Women in Reconciliation 2025
Over 2025, we were pleased to support Musalaha’s Women in Reconciliation programme. Musalaha launched a new group for 10 Israeli Jewish and 10 Palestinian Muslim and Christian women within this programme.
Central to Musalaha’s work is the belief that reconciliation is not a single event, it is a process. This project guides women through Musalaha’s 6 stages of reconciliation, moving from initial encounter to active, joint advocacy. Over the year, they receive training in conflict transformation, leadership and human rights, while exploring the unique role that women play in building sustainable peace.
The journey begins long before the group meetings. Each participant is selected through an interview process to ensure they are ready to engage with the difficult work of reconciliation. This is essential because the process requires the participants to self-reflect, question their own identities, histories and cultural narratives - a task that can be deeply challenging but is absolutly necessary for true healing.
The programme officially begins with an intensive 5-day Desert Encounter in the Wadi Rum Desert. In this neutral, quiet space, participants begin to build relationships across boundaries. For many, this is the first time they have ever spent significant time with someone from the other ethnic or religious group, especially time spent sharing meals and stories while discussing the sensitive topics of culture and identity.
Following this foundation in the desert, the women participate in 6 weekend workshops held throughout the year. These sessions provide a safe, facilitated environment where they are dismantle their narratives of existential fear. Musalaha acts as a guide, providing trust-building exercises that help replace dehumanisation with a framework of empathy, respect, compassion and inclusivity. Over the year, participants willingly face their own identities, and tackle the mental, psychological and physical obstacles to reconciliation, climbing out of fatalism and victimisation, emerging ready to challenge the status quo together.
The year concludes with a joint grassroots community outreach activity, where the women put their new partnership into practice by serving others together.
