Peacebuilding in Times of War and Trauma
By Doubi Schwartz
Director of Membership Relations, Alliance for Middle East Peace
Palestine-Israel Journal
Vol 29, No. 3&4, 2025
"…how can one speak of reconciliation when the wounds are so fresh and so deep?
"…trauma and asymmetry profoundly shape - and limit - the discourse and cooperation between Palestinian and Israeli societies. Peace organizations are therefore required to respond with sensitivity at both the conceptual and practical levels...
"This affects every aspect of peace organizations’ action strategies and ethics: Is now the right time to speak of long-term goals like peace? Is it permissible to acknowledge the suffering of the other side? Many view such questions as attempts to silence difficult truths, while others see them as premature or even dangerous…
"Despite these obstacles, organizations have upheld core principles: that joint peace work must begin with recognizing the humanity of the other and affirming equality - at both interpersonal and collective levels. From there, organizations pursue diverse strategies in different fields of action…
"Some organizations emphasize immediate goals; others maintain long-term horizons…
"Long-term peace building cannot be dismissed, even in a state of emergency. Without political vision, there is no hope — and activists felt compelled to articulate one themselves, with a roadmap of actions…"
The Alliance for Middle East Peace (ALLMEP) leads a growing network of over 180 civil society organizations, with hundreds of thousands of Palestinians and Israelis living and working in the region. Our work advances cooperation, trust, justice, equality, mutual understanding, and peace within and between these communities. https://www.allmep.org
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.
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