Desperately seeking security

These tours are powerful experiences. They reach beyond what Israelis see in the media, showing them a slice of reality they have never seen before. And then we ask: do you think that the policies of our government have enhanced your security? Or have they actually compromised it?

We are hoping that the old conceptions will gradually give way to a new understanding: that Israel will never be able to address the needs of our population until a just agreement has been reached with our neighbours. That security - whether in the narrow or broader sense - is compromised by failing to achieve a political accommodation with the Palestinians.

For years, women have focused on human security issues - better schools, health services, poverty programs, violence issues, and so on - but have not named it "security". Now, instead of fighting the concept, we are working to reframe it so that it will promote the kind of society that we want to live in.

This campaign is more than a strategy. It is a fundamental belief that all these forms of security are critical - and that it will never be possible to realise a common zone of peace, prosperity and progress - not for Israel and not for Palestine - until a just and lasting settlement of the conflict is in place.