International Catalonia Prize winners denounce women's 'exclusion' from Trump's deal for Gaza

The winners of the 2025 International Catalonia Prize, Yael Admi and Reem Alhajajra, have denounced that women have been excluded from Donald Trump's deal for Gaza during an interview with the Catalan News Agency (ACN).

The two peace activists and promoters of the movement Mother's Call are in Barcelona to receive the award at the Palau de la Generalitat, the Catalan government's headquarters, on Thursday evening.

Mother's Call is a cross-border movement led by Israeli and Palestinian women, joining Women Wage Peace (led by Admi) and Women of the Sun (led by Alhajajra), organizations under one umbrella. They call for an end to violence and for resuming negotiations as the only viable means to guarantee security and the dignity of the two societies.

They both praise the "active role" of women in the peace process and denounce their "exclusion" from the deal by US President Donald Trump for Gaza signed in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.

"Any political solution requires the clear presence of women," Alhajajra told ACN, saying that women's "positive" influence during peace deals, as they try to look for "stability, security, and the safety of families."

Admi remembers that long and bitter conflicts all over the world have been solved, "especially when women are involved in looking for a solution and the reconciliation processes." The Israeli activists said that the "life mission" of women is to give birth to their children, not take them away from them with a "nonsensical war."

The activists behind Mother's Call urge for the end of violence, to start a negotiated political process between the two parties, and ask for security, freedom, dignity, equality for the two societies, and to include women in peace deals.

Given that all mothers, regardless of their side, want to protect and raise their children, guaranteeing a future without war, the initiative appeals to motherhood as a common language to transcend political, religious, and national borders. 

With the International Catalonia Prize awarded to Admi and Alhajajra, the number of women receiving the recognition rises to 14, although it is still far from gender parity. Over the last 35 years, the Government has awarded 45 prizes, 32 of which were given to men.

Alhajajra considers the award as a "recognition of women" and "especially to Palestinian women" as the project seeks to "increase political consciousness and financial empowerment of women." The movement has used a "language specific to women, more emotional" to appeal to both sides and to urge them to sit and negotiate to "find less violent political solutions."

She, a Palestinian, remembers that when she began collaborating with Israeli women, "it was not easy" for her family and her close relatives, as some considered treason and accused her of "normalizing" occupation. 

"It was not about undermining the rights of Palestinians, the contrary," she told ACN, as she wants women to take part in peace deals.

Honoring future of peace

The prize honors their "sustained commitment to reconciliation, dialogue, and the construction of a shared future of peace in the Middle East," a statement released by the Catalan government reads.

The government also highlighted that, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine, the two activists represent "a symbol of hope in the midst of a long and painful conflict."

The most recent winners have been Lebanese writer Amin Maalouf, US economist Joseph Stiglitz, Belarusian-Ukrainian writer Svetlana Alexievich, and US philosopher and human rights activist Judith Butler.