International Women's Peace Service 10 January 2008
Are you a woman who is interested in working for international justice?
Are you willing to accompany farmers while they harvest their olives in the fall?
Do you want to support Palestinian nonviolent resistance?
Are you able to spend two weeks to three months in the rural West Bank?
International Women’s Peace Service
The International Women’s Peace Service (IWPS) is a team of international women based in Haris, a village in the Salfit governorate of the West Bank, which provides accompaniment to Palestinian civilians, documents and nonviolently intervenes in human rights abuses, supports acts of nonviolent resistance to end the military occupation of the Palestinian territories — particularly Palestinian women’s resistance — and opposes the wall.
Our project is run entirely by long-term and short-term volunteers. We are currently seeking new volunteers who ideally have experience in Palestine and/or with nonviolent direct action and political activism in their home countries, as well as some competence in Arabic. Computer and technical skills are also useful. Volunteers are welcome to apply from their home countries or from within Palestine.
The role of IWPS volunteers includes:
- Living and working in a village alongside the Palestinian people, gaining a first-hand understanding of their problems;
- Observing and providing written and photographic documentation of human-rights abuses, both for use of the project and for use in your home country following your term in the house;
- Accompanying farmers to their fields, especially during the olive harvest;
- Responding to emergency calls requiring mediation, intervention or care, in coordination with the house team;
- Providing nonviolent intervention in human-rights abuses;
- Engaging in acts of nonviolent civil resistance alongside Palestinians, in coordination with the house team;
- Assisting in the development of village profiles in Salfit in order to document the long-term effects of the military occupation;
- Communicating with independent media and international press.
Want to find out more?
You can find out more about IWPS and what we do by viewing our website at www.iwps.info, where you may also download our volunteer information kit.
IWPS can be contacted by email at iwps@palnet.com or iwpsvolunteers@yahoo.co.uk.