In January 1988, one month after the first Palestinian Intifada broke out, a small group of Israeli and Palestinian women stood once a week, at the same hour and at the same location - a major traffic intersection in Israel. They were dressed in black and held up a black sign in the shape of a hand with "Stop the Occupation" written in white. 'It was a simple form of protest that women could do easily... We could bring our children, there was no chanting or marching, and the medium was the message. Within months vigils sprang up throughout Israel' ----Bat Shalom - Israeli women's peace organisation
Forerunners… Women in Black were inspired by earlier "women wearing black" like the Black Sash, in South Africa, and the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo, seeking the 'disappeared' in Argentina. WiB in the UK also developed from women refusing violence, militarism and war, like the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, formed in 1915, and the Greenham Common Women's Peace Camp, which successfully opposed the deployment of US missiles throughout the 1980's.
A consistent symbolism… The Israeli/Palestinian WiB vigils initiated a formula that was taken up in many other countries. Vigils were regular and predictable: same place, same time each week. Women wore black and were mainly silent. They were seen by many passers-by, some of whom heckled and abused them as 'whores' and 'traitors'. Their policy was not to shout back but to maintain silence and dignity.
In other countries, including Canada and the USA, Australia, and many European countries, Women in Black vigils also began to be organised.
In Italy… a group of women who had started a project they called "Women Visiting Difficult Places", visited Israel and Palestine in 1988. They gave support to Women in Black there, and returned to found their own WiB, Donne in Nero, which soon had groups in many Italian towns. When war broke out between the former Yugoslav republics, some of the Italian women visited feminist activists in Belgrade, who decided to adopt a similar form of action there.
Zene u Crnom (Women in Black) held vigils regularly in Republic Square in Belgrade from 1991, throughout the wars in Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo. Zene u Crnom built a strong organization that has, beyond the vigils, maintained an extensive programme providing support for conscientious objectors, educational workshops and seminars, writing, publishing and organising international visits and meetings.
International network… During the wars in former Yugoslavia, Women in Black groups sprang up in many more countries, supporting Zene u Crnom Belgrade. Most used the original formula of silent vigils, wearing black. Many went to visit Belgrade, including WiB from London. Zene u Crnom in Belgrade organised a series of ten international encounters at different locations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia which were an important force creating and expanding the international network.
A massive Women in Black vigil (an estimated 3000 women) was held in Beijing on September 4 1995, at the time of the UN World Conference on Women, calling for "a world safer for women".
The name "Women in Black" was first seen on the street in London in 1988, when women demonstrated outside El Al offices in solidarity with Israeli and Palestinian Women in Black. Three years later, a group of women came together to protest against the Gulf War, some of whom went on to call themselves Women in Black. In Southampton, Women's Aid to Former Yugoslavia was set up in 1992 to give practical aid and support to women on all sides of the Yugoslav conflict. Some of these women adopted the name Women in Black for non-violent direct action in the UK against militarism and war. Between 1995 and 2002 groups of women throughout the UK began to use the name and symbolism of Women in Black.
Mujeres en Negro (Women in Black in Spain) helped find refuge and a public platform for women from the Yugoslav region. In February 2002 Mujeres en Negro in Spain coordinated a worldwide action in Colombia, where they have strong connections with women's groups, to protest the drug-related war.
Seeing information as a vital aspect of antiwar action, they set up an electronic list-serve in Spanish and English. In 2000, they set up a system of "country coordinators", effectively turning WiB into a worldwide net. The information now circulating by e-mail mainly comes from, and goes to, WiB groups, but women with similar aims though using different names and organisational approaches (for instance in Afghanistan and Colombia) are also linked through the list. Go to the International section for more information. Click here.
Since 2000… Two events have prompted an intensification of WiB activity worldwide.
As the Israeli oppression of the West Bank and Gaza intensified, Israeli and Palestinian WiB (linked with other groups in the Coalition of Women for a Just Peace) called for a day of protest in 2001. Women in 150 places in five continents and 24 countries responded with vigils. Groups of women, primarily from Donne en Nero and also from WiB in the UK and elsewhere have been visiting Palestine and Israel to support Palestinians and strengthen links between them and Israeli women peace activists.
Secondly, the attacks on US targets on September 11 2001 led to increased activity by WiB. Women speedily agreed and issued a statement, for the first time as an international network. WiB groups worldwide, including the USA were quick to stand in public with an appeal for "justice not vengeance". Many groups have subsequently protested against the bombing of Afghanistan by the USA and allies as part of a "war on terror".
In 2003 WiB groups everywhere are resisting any extension of military action by the USA and allied governments to further attacks on Iraq.
