NEW YORK -An international women's commission met with UN officials urging that women play a stronger role in talks between Israelis and Palestinians and use the newly elected Hamas government as a vehicle for peace negotiations.
Members of the International Women's Commission, comprising Israeli and Palestinian delegates, urged Wednesday that peace talks between Israel and Hamas continue despite the deep political disagreements on both sides.
"The more we say this is impossible, the more impossible we will make it," said Colette Avital, deputy speaker of Israel's Parliament, the Knesset, and a key presenter at the panel discussion.
Avital, a Labor Party legislator and former consul to New York, pointed out that for the first time since 1967 the majority of Israeli parliament members openly support a peaceful resolution. While most consider it a "necessity" for coexistence, they also called for help from the U.S. government to succeed.
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