Follow The Women is an international movement comprised of over 300 ordinary women, from as many as 30 different countries, who support peace and an end to violence in the Middle East.  There has never been a greater need for the women of the world to work together for a more peaceful present and future.

The aims of Follow The Women are to:

• raise awareness of how the current situation in the Middle East affects the lives of women and children in the region,
 change misconceptions women may have about the question of Palestine and the Middle East project the right image and greater understanding about the region through media,  increase support networks between women all around the world,  pursue creative efforts to reach a just peace to bring an end to violence and suffering in the region.

In order to work towards achieving these aims, Follow the Women has organized three cycle rides, and is currently preparing for the fourth ride to be held in April 2008.

In April 2004, the first ride was across Lebanon, Syria and Jordan. In September 2005, the second bicycle ride took place from Beirut to Damascus to Amman and finally into Ramallah.  In April 2007, cycling began in Aleppo, Syria, continuing into Saida, Beirut and other regions of Lebanon, south to Mt. Nebo in Jordan, and finally through Israel’s Allenby Bridge Check point into the Palestinian West Bank cities of Jericho, Beit Sahour and Jerusalem. 

Yiota Kamaratos from Cypris wrote on the 17th of June 2008 in his article for WANGO

In May 2008, approximately 300 ordinary, yet extraordinary women, from 28 countries cycled 370 km (230 miles) from Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan into Palestine advocating peace and empowering women and youth in the Middle East. 

The members of Follow the Women come from the European Union, the Middle East and as far away as North America, Australia and Japan.  Before every ride, participants are cautioned by ‘westerners’ to reconsider embarking on the journey because their lives would be at risk in the Middle East.  Any of the western cyclists can testify that she felt safe, and was touched and overwhelmed by the genuine hospitality of the people of the Middle East. 

Throughout the 12-day peace ride, men, women and children lined the streets to welcome the courageous women. In each country, the ‘Messengers of Peace’ were showered with flowers and gifts, as they cycled through cities and villages.  Locals applauded and called out “Ahlan wa sahlan!” offering traditional Arabic sweets and coffee as tokens of appreciation towards the women supporting justice in their lands.

Lebanon 

The energetic volunteers from the PYO arranged a diverse program which had the women cycling from the cool lush green Mt. Lebanon, down to the picturesque Mediterranean coast, through the serene Bekaa Valley.  In each region, locals enthusiastically welcomed the cyclists, who were immediately lured by the Lebanese traditional music, and inevitably found themselves dancing in the streets, re-energizing themselves for the rest of the ride. The most solemn moment of FTW in Lebanon was the visit to the mass grave at the Palestinian refugee camp of Shatila.  The women were given the opportunity to lay a wreath at the memorial site, and pay their respect to the approximate 3,000 innocent victims lost, as well as to salute the ones among the FTW group who survived the September 1982 massacres at the Sabra and Shatila refugee camps.

Syria

MTN Telecommunications and the Syrian Commission for Family Affairs offered FTW the chance to experience cultural festivities as Damascus is the 2008 Capital of Arab Culture.  Syria’s First Lady, Mrs. Asma Al Assad, has backed the philosophy of FTW since its inception in 2003.  In previous years, the First Lady rode with the cyclists.  In May 2008, Her Excellency welcomed the riders of peace at the Presidential Palace for one-on-one discussions, getting to know the members from each country group.  The women were amazed at Mrs. Al Assad’s humbleness and sincerity.

Visiting the UNRWA Al Husainia Refugee Camp allowed the Palestinian women to give their testimonies of fleeing their homeland and of surviving under difficult circumstances in camps for the past 60 years.  For the group of international women, an emotional learning process took place, which led to a greater understanding of the on-going struggle of the Palestinian people.  On another level, the impact of observing the 1948-displaced Palestinians meeting the younger West Bank Palestinians was moving.  The Palestinian FTW team was overwhelmed by the personal stories of hardship from their fellow Palestinians living in other Arab lands. Each side was unaware, yet eager, to learn of the realities of the other’s situation, whether it was living in exile or in the occupied territories of the West Bank.   The refugees’ only wish is their right of return, even 60 years after the Nakbah, to their homes in their ancestral homeland in Palestine. 

Next was the uninhabited city of Qunaitra, the capital of the Golan Heights in southern Syria.  In an eerie atmosphere, the cyclists biked in silence, as they witnessed a scene of total destruction. House after house had been systematically dynamited, flattened and left in complete ruins by the Israeli military before withdrawing from the city in June 1974.  The “Shouting Hill” at the Golan Heights was an even more powerful experience as the women looked across the valley to the Israeli occupied part of the Golan Heights.  The Syrians under Israeli rule spoke to the group across the valley through loud speakers, having their voices echo throughout the land.  They expressed their thanks towards FTW for not having forgotten them and their quest for being reunited with their families and their Syrian homeland just a few meters away.  The effect of both visits allowed for a deeper understanding of the realities which Syrians have been experiencing in recent history. 

Jordan

Jordan presented FTW with a diverse program which was under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania.  It included a marketplace of handicrafts from Palestinian and Iraqi refugee women’s NGOs, children’s photo and painting exhibitions, as well as traditional Palestinian Dabkeh dancing.  The cyclists had the chance to interact and network with the local organizations.  Finally, a workshop identifying strengths and weaknesses, in addition to the future initiatives of FTW took place among the participants.

The final evening in Jordan was spent at the shimmering Dead Sea.  The women were able to look across to the Holy Land.  The tranquility, warmth and glow of the atmosphere were idyllic, yet illusory.  Deep in thought, the Arab and Iranian women knew that their mission for peace with FTW was slowly coming to an end. As the sun gracefully disappeared behind the hilltops of Jerusalem, so did their dream of being able to cycle over the bridge the next morning to enter the West Bank with their fellow-cyclists. 

Palestine

The Siraj Center for Holy Land Studies and FTW Palestine team co-organized events enabling the group of international participants to experience life in occupied Palestine by spending as much time possible with women and children from the local communities, networking and developing relationships. In Ramallah, paying respect to the late-President Yasser Arafat, the father of the Palestinian people’s quest for a homeland, and one of the first firm believers in the FTW initiative, was a reminder of his life-long dedication and struggle for the Palestinian cause. Among the countless unforgettable experiences was an overnight stay with families in the village of Rumaneh, in northern western corner West Bank.  The people were humble, welcoming and generous in their hospitality.

FTW easily rode through Houwara, one of Israel’s strictest checkpoints for locals, through the hilly city of Nablus, reaching the Al Najah University, where FTW were guests of the faculty and students.  The peace cyclists reached the refugee camps of Jericho and Jenin, where they were guests of the local authorities and women’s associations.

The experience of spending the night at the former Israeli interrogation prison for Palestinian youth, the Al Faraa Center, and having a guided tour by one of the former detainees was very stirring. Being in the environment and seeing first hand the torture areas and the closed quarters of each cell, the names of the prisoners and calendars which they themselves deeply engraved into the walls in order to count down the days till their release, had a profound impact on all participants.  In the narrow space of one of the typical cells, eight of the women stood in two lines, side by side, trying to imagine how life could possibly have been as young detainees in the suffocating compartment.  There was silence.  The rows of eyes were in tears.

Glimpses of the imposing Israeli separation wall brought feelings of shock to the group of international women, but also painful memories of the Berlin Wall to the German participants, whose basic human rights of freedom of movement were once denied.  The question most frequently raised was how pressure from the international community could bring down the Berlin Wall; whereas no real pressure is being exerted on Israel to do the same. Despite calls from the International Court of Justice to dismantle the Wall, the ‘apartheid wall’ not only exists, encircling the 315 km (196 miles) of the West Bank, but snakes its way into it, seizing more Palestinian land, and doubling its size to total 650 km (400 miles).  The women from the West could not conceive the idea of having an 8 meter-high (25 foot) concrete wall separating their own local communities and their own families from each other.  However, in Palestine, these are the realities on the ground.  Upon completion of the wall, 22% of West Bank land will have been confiscated.  Only 12% of historic Palestine will remain fragilely in tact. 

The inspiring element in all this despair is the resilience of the Palestinian people to keep believing and striving for freedom so as to live in dignity, enjoying the basic human rights which others from the international community take for granted on a daily basis.   Follow the Women has given hope to the people of Palestine, while the truth of their daily realities has been carried back to each woman’s country in order to mobilize her community to work towards awareness raising campaigns and initiatives for justice in the Middle East and to help bring about change in the Occupied Territories.

Follow the Women has become an important regional event where women are at the forefront of promoting peace.  The women’s ride is the biggest initiative for peace in the Middle East.  Rich intercultural dialogue is achieved among all women. Stereotypes about Arab women are replaced by the certainty that regardless of ethnic origin, religious doctrine, head scarf or no head scarf, all have the same dreams and aspirations.   The members of Follow the Women have been welcomed and honored by the people of the region.  Each participant can be proud of contributing to Middle East peace and history. Follow the Women will continue to cycle for peace.