of bombs falling from the sky, or the sound of […]

‘Choose Being Pro-Peace’ by Iris Fisher, Canada

Author: Iris Fisher
Published: August 21, 2014
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, French, Israel-Palestine
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: canada, IsraelPalestine, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

It’s hard to believe we continue to have wars and fight over land, religion and power in the 21st century, despite what we have learned from history books and what our ancestors went through; despite the evils of wars and sufferings of innocent people. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for decades. What’s worse is […]

‘Because You Too, You Wake Up Every Morning Hoping for a Better Future’ by Rahma Sghaier, Tunisia

Published: August 4, 2014
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: peace, Rahma Sghaier, tunisia, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

Lately, I’ve been trying to bury my head in my pillow for as long as I can, desperately trying to escape the insane escalation of bloodshed surrounding us. I’m sitting now and thinking that even basic things can’t happen in many places in the Middle East…that on the other side of the world, many people […]

‘The Fast Lane to Reconciliation’ by Sasha Shlomzion Clarfield, Israel

Published: July 27, 2014
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, English
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: israel, peace, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

How many of you think religion was and is a major factor in the creation and continuation of the hostile relationships between Israelis and Palestinians? I’ll assume there are quite a few. In fact, it would be quite rational to say that many wars and battles throughout world history have been fought and sustained by […]

‘We Have More in Common Than What You Think’ by Manal Harrouche, Algeria

Published: July 22, 2014
Categories: in English, Identity
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: algeria, berber, peace, salam, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

I was raised in a community that indoctrinated in me fear, hate, and a strong feeling of dislike towards whoever is not me, i.e: whoever who is not Muslim and not Arab. When I started reading, I started shaping my personality myself. When I started shaping my world through the books I read, I recognized […]

‘HAVE WE LOST HOPE?’ By Angy Shavit, Israel

Published: July 16, 2014
Categories: in Civil Activism, Conflict & Peacebuilding, English
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: israel, IsraelPalestine, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

Hi All, I’m not big on making political posts because I feel like my blog is suppose to make you smile rather than cry, but living in Israel has forced me into feeling a certain way that I would like to address. The past month has been rough on both Israelis and Palestinians. Over a […]

‘The Land of Deceptive Utopia’ by Sahar Amarir, Morocco

Author: Sahar Amarir
Published: July 14, 2014
Categories: in English, Identity, Morocco, Tolerance, YaLa Poetry
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: femaleleader, morocco, peace, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

I love a land, the land of deceptive utopia. It is a land at the crossroads of civilizations, the land of lemon and olive trees, of milk and honey, of the bride of the sea and the white city, of the shrine of the friend and the golden holy city. It’s a land whose sweetness […]

Being from the MENA region; my reputation is destroyed! By Maroi ECH-CHARKAOUY, from Morocco

Author: Mario Ech-Charkaouy
Published: June 11, 2014
Categories: in English, Opinion and Analysis, Politics, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: adayinthelife, MENA, morocco, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

After spending a very nice day in Budapest, I hit the road to Prague hoping it would be as beautiful as Budapest; nice, cozy and full of nice people. I arrived to Prague late on a Saturday night, and as it was night the tourist office in the Prague’s train station was closed. There was […]

‘Peace Begins With a Flat Tire’ By Kiki Belzer, Israel

Author: Kiki Belzer
Published: May 25, 2014
Categories: in Culture and Heritage, English, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Jordan, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: adayinthelife, israel, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

“Beware of camels near the road” a road sign warns. I’m heading northbound, driving on Route 90 through the west bank, hypnotized by the surrealistic views of Israel, the Palestinian Territories and Jordan. After a long time behind the wheel, this deserted road has a tranquilizing effect on me. Bon Iver playing through my speakers, […]

‘When Reality Fades Away’ By Henriette Chacar, Israel

Author: Henriette Chacar
Published: May 25, 2014
Categories: in English, Identity, Israel, Israel-Palestine, Tolerance, Travel
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: future, israel, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

What if our world isn’t real? Do you believe in an alternative universe? What if our most critical decisions, and the ideals we value the most…are simply a trivial choice determined by an alien being that’s playing the Martian version of “The Sims”, with us as its imaginary characters? Crazy, right?! I could swear to you […]

Good Jew, Bad Jew by Naima Nas, Egypt

Author: Naima Nas
Published: May 1, 2014
Categories: in Conflict & Peacebuilding, Culture and Heritage, Egypt, English, Israel-Palestine, Tolerance
Comments: 0 Comments
Tags: coexistence, egypt, JewsandArabs, womenforpeace, yalayoungleaders

Back when I was ten years old, there was no such thing as a good Jew for me. These mythical creatures had tried to kill me and my mother from the sky forever– I took a dim view of that. They were all bad and they were all Israelis. Ten years later I found out […]

Tag: womenforpeace