WHEREAS women in over 144 locations in every continent but Antarctica gathered on June 8, 2001, to protest 34 years of Israel's military occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, and

WHEREAS, these protests were initiated by the Israeli women's peace movement, including Bat Shalom, Women in Black, and the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace, including both Jewish Israeli and Palestinian Israeli women, and

WHEREAS, the basis of these protests, as expressed by the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace, is that "the only right approach toward resolving the conflict in our region is through wisdom and understanding, not by force," and by finding "a solution based on the principles of justice, equality and peace through dialogue, compromise and empathy for the needs of both peoples," and

WHEREAS, the use of excessive force sanctioned by the Israeli government and the use of bombings on both sides has inflicted egregious harm and suffering on thousands of Palestinian and Israeli women and children, and

WHEREAS, the National Women's Studies Association recognizes the gendered character of this conflict and all forms of social oppression and has a commitment to promote scholarship, education and action to oppose them;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the National Women's Studies Association endorses the worldwide protest actions of June 8 and urges its members and the general public to support all nonviolent efforts to end the military occupation.

(Submitted by members of the Jewish Women's Caucus and other supporters
attending the NWSA 2001 conference.)