End the Occupation!
Justice for Palestinians

Every second and fourth Friday of the month, we hold a silent vigil to draw attention to the situation of the Palestinians and to inform the citizens of Munich.
Click on „Kalender anzeigen“ to see a list of events (in German).

WOMEN IN BLACK
The movement

Beginnings in Israel

Twenty years after Israel occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem in the so-called Six-Day War in June 1967, the first Intifada, the first Palestinian uprising, broke out in December 1987. One month later, Israeli women gathered in public squares in Jerusalem, dressed in black, holding up signs in the shape of black hands with white letters reading „End the Occupation“ in Hebrew, Arabic, and English. They stood and still stand in the same place every week at the same time, silently protesting against the violence and injustice that has been done and continues to be done to the Palestinians.

Globally and in Munich

Women in Black now hold vigils in approximately 30 countries worldwide. In Germany, Women in Black is present in approximately 12 cities. Women in Black is not an organisation, but a non-partisan and non-denominational movement. They share the special form of vigil which the women in Jerusalem developed and have continued to practise since. There has been a Women in Black movement in Munich since 1990. In spite of our name, all sexes are welcome!

Awards

Since 1991, Women in Black have received numerous awards, including the Aachen Peace Prize in 1991, the Millennium Women’s Peace Prize of UNIFEM (United Nations Development Fund for Women) in 2001, and in 2002 Women in Black were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

What we stand for

“Human rights are indivisible! They apply to Israelis and Palestinians.”

Since its founding in 1948, Israel has been a state without a constitution and without defined borders, seeking to realise the project of a Jewish state through the expulsion, dispossession, and marginalisation of the Palestinian population. On account of the Holocaust, it is granted a special position that allows it to view the safeguarding of its existence solely through military means as „self-defence,“ to disregard existing international and human rights laws, even though it has signed them, and to disregard UN resolutions.

Political leaders have failed in dealing with the legal violations that have persisted for years. The international community is disregarding its own laws and resolutions by being bystanders. Therefore, civil society is called upon to act. Every individual is responsible and can become active in their own community by sharing information and participating in protest actions, e.g. in the BDS movement (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions, www.bdsmovement.net), which is gaining momentum worldwide. The BDS movement was founded in 2005 by 170 representatives of Palestinian civil society. It intends to remain active until Israel ends its occupation of the Palestinian territories, which has been ongoing since 1967, and complies with international law.

In order for political representatives to take action, a change in public awareness is necessary. Protest, condemnation and education are not sufficient for this. What is needed is a political vision of Palestine/Israel based on international law and human rights: a country in which all people live together in self-determination and with equal rights, regardless of how they organise themselves politically.

Our demands

“For a just peace in the Middle East”

An end to the occupation of Palestinian territories, including East Jerusalem

Lifting the blockade of Gaza and an end to the military offensive against the population

End of land expropriation through the construction of settlements in violation of international law

Demolition of the separation walls on Palestinian territory

Abolition of discriminatory laws against the Palestinian population in Israel (Nation State Law of 2018)

Recognition of the fundamental right of return and compensation for refugees

Ending the indefinite detention of political prisoners without charge (administrative detention)

Compliance with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which Israel signed in 1991, including for Palestinian children

With these demands, we do not deny Israel’s right to exist.

The indispensable prerequisite for lasting peace is a sincere desire for reaching an understanding, a willingness to acknowledge the injustices done to the Palestinians, to make amends, and to renounce an exclusively Jewish nation state in “Erez Israel” (from the Mediterranean to the Jordan). Only then can peace talks worthy of the name take place. They must include all parties on an equal footing, including Hamas. There are already a number of initiatives/groups on both sides that have embarked on a path towards reconciliation and are independently seeking concrete solutions to the problems on the basis of mutual recognition (e.g. www.zochrot.org; www.badil.org; www.adalah.org/eng; Combatants for Peace: https://cfpeace.org; www.juedische-stimme.de). Their work needs to be made known and be supported.

We stand in solidarity with the grassroots movement for nonviolent resistance, in which Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists oppose the disenfranchisement and humiliation of Palestinians and prove through this cooperation on the ground that peace is possible.