Bassam Aramin and Rami Elhanan became ‘brothers’ due to the most painful loss of their daughters at different times due to the intractable Israel and Palestine conflict.
Bassam Aramin, Palestinian, and Rami Elhanan, Israeli, are members of The Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF), families whose lives have been upended due to tragedy. However, instead of giving into hate, each member has worked to understand and listen to the other side. They have become friends and advocate constantly for solidarity and peace in their land.
Luxembourg hosts the Festival des Migrations this weekend, and will showcase the documentary film, ‘The Narrow Bridge’, written, directed and produced by Esther Takac in 2022. This film features the stories of Rami and Bassam, Meytal and Bushra who have all lost loved ones. Their hope, as a group of bereaved families, is to catalyse communities to stop the senseless killing on both sides.
Bassam and Rami have been invited to Luxembourg once more by Martine Kleinberg, the President of Jewish Call for Peace. They were here previously in 2018.
JCP a small association founded in 2021, to give Luxembourg a different Jewish voice on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to fight against anti-Semitic stereotypes and prejudices, especially when linked to the conflict in Israel-Palestine.
The Parents Circle – Families Forum PCFF aims to lay a path towards a reconciliation process on how to live together in peace with equal respect for one another.
My guests
Bassam Aramin lost his 10 years old daughter Abir on the 16th January 2007. She was killed by an Israeli border policemen in front of her school in Anata, East Jerusalem.
Rami Elhanan is a 7th generation Jerusalemite. He lost his daughter Smadar on her first day of the school year in September 1997, aged just 14. Two Palestinian suicide bombers murdered 5 people that day, of which three were girls aged 14.
Previous interviews
You can listen to my poignant interivew with Dr. Izzeldine Abuelaish here from November 2020.
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