Youth are giving up on peace. Can we fix that?

By Laura E. Adkins
The Forward
December 15, 2023

"The polarization of Israeli and Palestinian millennials doesn't represent a foreboding future, but a terrifying present. 

"If we want to reverse the trend of radicalization, we cannot just talk about it. Instead of lamenting and making broad gestures toward peace and stamping out extremism, we have to provide actual alternatives...

“It might fuel our righteous indignation to point out the extremism in other
communities. But it is our absolute duty to stamp out extremism and nihilism
in our own. In order to do that, we must do much more than broadly gesture
toward "diplomatic agreements." 

“It is simultaneously true that there are no leaders on either side ready to rise to that challenge and that it is our obligation to find and cultivate them...

"'Palestinians we have engaged online who currently live in the West Bank and
Gaza have indicated that they cannot continue with us until the situation improves,' Heart of a Nation CEO Jonathan Kessler, whose organization brings young American, Palestinian and Israeli leaders together in regular
dialogue, wrote in a recent newsletter.

“‘Palestinians living, working and studying abroad, however, would like to expand their participation in our online sessions; that is also true for Palestinian and Bedouin citizens of Israel.'

"The idea that the next hope for peace, too, could emerge outside of the heart of the conflict, is not a pipe dream."

About Heart of a Nation

Empowering the next generation of American, Israeli, and Palestinian change-makers to embrace better, together.

אנחנו מכנסים הוגים מובילים, פעילים חברתיים, ומחוללי שינוי לעתיד, אמריקאים, ישראלים ופלסטינאים, המחויבים לשיפור החברות שלהם.

نحن أمريكيون وإسرائيليون وفلسطينيون نبني ونكوّن روابط من أجل التعلم والتفكير والمشاركة معًا حتى نشجع الحلول التقدمية بشأن القضايا التي تهمنا جميعًا.