WOMEN
IN BLACK VIGIL WILL HOLD A SILENT VIGIL SUPPORT OF WOMEN IN BLACK IN
BELGRADE
Women in Black will hold a silent vigil in support of Women in Black
in
Belgrade. Women in Black in Belgrade have had to stop their weekly
vigils
for peace after nearly 9 years, their flat has been raided by the
government, and the women and other WIB supporters have been forced
into
hiding. The vigil will be held Wednesday, August 30, 2000, from 5:30-
6:30,
in front of the New York Public Library, 5th Avenue at 41st.
Women In Black New York stand in silent vigil to protest war, rape as
a
tool of war, ethnic cleansing and human rights abuses all over the
world.
We are silent because mere words cannot express the tragedy that wars
and
hatred bring. We refuse to add to the cacophony of empty statements
that
are spoken with the best intentions yet may be erased or go unheard
under
the sound of a passing ambulance or a bomb exploding nearby.
Our silence is visible. We invite women to stand with us, reflect
about
themselves and women who have been raped, tortured or killed in
concentration camps, women who have disappeared, whose loved ones have
disappeared or have been killed, whose homes have been demolished. We
wear
black as a symbol to mourn for all victims of war, to mourn the
destruction
of people, nature and the fabric of life.
Women in Black is an international peace network. Women in Black is
not an
organization, but a means of mobilization and a formula for action.
Women
in Black vigils were started in Israel in 1988 by women protesting
against
Israel's Occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. Women in Black has
developed
in the Italy, Spain, United States, England, Azerbaijan and in FR
Yugoslavia, where women in Belgrade have stood in weekly vigils since
1991
to protest war and the Serbian regime's policies of nationalist
aggression.
Women in Black New York have been standing in solidarity with the
women of
Belgrade since 1993.
For information, please visit our website at
http://balkansnet.org/women or
call Indira at 212 560-0905. E-mail 074182@newschool.edu to get on our
mailing list. We stand in silent vigil in front of the New York Public
Library at 5th Avenue and 41st Street the last Wednesday of every
month
from 5:30 - 6:30. Come join us.
