The year 2007 marked another significant milestone in the history and development of WCLAC. We moved our headquarters from Al-Ram neighborhood of Jerusalem to Ramallah, into a beautiful building with a wide horizon overlooking mountains and valleys. We were fortunate enough to be able to purchase and partially renovate this simple, sturdy structure with ample windows and balconies, and a lovely garden. As a result, we were able to consolidate staff from several sites thus creating a sense of reunification, a return to the days when we were all housed in one location and feeling the wholeness.

The decision was prompted by the worsening impacts of Israeli Occupation whereby we continue to witness Israelis destroying property and seizing land for Jewish development, tightening checkpoint crossings, denying travel permits, and generally restricting the movement and daily-life of Palestinian people more than ever. The construction of the Isolation Wall has continued unabated, with reports that the work is near completion. As with all forms of occupation and colonization, Palestinian people’s geographic, psychological, and psychic spaces are concurrently being occupied and colonized. Accepting the status quo and resorting to the familiar had become the only comfortable cocoon that our society, thus women, could envision, despite the obvious dangers this state of mind brings. Religious zeal has begun to overtake the need for daring to think critically and act with conviction.

Our move also was catalyzed by our desire for freer access to services for our clients and ease of travel for staff, majority of who are West Bank residents. Now both are more easily able to come to WCLAC offices.

We finally began the physical move to our new offices during the summer of 2007. As one can imagine, moving and sorting through over 15 years worth of office accumulation was a daunting task. We discarded, recycled, and saved reams of outdated and duplicate pamphlets, meeting notes, and other kinds of documents, and broken and obsolete equipment as well. During this process, the history of WCLAC unfolded before our eyes, causing deep self-reflection about how we started, who we were, who we have become, and what we aspire to be. We saw how our major transitions have always been prompted by the political situation, how we worked to reshape the organization and adapted the programs, while maintaining our core feminist vision, mission, and purpose, to meet the continually and fast-changing needs of Palestinian women. These adaptations and adjustments always caused organizational strains and tensions; however, once we overcame them, we became stronger and more determined.

The openness of the new physical environment, a profoundly significant contrast to being trapped by the Isolation Wall, and the freshness of the new offices have re-energized and reinvigorated us. We have renewed our sense of the collectivity of WCLAC staff. Therefore, more than ever, we are determined, and able, to continue to struggle so women in our society can thrive, not just survive.

Looking ahead to 2008, we anticipate a flurry of political activities precipitated by the Annapolis Peace Conference initiated by the US government. Our experiences with peace initiatives and conferences have shown us, however, that even in the best of times, the periods promoted externally and at the institutional level as hopeful times always lead to more hardships and bloodshed at the level of day-to-day life, disproportionately impacting women negatively. The intense, numerous local and international criticisms regarding the political and legal framework and the suspicions about the real motives behind engagement of all concerned parties with the next phase of peace negotiations lead us to predict that the year will be riddled with dangers and increasingly difficult daily lives of the Palestinian people. We can expect the Israeli military to be more violent, more people will be killed and imprisoned, more houses will be destroyed, and the physical environment will continue to be degraded due to military activities and the construction of the Wall.

With this consciousness, we are determined to remain engaged at all levels of Palestinian political life and will do our best so that the women’s agenda will be given the necessary attention during the next cycle of peace negotiations. This time, however, we act knowing that the next peace negotiations will not lead to real peace and Palestinian self-determination. Rather, the main purpose will be to establish measures for containing and managing conflicts.

With our enduring hopes and aspirations for freedom and liberation from oppression, however, WCLAC strategies will focus on measures that future generations of women human rights activists can build upon. We have renewed our commitment to continue acting with conviction for liberation of Palestinian women, men, and children, and for all living under occupation and colonial rule. We call on people of conscience worldwide to join our struggle.

Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas
Executive Director