Environmentalists from Israel and Gaza work for peace

By Anya Kamenetz
Grist
March 24, 2025

"Organizations like EcoPeace, the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies and A Land For All - all three with shared Palestinian and Israeli leadership - have been working collectively for decades toward a vision that centers fair, shared stewardship of natural resources and sustainable development as the basis of lasting peace. 

And they persevere even now… when the prevailing political messaging, according to Arava’s Barak Talmor, ‘has gotten so polarized that cultivating empathy or sympathy between the sides is increasingly challenging'…

"Despite these harsh realities, these organizations say that their shared commitment to sustainability has enabled them to keep cross-border relationships strong. This is itself a challenge when any hint of 'normalization' or Israeli-Palestinian dialogue is denigrated by what Gidon Bromberg calls 'spoilers' on both sides…

"'Every day you open your eyes, and you wonder whether you’re on the right track or not,' said Nada Majdalani, the Palestinian director of EcoPeace. 'But then, if this is not the way to do it, then what else? We don’t accept the status quo. And we need to bring out a different narrative to each other. What we all really want for us and for our children in the future is peace and stability.'"

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