On February 22 at 5:30 p.m., and every third Thursday of every month thereafter, dozens of women wearing black clothes and carrying black-fist-festooned signs reading end the occupation will descend on Beacon Street to demand that Israel relinquish control of Palestinian-claimed territories.

The Women in Black effort first surfaced in Jerusalem in 1988, when thousands of Jewish women would gather at city intersections every Friday to protest Israeli-government control of the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and portions of Jerusalem. Soon, women seeking to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict launched chapters in places as far-flung as Australia, England, and the United States. In Boston, the all-female group became a fixture — until the 1993 Oslo Accords ushered in a supposed era of peace in the Middle East.

Now that the peace process has all but fallen apart, Boston women are once again clothing themselves in black to symbolize their grief.

“So many of us are outraged and aggrieved by the intense violence directed at the Palestinians,” says Barbara Schulman, a long-time activist and Women in Black member. “As Jews, we’re horrified at the atrocities committed by the state of Israel. We’ve suffered too much historically to turn around and commit these atrocities against someone else.”

After the violence erupted last fall, Schulman and 30 other Jewish women from around Boston got together to push for Palestinian rights and an end to the Israeli policy. The group, known as Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine, decided to resuscitate the Women in Black movement as one of its first projects.

Ending the occupation is a goal that unites Jewish and Arab women, Schulman says. After all, she notes, 30 Palestinian leaders have been killed since fighting resumed last September, while as many as 15,000 people have been severely wounded in ever-escalating skirmishes.

Adds Schulman, “Many Jews are tormented by what’s happening in Israel now. More and more, they’re speaking out against Israeli policy because they find it intolerable to remain silent any longer.”

Women in Black invites women of all races, nationalities, and religions to join the monthly vigils. For more information, check out the Jewish Women for Justice in Israel/Palestine Web site at www.geocities.com/jwjip. Or e-mail its members at jewishwomenactivists@yahoo.com.