Place women at the negotiating table

Palestinian women from Gaza come from a patriarchal society where there is gender discrimination and women are particularly vulnerable. Their voice is rarely heard. Whether walking through bombed buildings, standing in awe at the devastation or balancing on the debris of explosions. Children are devastated and deeply affected.

Conversely Jewish women have by law in Israel equal rights although this is not lived out in equal pay. Nor are there women judges so women’s rights are not really protected. The war has deflected the focus on this fact at a time when women speaking for peace need to be at the forefront of politics and not in the shadows.

The final work entitled ‘Place women at the negotiation table’ is made from the silk parachute fabric from Ministry of Defence flares. This has been hand painted with silk dye and gutta.

With silhouettes superimposed on the surface. The Palestinian women stand on the left, the Israeli women on the right, with the children, some in deep despair are caught in the middle.

The whole work is lit from behind