Fathers on opposite sides of Israel-Palestine conflict are united in grief but travel here with message of hope
Liat Beinin Atzili, who was held hostage by Hamas, and director Brandon Kramer speak with Christiane Amanpour about documenting her family’s lives while she was in captivity for a new documentary ‘Holding Liat.’
The protest, organized by an umbrella group for Arab citizens of Israel, was scaled back after police capped participation under threat of revoking approval. Demonstrators held images of starving children in Gaza, as a police officer warned: ‘What happens in the village will not happen here in Tel Aviv’
Think of those young men and women whose lives will be changed forever, once they don that khaki uniform. We send them off with ease to a war of destruction, dehumanization and barbaric killing.
Hala Arafat cried out to be rescued from the rubble for hours; the IDF targeted anyone who tried to help. An hour away in Tel Aviv, life goes on as normal as the Air Force carries out another war crime.
While acknowledging the profound devastation and complex geopolitical realities, I contend that the persistent cycle of violence, dehumanization, and blame stems from unaddressed “root causes” of extremism and deeply entrenched binary thinking.
Acclaimed documentary Holding Liat tracks the daunting journey of a hostage family and is also a microcosm of the deeply conflicted politics behind the Israel-Palestine conflict.
A coalition of anti-war groups, including those who lost family members during the October 7 Hamas massacre, called for a hostage release deal and Gaza cease-fire in central Tel Aviv: ‘The people starving in Gaza and the hostages are on the same side’
It’s been five years since John Hume’s death, and more than 25 years since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement that brought stability and peace to the island of Ireland. It should have been an example for the world to follow in settling conflicts. And indeed, John Hume saw
After a weekend in which at least 100 people across Gaza were killed as they sought food and water – violence that elicited no formal EU response – the monarch’s message stood out.
It was a packed house for the American Friends of the Parent Circle Families Forum invitational breakfast on July 25. The forum presented a curriculum, “Listening from the Heart,” which develops meaningful exchanges designed to foster reconciliation over the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hala Arafat cried out to be rescued from the rubble for hours; the IDF targeted anyone who tried to help. An hour away in Tel Aviv, life goes on as normal as the Air Force carries out another war crime
This proved to me that it’s possible – even effective – to cooperate, even when the past is so complex and the present is bleeding, to create a sustainable future for both nations.
The cause of peace is very difficult. In fact, many people call it the “problem” of peace. It is much more difficult than war. It must be built from the ground up.
As the ensuing war in Gaza continues to claim countless lives, some Israelis and Palestinians are trying to break the cycle of violence.
Florence’s mayor, Sara Funaro, made up her mind after seeing a video of a song by Israeli singer Achinoam Nini, also known as Noa.
The Fiorino d’Oro (Golden Florin) of Florence, the Tuscan capital’s highest civic recognition, was awarded Tuesday to Bushra Awad and Robi Damelin, two women, one Palestinian and the other Israeli, united by the most heartbreaking of losses: a son killed by the violence of the conflict.
It would be understandable for anybody watching the news from Israel and Gaza and the West Bank, to perhaps think that Israelis and the Palestinians are deadly enemies who all hate each other. This is of course simply not true.
“There are no victors in this war,” HaLev says near the end of the movie. “We have all already lost.”
Hamas held Liat Beinin Atzili hostage for 54 days and killed her husband. In her grief, she explains why all she wants is peace for Israelis and Palestinians.
Vivian Silver’s sons speak out about the past 611 days | Canadian Jewish News Chen and Yonatan Zeigen recently visited Toronto for a celebration of their mother Vivian Silver’s life and mission.
Yonatan Zeigen, who lost his mother Vivian Silver in the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas-led attack in southern Israel, says his goal in life is to decrease the overall pain and suffering in the region – not to avenge the murder of his mother.
At midday on April 29, the eve of Memorial Day, a message inviting the masses to take part in an urgent demonstration was disseminated via social media, under the heading: “We won’t allow the supporters of terrorism to meet in Ra’anana.”
Yonatan Zeigen’s mother was an Israeli Canadian peace activist, Vivian Silver. She was murdered at her home on the 7th of October 2023. That incident woke Yonatan from what he calls a political coma.
Dozens of Jewish philanthropists from around the world have written to Israel’s Foreign Minister protesting legislation designed to limit international funding of human rights organisations.
The 20th Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony for peace and reconciliation took place on Tuesday 28 April and contained deeply moving contributions from a number of bereaved family members from both Israeli and Arab communities, who have suffered grievous losses due to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Bassam Aramin, a Palestinian who lives in the West Bank, and Rami Elhanan, a resident of Jerusalem and Israeli citizen, are two men predestined to hate each other. Instead, they were united through the unimaginable — the death of a child.
Peace activist tirelessly promotes dialog between Israelis and Palestinians — and protests the Netanyahu government, which she holds accountable for her soldier son’s death on Oct. 7
Last week, thousands of Israelis and Palestinians — along with viewers around the world — came together to remember, grieve, and call for peace.
For NGOs working with Israelis and Palestinians, the war has not only meant unprecedented need for their aid and expertise, but also harsh blows to their funding and legitimacy. This is what’s really at stake for civil society in the crosshairs of the Trump administration and Netanyahu’s government
Rami Elhanan i Bassam Aramin: “When you know the enemy, you discover that he is exactly like you.” Ara Losing a daughter at the hands of the enemy. This is what brought together Israeli Rami Elhanan (Jerusalem, 1950) and Palestinian Bassam Aramin (Sair, West Bank, 1969).
There are two feelings, some might say traits, that are hard to come by when countries are in a state of war: empathy and sympathy.
After extremists disrupt Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony, Herzog speaks with Reform rabbi to express solidarity and urge national unity.
The local Likud party branch in Ra’anana organized a demonstration against the Remembrance Day event.
Facing both October 7 and Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, bereaved families sought to make space for shared grief — and insist on a different path forward.
Despite advance warning that right-wing activists were planning to protest outside the ceremony, there was only a small police force, including only one patrol car, when the violence began
With many bereaved families from the Gaza war, several have joined the Israeli-Palestinian Forum. Many will attend online, as the joint Memorial Day ceremony – held at a secret location due to far-right threats – seeks to show that Israelis and Palestinians can share both pain – and hope
Controversial joint Israeli-Palestinian event honoring the slain on both sides continues to grow, even in the shadow of the October 7 massacre and ongoing war in Gaza
I write these words from the deepest pain a human being can endure. Over the past year, I’ve lost 160 members of my extended family – men, women and children. All of them were civilians.
Rami Elhanan is Israeli, and Bassam Aramin is Palestinian. They live near each other but exist in separate worlds.
Around 23% said that friends or family members tried to convince them to cease their peace work, and 22% cited military restrictions as a major hindrance.
Feminism has long celebrated the victories of “firsts” – the first woman to lead, to land a spacecraft, to break barriers built by patriarchy. These are not small feats. But what happens when feminism becomes fluent in ambition and silent in agony?
For 20 years two Israeli-Palestinian groups have observed this solemn day by sharing their loss and their dreams and hopes for Peace.
Christiane Amanpour speaks with Israeli activist Rami Elhanan and Palestinian activist Bassam Aramin, who both lost their young daughters in separate incidents, on their commitment to each other and the striving for peace.
Israeli and Palestinian members of the Parents Circle, which brings together families who have lost loved ones in the conflict, spoke at the JCCSF on April 9.
Frontiers of Prevention engages community through poignant testimonies, urgent discussions and global cooperation
Rami Elhanan is Israeli and Bassam Aramin is Palestinian. They live close to each other but exist in separate worlds.
A Palestinian mother who lost her son and an Israeli daughter who lost her parents to the decades-long conflict between their nations shared their stories Monday night, urging peace, reconciliation and understanding.
A Palestinian mother who lost her son and an Israeli daughter who lost her parents to the decades-long conflict between their nations shared their stories Monday night, urging peace, reconciliation and understanding.
The weekend saw seven panel discussions. The Nadia Rubaii Memorial Prize was awarded to Robi Damelin and Sima Mohammed Awad of the Israeli-Palestinian peace group Parents Circle-Familes Forum.
I-GMAP to host annual Frontiers of Prevention conference this weekend | BU Pipe Dream This year’s Nadia Rubaii Memorial Prize, which was created in 2023 to honor one of the institute’s late co-founders, will be awarded to the “Parents Circle — Families Forum,” an Israeli-Palestinian peace organization.
Javier Bardem Signs Letter by Bereaved Israeli, Palestinian Fathers Urging End to “Bloody Conflict” | Hollywood Reporter The plea for a return to negotiations and a possible ceasefire in Gaza by Rami Elhanan and Bassam Aramin was published in the Spanish newspaper El Pais.
We are the ones who have paid the heaviest price through those who lost their children in this bloody conflict. We lost our daughters, Smadar Elhanan, 14 years old, and Abeer Aramin, 10 years old, due to the ongoing Israeli occupation.
There are Israelis and Palestinians who reject this kind of cruelty and inhumanity. There is even a group of bereaved Israeli and Palestinian parents who have each lost a child in the violence, and they say they don’t want any new members.
Demonstrators in London urge UK leaders and Jewish community figures to break their silence as calls for peace grow louder
“There is another way. We want reconciliation. We want an end to the occupation. So this is co-resisting together, the system everybody’s caught up in and there are so many synagogues who are also involved in this”
Before Nita Lowey died, Donald Trump eviscerated the $250M Middle East peace fund named for her | Cleveland Jewish News All of the peace-building groups supported through the MEPPA fund have had their grants canceled amid the Trump administration’s slashing of USAID, the United States’ civilian foreign aid agency, and
We must create programs where Israeli studies and Palestinian studies are explored in entwined fashion, to reflect the lived experience of people on the ground.
Last year I attended a presentation in Palo Alto by two bereaved mothers, one Palestinian, the other Israeli. Each had lost a child in the many years of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict.
Israeli Maoz Inon and Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah, who attended the “Arena of Peace” event in the northern Italian city of Verona in May 2024, where they received the personal embrace and the support of Pope Francis, speak of their shared vision of peace.
I am Kholoud Houshiya and I live in the village of Al Yamun near Jenin. Originally my family is from Haifa. I wasn’t able to experience childhood due to the occupation, which forcibly displaced my family to Jenin under oppression and humiliation.
Later, I married and I gave birth to my first child, whom I named Mohammed. I raised him with all my love and effort.
Mohammed was a young man who loved life dearly, and he loved me even more. He was both my son and my friend, thanks to our close bond.
Mohamad was 23 years old. He worked in Israel and helped his father.
On January 2, 2024 Mohamed took a picture of the Israeli army tearing down my neighbor’s house. The army thought otherwise and they shot him. Just because he was Palestinian.
I always dreamed of seeing my son as a groom, just like any mother. But now, I am left with him buried in my garden. I had hoped to see him, his wife, and his children in my house, but now, every day, I look at his grave from the window in my room.
My message to the world is this: Enough. Enough killing, enough injustice, enough destruction, enough oppression. Enough violence on both sides.
It is not easy for a mother to recount the story of her son’s death—the pain is indescribable. I cannot bear the loss of another child. This is why we must raise the voice of the mothers for a better future for all children and young generations – Palestinians and Israelis.
I am Hala Al-Bukhari, living in Jerusalem.
My daughter, my sister and her large family, children and grandchildren live in Gaza. Despite the distance, before the war, I used to communicate with them daily, checking on their health via video call.
On the morning of October 7th, my son told me to watch TV to see what was happening in southern Israel. From that day, fear has overwhelmed my heart.
Then came the morning of October 18th, bringing the harsh news: My sister’s house was bombed, and she, her husband, her children, and grandchildren were in the house—33 innocent lives lost in this horrific massacre. Since then, my fear for my daughter has grown. I have pleaded with human rights organizations, seeking any means to get her out of the hell of war and the horror of the massacres. Eventually we succeeded to get my daughter out of Gaza.
With every word I write, I struggle to express the extent of my pain. Our hearts bleed with grief for those we have lost and continue to lose. Our sorrow is profound, and our souls yearn for the peace we all dream of.
Let us all live in peace and build a better future for our children. War brings only destruction and ruin to everyone involved, whether Palestinian or Israeli. It is always the innocent people who suffer the most.
I am Liat Atzili from Kibbutz Nir Oz.
My partner, Aviv and I built a life and a family in Nir Oz. We were an inseparable part of this little community, which fulfilled our aspirations and needs. Mine as an educator, and Aviv’s as a farmer and an artist.
On October 7th, our kibbutz was attacked, conquered, and destroyed by Hamas. A quarter of the residents were either killed or kidnapped, including me. The time I spent as a hostage in Gaza was of complete despair, unending fear for my friends and family, and long days. I was nervous that I wouldn’t survive.
After 54 days in captivity, I was returned home. The following day, my family and I were told that Aviv was killed on October 7th. Aviv had hundreds of friends, he traveled and created, and made the most of every opportunity; he truly loved life.In his final year, Aviv fulfilled many dreams, the greatest being to share his art publicly. While managing the kibbutz’s agricultural garage, he painted on tractor parts and scrap metal, blending his love for metals and the Negev fields into his creations. Our children looked up to him and I feel like I had the greatest privilege to share my life with him.
I always believed that war is not our destiny, and that any conflict, including ours, can be solved. This war has proven to me beyond a doubt that we cannot continue fighting, that we have no right to impose the continued suffering of war on future generations on either side. I am ready today, more than ever, to do everything in my power so that our children can live here in peace and security.
I am Mazen from Bethlehem. Many of my family members live in Beit Lahiya, Gaza. They lived in a beautiful house and went on about their lives, despite the siege.
It all stopped on October 10, 2024, when, my uncle, his three sons, and his son-in-law were outside near the house. Israeli aircraft targeted them with bombardment and gunfire. My aunt managed to bring their bodies into the house. With trembling hands, she was forced to gather what remained of them, unable for over a week to lay her husband and three sons to rest.
I cannot believe that so many of my family are dead, and that I cannot go there to help them and cry with them.
The depth of pain in Gaza is beyond description and cannot be fathomed by the human mind. How much longer will this hatred on both sides continue? How much longer will we endure this nightmare? All the Palestinian people desire is a dignified life free from occupation—a fundamental right, just like that of any other people in the world.
The suffering will not cease until we collectively seek pathways to peace and understanding. Revenge will not forge a shared future; we must strive to find common ground and solidarity. Let us unite for a brighter future for the generations to come, and let us raise our voices for peace, so that together we may end this cycle of violence and finally live in safety and harmony.
