The Swarthmore Food Cooperative

Who are the women in black?

by LAUREN STOKES, EDITOR EMERITUS | November 30, 2005

Observant members of the Swarthmore community may have noticed a group of women in black keeping silent vigil at the train station from five to six on Friday evenings. For the answer we went to Pat James, Director of the Lang Opportunity Scholars Program, who told us that "they are part of an international group of women who have weekly vigils in protest of war."

The idea started in Israel in 1987 at the beginning of the Palestinian intifada, when both Israeli and Palestinian women began keeping weekly vigils in public places as a form of silent protest. Groups of women in other countries began to organize their own "Women in Black" vigils to show support for those in Israel; eighteen years later it has grown into a worldwide movement of women whose motto is "For Justice. Against War."

Anyone is welcome to join the Swarthmore vigil to experience this powerful form of silent protest for themselves.

Share:

Print    Email

Late Valentine's Day at the Symposium

Today, jackdaws and magpies, the sages have gathered, to talk about love. To talk about love cut through with time. Crippled with the burden of the clocks of our ancestors, we stagger around in the daytimes, and maybe post some chocolates to the dorm next door by the tilting-upward of the next due dawn. In short: we know that we need it. And we don't know how to get it. Or, more specifically—when we don't know just when the getting's good.

Submit a Comment

: Log in to verify your identity.
: Required, but will not be made public.

Comments posted anonymously must be approved by Gazette staff before they are published.

Discussion Rules

  • Be nice.
  • Be constructive.
  • Don't curse.
  • Don't threaten.

More details on our policies here.

Register an Account | Login