90 women from 13 countries came together in the city of Leipzig to share their ideas and develop future initiatives around the peace issue.
Due to the dramatic situation in Gaza, a resolution demanding the immediate cease-fire and referring to the appeal “Lay down the weapons” as stated by the first Nobel peace prize winner Bertha von Suttner, was adopted on Sunday morning (see below for the resolution text). One of the seminar’s working groups focused on the role of the Palestinian and Israeli women in the Middle East peace process and debated the UN resolution 1325. Another working group discussed the opposition to the NATO and US military bases in Eastern Europe, in preparation of a mass mobilisation against NATO on 4 April in Strasbourg (celebration of the 60th anniversary of NATO). The question “For a culture of peace – How do we translate it into politics?” was the topic of a third working group.
Gabi Zimmer, member of the European Parliament, Cornelia Ernst, chairwoman of Die Linke in Sachsen, and Barbara Hoell, member of the German Bundestag, gave welcome speeches and participated in the discussions.
Please find here the resolution texts on Gaza:
The articles that appeared in the German press can be found under European Left in the Press (articles of 23 January and 13 Janauary 2009).
