Middle East Peace Cycles

A member of Hands Across the Divide, Yiota Kamaratos, has been participatin in peace cycles across the Middle East with two organisations, Follow the Women and the Siraj Centre. Here you can find her articles and links to her photo galleries.

Women cycle for Mideast peace, sharing hopes, fears (13.04.07)

BEIRUT -- Follow the Women, a group whose like-minded female members hail from 30 countries, is currently on a 12-day bicycle ride for peace, aiming to raise awareness for Middle East crises, in solidarity with the women of the region. This worthy initiative was born out of concern for the situation in the Palestinian territories and the daily suffering of Palestinian women and children due to the ongoing Israeli occupation. Read all.

Through the eyes of a man (22.04.07)

BEIT SAHOUR, West Bank -- Since Follow the Women's inception in 2003, John Power has supported the organization's cycling for peace in the Middle East, putting his medical expertise at the service of its all-female members' awareness campaigns. Power, himself, is a UK-based researcher and university professor in psychology, sociology, and public health. Read all.

Crossing checkpoints (25.04.07)

JERUSALEM -- In continuing their 12-day ride for Middle East Peace, the nearly 250 all-female members of the awareness organization Follow the Women (FTW) recently weathered stringent restrictions posed by Israeli checkpoints, barring Iranian, Palestinian, and other Arab members of their group from entering the occupied territories.
Having begun the ride April 7 in Syria, and having passed through Lebanon, the cyclists reached Amman, Jordan, where a workshop allowed the FTW women to exchange their multicultural ideas, share their experiences, and reflect on their campaign for Middle East peace and its future. Read all.

Uniting siblings (9.05.07)

BEIT SAHOUR, West Bank -- Just imagine not having seen your only sibling for five years. This is not by choice, but because of circumstances that do not allow either of you to travel freely. You live in Gaza, while she lives in the West Bank; only 100 kilometers (62 miles) separate the two of you. It should be easy enough to get into your car, and drive two hours east to reach your sister. Read all.

Watch a slideshow of Follow the Women's 2007 cycle through the middle East here.

The biggest peace initiative for peace in the Middle East (2008)

In May 2008, approximately 300 ordinary, yet extraordinary women, from 28 countries cycled 370 km (230 miles) from Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan into Palestine advocating peace and empowering women and youth in the Middle East. In 2003, a handful of like-minded female youth workers in the European Union’s Youth Program formed Follow the Women (FTW) to cycle through the Middle East as a means of supporting Palestinians who were restricted in taking part in Euro-Med activities due to living under Israeli occupation. FTW has had four annual peace rides, each aimed at showing solidarity towards the women and youth of the region, increasing intercultural understanding and providing participants with the chance to experiencefirst-hand the plight of Palestinians living in the Occupied Territories and in exile in refugee camps. Read all.

Cycle for peace Palestine's Follow the Women

In 2003, a handful of female youth workers from the United Kingdom, Jordan, Sweden and Cyprus formed Follow the Women to cycle through the Middle East to support Palestinians who were restricted from taking part in Euro-Med activities due to the Israeli occupation. Thus, the Palestinian chapter of Follow the Women (FTW) was formed, with the encouragement of the late-President Yasser Arafat. Led by coordinator Lina Yasser Arafat, the women were driven by one common aim - to raise awareness about the occupation. Approximately 80 women of all ages, political affiliations and religious backgrounds have joined FTW Palestine since 2004. Read all.

Read about the 2009 experience in the Middle East with The Peace Cycle here, and watch slideshows of the women in Bethlehem, Ramallah, and Jordan.

This website has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union through the “Celebrating Diversity and Volunteerism Project” implemented by the NGO Support Centre and Cyprus Turkish Association of Managers. The contents of this website are the sole responsibility Hands Across the Divide and can under no circumstances be regarded as reflecting the position of the European Union or the implementing organizations.

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