Post by Pnina Steinberg, Israeli participant

A few months ago, Rina Bar Tal met me at a round table of UNSCR 1325 coalition in Israel. She told me about FGW and that immediately ignited my imagination. The notion of meeting women from my region – neighbors I have no other way to meet – was irresistible. The meeting in Berlin taught me the depth and breadth of the possible meanings of “meeting”: From a mere gathering in one place to forming some professional, collegial and personal connection. Some of the women – I could hardly make eye contact with, others left me full of appreciation of their brave leading of private or public revolutionary acts of women’s liberation. One specific “neighbor” excited me with immediate connection, seemingly on professional grounds, but I think both of us felt it is not only that. I still cannot name the force that drew such excitement and pleasure of communication; it still feels like an adventure that might stay in the bubble of Berlin or it might reach further. Practical implementations of this neighborhood meeting is still a riddle for me, but I sure can start imagining some new neighborhood relationships, and some new regional voices.