Women in Black hold weekly silent vigils against world violence

These black-clothed women think silence is golden. They are the Princeton area's Women in Black, a branch of the international movement that holds silent vigils in opposition to war and violent acts against humanity.

Unlike the Princeton Peace Network and the Coalition for Peace Action, which protest vocally, accompanied by loud music, Women in Black uses its silent presence to express its messages.

"It's a way for women to respond to crises that they feel are breaking the peace," said Marietjie Odendaal, a resident of Princeton who participates in the demonstrations. "We're mourning in a visible place with our clothing."

Ranging from a half dozen to twenty women, the Princeton group stands silently in a line outside FitzRandolph Gate clad entirely in black each Wednesday from 5:15 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.

The group consists of women from a range of backgrounds, including Princeton graduate students and teachers at the College of New Jersey.

The group comprises only females because women are often the first victims of violence in wartime, said Jean Ross, a Princeton Borough resident who coordinates the vigils. Their black clothing symbolizes the mourning for these victims of rape, human rights abuses and other acts of war, Ross said.

"Words can't express our horror at the violence," she added.

Women in Black began in Israel in 1988 as a way for women to protest Israel's occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and call for peace between Israel and the Palestinians. The movement spread to Italy and Yugoslavia and has since inspired silent vigils worldwide.

The violent conflict between Palestine and Israel was also the impetus for Ross to begin the weekly Princeton vigils in April of 2002.

"The situation in Palestine and Israel became more and more murderous," Ross said. "I wanted to do something public."

The concept of Women in Black appealed to Ross as a way of making a public statement that did not require much planning. She chose FitzRandolph Gate as the venue for the vigils because of the many people that frequent the area.

"It's a place connected to the University and to the community," Ross said. "People came by, saw us and joined us."

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Ross noted that during the first months of vigils, the women did not have a sense of each other's backgrounds and opinions.

"Since we're silent [at the vigil], it took us a while to find a common ground," Ross said. Over the summer, the group met to express opinions on the Arab-Israeli peace movement and began distributing information supporting both sides of the conflict. As the war on Iraq became a growing concern, Princeton's Women in Black shifted its focus to calling on President Bush and Congress to find an alternative to war.

"Over [this] year we will be having a number of messages to try to give information," said Ross.

To effectively communicate their purpose in the silent vigil, some women hold signs with statements such as "No war on Iraq" and "Voice your conscience." Next to the group is a table with informational handouts from other organizations advocating peaceful resolutions to conflicts around the world.

"They're ideas we don't speak," said Odendaal.