In The Media
Skidmore College and MLK Saratoga hosted members of Combatants for Peace to lead a discussion on the ongoing conflict in the Middle East with students and faculty.
Palestine-Israel: from one story to more than one story, from us vs them to togetherness, from cycle of violence to nonviolence, towards a Collective Liberation
Positions have hardened on both sides in the face of the Gaza war, but some activists refuse to give up hope. They let us sit in on one of their meetings.
“If we punch a hole in this boat, we will all sink together.” Activists May Pundak of @2States1Homelan and Rana Salman of @cfpeace discuss their enduring dream for Middle East peace, even as explosions ring out while we speak. “Our lives are intertwined,” they say.
With Israel and Palestine experiencing the worst violence in decades, we speak with two co-founders of Combatants for Peace, a group composed of people from both sides of the conflict who have committed to nonviolence and peaceful coexistence. Avner Wishnitzer is a former member of Sayeret Matkal, one of the Israel Defense Forces’ elite commando units, and Sulaiman Khatib spent more than 10 years in prison after being arrested as a teenager for an attack on Israeli soldiers.
Hamas’s attack on Israel and Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza have already caused colossal destruction and anguish. Some 1,200 Israelis were killed by Hamas on October 7. In the more than six weeks since, at least 13,000 people, according to some estimates, have been killed in Gaza by the Israeli army. Fear and hatred are everywhere here.
A younger generation of Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers want to be part of the dialogue about the "day after" the war, when Israelis and Palestinians must grapple again with how to live side by side.
“We were never each other’s enemies… And yes, there is a trauma. But we have so many beautiful psychologists, you know. If we meet we heal. Only when we meet will we both sleep safe. Only when we meet will our kids dream and play in front of our eyes. Only when we meet.” That is Mai Shahin, therapist and Palestinian peace activist speaking to A Public Affair host Esty Dinur from her home in East Jerusalem/Ezariya Westbank.
Former fighters Chen Alon and Sulaiman Khatib could have found themselves on opposite sides of a battle. Instead, they joined forces to fight for peace. The latest violence has put their efforts to the test.
In January 2007, Bassam Aramin’s 10-year-old daughter was shot dead by Israeli soldiers. She had just gone out to buy sweets with her sister and two friends. Aramin was devastated.
Despite some disturbance by a group of hecklers who were kept away by police officers, the ceremony proceeded without notable incidents.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant's refusal to let bereaved Palestinian families enter Israel to participate in memorial ceremony is opposed by the attorney general