International Women’s Commission
For a Just and Sustainable Palestinian-Israeli Peace
Membership in the International Women’s Commission for an Israeli-Palestinian peace is on an individual and voluntary basis. Commission members do not represent other organizations they are affiliated with.
Chair
Inés Alberdi
UNIFEM Executive Director
Honorary co-chairs
President Tarja Halonen,
President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf,
Honorary Members
Micheline Calmy-Rey
- Head of the
Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (Switzerland)
Noeleen Heyzer - Executive Secretary,
United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific
(UNESCAP)
Carin Jämtin – former Minister for
International Development Cooperation (Sweden)
Laurette Onkelinx – Minister of Social
Affairs and Public Health (Belgium)
Leire Pajín Iraola - Secretary
of the Socialist Party Organization and Member of Spain’s Senate (Spain)
Patrizia Sentinelli – Former Deputy Minister
of Foreign Affairs (Italy)
Gloria Steinem – Activist and Writer
(USA)
Jody Williams – Nobel Laureate,
Founding Coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines (USA)
Palestinian Members:
Wafa’ Abdel Rahman- Executive Director, Filastiniyat Organization
Maha Abu-Dayyeh Shamas – Executive Director, Women's Centre for Legal
Aid and Counseling
Reem Aboushi-
Executive Director, ASALA- Palestinian Businesswomen's
Association
Sahar Alqwasmi-
Member of Palestinian Legislative Council (Fatah Parliamentary Bloc)
Jihan Anastas-
Director, Bethlehem Peace Center
Hanan Ashrawi –
Member of PLO Executive Committee; Member of Palestinian Legislative Council;
Founder and Chair of Administrative Committees of MIFTAH and AMAN—TI;
Founder and Commissioner of PICHR; Former Minister of Higher Education and
Research; Former Spokesperson and Member of Leadership Committee of Palestinian
Delegation to M.E. Peace Process; Former Dean of Arts, Birzeit
University
Naila Ayesh -
General Director, Women’s Affairs Center, Gaza
Siham Barghouthi -
Minister, Ministry of Culture and Arts
Hania Bitar -
Director General, PYALARA - Palestinian
Youth Association for Leadership and Rights Activation.
Terry Buollata
- National Officer for the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation;
Co-founder of the New Generation Kindergarten and School, Abu Dis; Producer of the documentary films The Iron Wall and Jerusalem,
the East Side Story
Diana Buttu –
Lawyer; Professor, Bir Zeit
University
Salwa Hdeib –
Deputy Minister, Ministry of Women’s Affairs
Lama Hourani
- Women Rights Activist
Zahira Kamal - Director, Palestinian Women’s Research and
Documentation Center; Former Minister of Women’s Affairs
Amal Khreisheh -
Democratic activist; Director of the Palestinian Working Women Society for
Development (PWWSD)
Nisreen Najjar -
Democracy and Governance Specialist, USAID
Israeli Members
Sarai Aharoni -
Feminist activist at Isha l'Isha,
Haifa Feminist Center; Adjunct Lecturer of Political Science, Hebrew University
of Jerusalem
Susie Becher – Peace activist; Member of the
National Executive of the Meretz Party
Betty Benbenisti- Communications Consultant
for civil society organizations; Peace & social activist; Ph.D. Candidate
at Tel Aviv University
Rachel Benziman-
Human rights lawyer; former CEO of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel;
specialist in social enterprises
Naomi Chazan – Professor Emerita of Political Science,
Hebrew University of Jerusalem; Head of the
School of Government and Society, the Academic College of Tel-Aviv-Yaffo; Former Member of Knesset, Meretz
Party; Former Deputy Speaker of the Knesset; President of the New Israel Fund
Michal Eden - Human rights activist; leader in the feminist and gay
struggle for equal rights; first openly gay elected official in Israel (Tel
Aviv-Jaffa city council)
Naava Eisin - Director,
The Archives of Jewish Education, Tel Aviv University; Machsom
Watch member
Zehava Galon – Former
Member of Knesset, Meretz Party; Former
Chairperson, Knesset Committee on the Trafficking of Women
Galia Golan – Professor Emerita of Government, Hebrew University of Jerusalem and
Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya; Member of
Peace Now’s Executive Board; Member of the National Executive of the Meretz Party
Nurit Haghagh – Mizrahi-social
activist; develops and facilitates women’s leadership training programs
Shlomit Lir –
Cultural researcher; Computer Engineer; Editor of an anthology on Mizrahi
feminism: To my Sister, Mizrahi Feminist Politics (Babel, 2007); Ph.D.
candidate; Writes and lectures on women and the public sphere; Promotes an
eco-feminist project; Member of the Green Movement and a nominee for the
18th Knesset
Molly Malekar - Member, Bat Shalom of the
Jerusalem Link organization
Hagit Ofran –
Director of the Settlement Watch project of Peace Now; Po
Ghaida Rinaiwie -
Consultant, United Nations Development Programme
(UNDP) and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) for the project
based in Israel, "Future Vision--Palestinians in Israel;" Board Member of Women Against Violence, Mobadara -- Arab Center for Emergency, and Siyasat Center for Law & Po
Anat Saragusti - CEO
of Agenda - Israe
Shahira Shalabi -
Feminist activist; Organizational consultant, Shatil
- the New Israel Fund (NIF)’s
empowerment and training center; member of Shatil's
Conflict Transformation and Management Center (CTMC)
Aida Touma-S
International Members
Phoebe Asiyo – former Member of Parliament and
Chair of the Caucus for Women’s Leadership (Kenya)
Sylvia Borren – former Executive Director, Oxfam Novib (Netherlands)
Frene Ginwala
- former Speaker of the National Assembly (South Africa)
Ingibjörg Sólrún
Gísladóttir – former Minister for Foreign Affairs
(Iceland)
Ana Gomes – Member, European Parliament (Portugal)
Antigoni Karali-Dimitriadi
- Vice President, Socialist International Women (Greece)
Karen Koning AbuZayd –
former Commissioner-General, United Nations Relief and Works Agency for
Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA)
Luisa Morgantini – former Vice President, European Parliament
(Italy)
Simone Susskind - President, Actions in the Mediterranean (Belgium)
Former IWC Members:
Former Honorary
Co-Chair
Helen Clark – former Prime Minister of New Zealand
Former Palestinian
Members
Mayada Abasi -
Palestinian Ambassador, Brazil
Tahani Abu Daqqa –
Women's Activist and Community Development Advisor
Samia Bamieh –
Ambassador; Former Head of European Affairs Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Palestinian Territory
Nebras Bseisso -
Director, Palestinian Banking Association, Gaza
Leila Chahid -
Palestinian Ambassador, Belgium
Samar Hawash - Nablus Coordinator,
Palestinian Working Women Society for Development
May Kaileh
- Palestinian Ambassador, Chile
Annan Attiri -
Director, Nablus Governorate
Former Israeli
Members
Colette Avital
–Former member of the Knesset, Labor Party
Khulood Badawi –
ACRI, Association for Civil Rights in Israel
Busayna Dabit-
Architect; Mixed Cities Project Coordinator, Shatil
Amira Dotan –
Former member of the Knesset, Kadima Party
Amal Elsana Alhjooj- Director, AJEEC, Arab Jewish Center for
Equality Empowerment & Cooperation
Roberta Fahn Schoffman - CEO, Mindset Strategic Consulting
Deborah Lerman-
Marketing Executive, Sapiens International
Eti Livni –
Former member of the Knesset, Shinui Party
Talia Livni
– Advocate; President of Na’amat Israel
Shula Mola
– Project Coordinator, New Israel Fund & Israel Venture Network,
Rola Hamed– Ph.D.
student, University College Cork (UCC), Ireland
Romy Shapira –
Program Coordinator, Heinrich Boll Foundation; Peace & Human Rights Activist
Susan Weiss – Director, Center for
Women's Justice (CWJ)
Former International
Members
Feride Acar -
former Chair (2003-2005) and member (1997-2005) of the UN CEDAW Committee
(Turkey)
Jessica Neuwirth – former President,
Equality Now (USA)