MIDDLE EAST: Models walked beside the controversial barrier Israel is building inside the West Bank yesterday to encourage Israeli and Palestinian women to work together for peace.
"As women we are trying to cross boundaries many times a day," said Ms Sybil Goldfiner, CEO of the Israeli fashion house Comme-il-faut, which turned the construction site for the wall on Jerusalem's fringes into a catwalk.
"We offer a suggestion, or the hope, that women from both sides, who bring life into this world, will unify to stop this killing that has gone on for too long."
The models, dressed in vivid summer outfits, were from Slovenia, Russia, Poland, France and Israel. Ms Goldfiner said she tried in vain to recruit Palestinian models. Israel restricts entry of Palestinians, citing security.
Ms Goldfiner said the stark juxtaposition of the grey, 27ft high barrier and the orange, green and pink frocks worn by the models aimed to shock 15,000 catalogue customers into reflecting on the reality.
"We wanted to bring the picture of normality - fashion, colour, optimism - and put it next to the abnormality of the wall, with its despair and greyness. This combination of normal and abnormal is the picture of reality in Israel."