An example of linking peace and gender issues: New Profile in Israel

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How does a peace group interweave gender awareness into its peace work? This can be done through its organisational identity and structures, its training and orientation of members, and its development of program strategies.

New Profile, the Israeli peace organisation, describes itself as 'a group of feminist women and men who are convinced that we need not live in a soldiers' state'. Such a clear identification publicises the connections between gender and peace from the very beginning, for anyone who comes in contact with the organisation. New Profile breaks traditional organisational patterns by rotating leadership roles and all paid functions and tries to avoid having a hierarchy of activities. The group's many training and educational programs for new members and the public—workshops, seminars, youth groups, and conferences—always include an analysis of how gender and militarism are connected in Israeli culture and society. It also conduct whole-day study circles that look more deeply at the connections. One such study day in 2007, for example, used photographs of female soldiers from the army's archives to look at the the military recruitment of women in Israel and the general militarisation of the whole society. With such opportunities for study and discussion, New Profile members bring a deeper gender awareness to their problem analysis of militarism and their strategic action planning. New Profile's Small Arms and Light Weapons project not only looked into the problems and structure of the Israeli arms trade, but also investigated how small arms affected individual's lives and how New Profile could help redefine the term 'security' in Israeli culture.

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