East End Women in Black Observe 5th Anniversary of Vigil

On Sunday, August 19 at 5pm at the Sag Harbor Wharf, East End Women in Black started the sixth year of a vigil for peace in the middle east and an end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and the US occupation of Iraq.

Women in Black was founded by Israeli and Palestinian women during the first Intifada, as a partnership transcending enforced allegiances and violent militarism within their 2 societies. They stood silently in weekly vigil together, seeking rational, justice based solutions. East End Women in Black was formed in solidarity with them, under the initiative of Kathy Engel, by 5 women during the summer of 2002.

Weekly vigils shortly followed at the flagpole in Sag Harbor, one of its portals of entry. Each Sunday at 5pm, both men and women gathered for one hour of silent presence supporting universal human rights and against both the Israeli Occupation and the American Occupation of Iraq. For 5 years, the vigil has been continuous, now twice monthly in Bridgehampton and Sag Harbor.

We Begin Here: Poems for Palestine and Lebanon

Kathy Engel, Kathryn Levy, Naomi Lazard and Margaret Gibson will read from We Begin Here: Poems for Palestine and Lebanon at Canios Books, 290 Main St. Sag Harbor on Friday June 15 starting at 6pm.

We Begin Here: Poems for Palestine and Lebanon, edited by Kamal Boullata and East End Women in Black co-founder Kathy Engel was published on March 31, 2007 by Interlink Press

Contact us

If you want more information about East End Women in Black and our Vigils email us at eewib@optonline.net or call 631-831-4966

If you want to receive our occasional messages via email send us your name and email address and write "List" in the subject line.

Our Mission:

We are a group of women, and men, living on the East End of Long Island, who STAND UNITED with Women in Black around the world for peace and justice for all people.

We are alarmed about the power-hungry intentions of the United States Government in the Middle East and throughout the world in what appears to be a quest for Empire. We fear endless wars.

We call for a withdrawal of the Israeli military from the Occupied Territories, a return to the 1967 borders, a dismantling of the Israeli Settlements, an end to Palestinian suicide bombings, and an end to U.S. military support of the occupation.

We believe that real patriotism is upholding the U.S. Constitution and Bill of Rights, with a genuine commitment to caring for the people of this country who don't have what they need for their homes, health, education, and jobs.

And with the cuts in programs for veterans, we are concerned about what will happen to our soldiers when they return home.