To Palestinian women and Arab women, and to Hebrew women and Western women
I write to you with hope. Legend has it that the city of Rome was founded by a group of young warriors. They came from another city in Italy and decided to found their own. They built the main buildings and a wall around them, and organized guard shifts. But then they wanted to find wifes. Cunningly they approached a nearby city, and by surprise they kidnapped the young girls. It was the city of the Sabines. When the Sabines discovered the crime committed by the Romans, they went to battle against them. When the armies were already facing each other, ready to fight, suddenly the Sabine women appeared and stood between the two armies. And they began to say: “Hold your weapons!” And addressing the Sabines they asked them: “do not kill our husbands.” And then, speaking to the Romans, they told them: “Stop the fight, we don't want you to kill our fathers and brothers.” The story ends well, and they made peace. Most of the kidnapped women stayed with their kidnappers, but those who wa...