Dalit Baum is a young Israeli peace activist and teacher who has worked for eight years to expose injustice and promote equality in communities long caught in deadly and devastating conflict. The grassroots organizer and lesbian feminist has led, inspired, or confronted those who could not or would not see the connection between denial of human rights and the on-going and escalating violence of the Palestinian-Israeli confrontations. She renewed an older program when she started a new Women in Black vigil in Tel Aviv; she expanded existing peace efforts by working from its inception with The Coalition of Women for a Just Peace, which brought many peace efforts together for concerted action; and, she created Black Laundry, a community of lesbians, gay men and transgenders against the occupation and for social justice. Additionally, she worked as a teacher and group facilitator at the Community School for Women , a school she helped found in 1999, whose mission calls on it to look at issues of poverty, marginalized ethnicity and national oppression at the same time.

Before Dalit joined the Women PeaceMakers program at the Institute for Peace & Justice in the September, 2003, she was organizing or participating in at least three protests or demonstrations per week, as well as teaching or facilitating groups at the Community School for Women . The school is a multicultural feminist project dedicated to reaching underprivileged women throughout Israel. It has been one of the only joint Palestinian-Israeli projects that survived the turbulent events of the past three years. In addition to teaching and facilitating conflict resolution sessions, Dalit co-developed a bi-lingual course program about women, militarism and war in different societies.

The frontline of the campaign for equality and justice within Israel is a far cry from where Dalit imagined she would be at this point in her life. Dalit was born in Israel and served in the military as all Israelis are required to do. Becoming a leading peace activist was still not on the horizon when she studied mathematics at Bar Ilan University. Dalit received her Ph.D. in mathematics from Hebrew University in 1995. She taught at the university level both inside and outside of Israel. In 1997, after teaching in the United States, Dalit returned to Israel and began to sense her role, her purpose and her ability to teach lay in different settings, specifically the streets and communities which needed peace and justice.

As a member of the Coalition of Women for Just Peace , whose mission is to end the Occupation in the West Bank and Gaza, Dalit focuses on bringing peace and true partnership to the peoples of Israel and Palestine, to empower women, homosexuals, and other oppressed groups, as well as create equality and social justice in her country. Dalit has taken a lead role in organizing Coalition demonstrations. The Coalition was founded in November 2000 to mobilize women, support human rights, and work to achieve full involvement of women in peace negotiations within the country. The organization utilizes non-violent action as a response to injustice, such as joint demonstrations between Israelis and Palestinians at the site of the separation wall.

Dalit began the new Women in Black Maxim vigil in Tel Aviv to non-violently demonstrate that many could and would still stand for an alternative to the growing violence of 2000. Women in Black initially began in 1988 as a response to the situation in Israel. Every week, women, and now men, meet at designated points in the country and around the world to silently protest the oppression and instability that plagues the region. Women in Black has grown to encompasses 350 vigils worldwide. Dalit has continued to participate in the weekly vigils despite the danger associated with publicly expressing her viewpoints. Though she fully believes in the power of Women in Black, she felt she could do more to improve the situation in her country and co-founded Black Laundry in 2001.

Black Laundry is a direct action group of lesbians, gay men, and transgenders who speak out against Israel's occupation of Palestine, and work for social justice. Black Laundry's members strive to establish equality and justice through activism that highlights the connections between various forms of oppression within the Israeli community. Israelis and Palestinians work together in Black Laundry to speak out against the discrimination of Palestinians, and the marginalization of women. Black Laundry has taken on the responsibility of informing and mobilizing the greater community in an effort to establish peace in the region.

From her introduction to grassroots non-governmental work in 1998 to her work with the National Feminist Conferences, which allowed her to be at the forefront of Israeli feminist culture, to her co-founding direct action groups such as Black Laundry, Dalit has successfully used the power of activism and organization to unite marginalized people in an effort to achieve peace. Dalit continues to raise awareness about injustices within the Israeli community, promote peace between Israelis and Palestinians, and highlight the connections between all forms of oppression within society. Amid a sea of instability, Dalit is a strong force pursuing peace.

For more information on the Women PeaceMakers Program please contact

Dee Aker, Ph.D. daker@sandiego.edu

Erika Lopez, MA erika.lopez@sandiego.edu

Made possible by a grant from the Fred J. Hansen Foundation