Women walk for peace not politics

Peace advocates from diverse backgrounds will gather at Hyde Park this Sunday to walk in solidarity with women worldwide calling for greater social cohesion.

Women Walk for Peace has been organised by a team including Jewish, Syrian, and Palestinian women, led by Ronni Kahn.

For Kahn, a women-led peace march has been a dream for several years, but it has not been easy to find partners.

“I tried to organise something about eight weeks or ten weeks after the war broke out, after the Hamas attack, and I just couldn't get any other faiths willing to talk,” she told The Jewish Independent. 

Kahn was inspired by Women Wage Peace in Israel. One of the founders of that interfaith, grassroots organisation was activist Vivian Silver, who was killed on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, just days after walking in a peace march.

At the time, Kahn was in Israel and was having conversations with Women Wage Peace.

“I've known about them and loved what they stand for, and obviously the organisation that Vivian built is just amazing,” says Kahn. “And then after the seventh of October, I felt the minute I started seeing these protests, I just thought, we need a peace walk.”

After seeing a barefoot peace walk planned this month in Rome by The Mother’s Call – a joint Israeli and Palestinian initiative – she decided to try again to create an event unaffiliated with any religion or political position.