An Israeli peace campaigner for more than 15 years, Gila Svirsky lives and writes in Jerusalem. She is a founding member of the Coalition of Women for Peace, a grouping of eight Israeli and Palestinian women's peace organisations.

"The violence has led me to devote all my day-to-day life to the conflict..." Read a BBC profile on Gila Svirsky

For more background, links to writings 1991-2003 and a bibliography of Gila Svirsky's work, see: The Living Room, At-Home with Gila Svirsky

For an archive of Gila's letters, from 1988, see: Dispatches from the Peace Front at her own personal website.

2009

Gila has not been sending out the regular messages we have archived below. But she remains active: see the latest on Gila's personal website.

2006

11 August 2006: War, Nyet! Ceasefire, Da!
31 July 2006: Brief Peace Update
23 July 2006: Quick Report from the Israeli Peace Front
1 February 2006: Hamas and Us

2005

6 August 2005: Goodbye, Gaza 29 April 2005: Three Demonstrations and a Seder
11 January 2005: A Tale of Two Elections

2004

24 November 2004: License to Kill
14 September 2004: An update of several issues occupying the Israeli peace movement lately
6 August 2004: Hiroshima and Depleted Uranium
10 July 2004: What is actually wrong with the so-called "security wall"?
16 June 2004: Demonstrations against the wall
6 June 2004: "Breaking silence about this subject is exceptional, not the acts themselves"
25 April 2004: Anarchy in our Souls
23 May 2004: Protesting the IDF in Gaza, and how to help
17 March 2004: Rachel Corrie, a Year Later

2003

1 December 2003: On the recently signed Geneva Accord
September 2003: Off with their heads!
4 June 2003: In memory of Rachel Corrie
28 February 2003: The Great Wall of Denial

From Gila Svirsky:

"I have every belief that we are going to get to peace sooner rather than later, though admittedly, not in the term of Ariel Sharon. The reason for my optimism is that both sides are fed up. We cannot tolerate the kind of life we have been living for so many years much longer. Right now there is a sense of fury, frustration, bitterness and hatred on both sides. What the Israeli action combined with the terrorist bombings have done is to foster more hatred than anything over the last 30 years of occupation. We will be able to get past it – Japan got past two nuclear bombs – but it will take time, and something a bit more than 'confidence building measures'..."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/middle_east/2002/voices/gila.stm

"Women’s peace activity is characterized by a feminist vision that sees beyond the end of hostilities; it is a vision of cooperation, equality and creation of a just society that is not driven by generals or militarism..."
The Living Room, At-Home with Gila Svirsky