Peace activism in Israel

Peace activism is about promoting peace resulting from right human relations in a spirit of goodwill, understanding that without justice there can’t be a lasting peace.

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A nation that occupies another nation
will never be free

“They don’t understand that 7 million Israelis are living here, and aren’t going anywhere, and a lot of Israelis don’t know that the 7 million Palestinians [in Israel and the territories] are not going anywhere either,” he [Rafael] said. “The only way forward is together.”

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Human rights activist Ziv Stahl, executive director of the human rights organization Yesh Din, says she is not calling for revenge over what happened that day nor is she taking a pacifist position on Israel’s ensuing war in Gaza against Hamas. “I am not saying ceasefire at any cost,” she said. “Israel has a right to defend itself and protect Israeli citizens,” she explained, but not indiscriminately or at the cost of thousands of Palestinian lives.

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Maoz Inon, co-owner of a hostel in Tel Aviv, told CNN he became a peace activist a week after his parents were killed in the October 7 attack. In that moment, he realized that “peace is the only thing that can bring security to everyone living in between the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea,” he said.

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Israeli American Elana Kaminka told CNN that her 20-year-old son Yannai was killed as he heroically defended Zikim training base near the border with Gaza.

The grief she feels for the loss of her son is all encompassing. She has struggled to write or continue with her volunteer work, which includes supporting victims of racist violence and transporting unwell Palestinian children to Israeli hospitals.

Kaminka does not have a clear position on the war and, like Stahl, says there are huge security concerns at play, especially when more than 100 hostages remain in Gaza. What she is certain of is that, in the long-term, Jewish-Palestinian coexistence is the only way forward.

If Israelis “really understood what was happening in the territories – the actual practical meaning of the occupation – I think their opinions would be different” … “And for Palestinians, also, it’s very easy to demonize Israelis and every Israeli soldier as a horrible person. It is super easy to live in a bubble where you don’t have any interaction with the other side.”

While pointing to the Palestinian village she used to visit, she said: “We have to find a way to build a common society that feels fair and feels just to as many people as possible.”

Source:

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Political Zionism Is Racism

Anti Zionism Is NOT Anti Semitism