Women of the Sun is an independent Palestinian women’s association, founded in 2021, advocating for a peaceful resolution in the Israel-Palestine conflict involving women, youth, and children from the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, and the wider Palestinian Diaspora. They seek to spread cultural and national awareness about peace between communities. They have collaborated multiple times with the Israeli organisation Women Wage Peace, which has a similar objective.
Women Wage Peace is an Arab-Jewish organisation created in 2014 and is said to be “the largest grassroots peace movement in Israel today”. Their aim is to promote a non-violent, respectful, and mutually accepted solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, with the active participation of women through all stages of negotiations. They consider the absence of women in decision-making fora as detrimental, especially when it comes to those connected to security and political agreements (such as negotiations for the release of hostages).
By awarding these organisations, we would like to remind that women over the world are the first victims of military conflicts, sexual war crimes and consequences of humanitarian crises; and that they should be more actively involved in peace negotiations. These women’s organisations have a more holistic view of security, embracing not only political sovereignty and military strength, but also economic security, education, and personal safety. Both organisations have closely cooperated over the last three years. As such, they were submitted as nominees for the 2024 Nobel Peace Prize by the Working Group of the Centre for Peace and Conflict Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
They do so from a clear starting point rooted in humanity, human rights and the belief that people have so much more in common than what divides them. Two of them explicitly refer to the role of women and the need for an inclusive approach. There are many more peace organizations that would deserve the Sakharov prize as well.