Thousands Gather for Israeli-Palestinian Peace
By Linda Dayan
Ha'aretz
July 2, 2024
"…Screens on either side of the stage provided English, Arabic and Hebrew subtitles for the speakers, and sign language interpreters translated the Hebrew and Arabic as it was spoken. In one video presented to the crowd, former generals and security officials endorsed peace as the only viable path to safety; in another, Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem gave their blessing to the event…
"Maoz Inon, whose parents were killed in the Hamas-led massacre on October 7, was one of the key organizers of the rally. 'On my journey, I learned that hope isn't something you lose, or something you find, or something that you wait for until it finds you. Hope is something you make,' he told the crowd…
"Rula Hardal, a Palestinian from Peki'in who now lives in Ramallah, presented a dire forecast: She said that she and the Jewish activists she shared the stage with may have different opinions on particular issues, but they have a commonality. We all share the same space between the Jordan River and the sea, that we, Palestinians and Israelis, Jews and Arabs, call a homeland,' she said 'But this homeland is bleeding. Spirits of vengeance and bloodshed hover over it, and if we don't stop it now, we'll all be on the way to collective suicide'…
"Another young leader was Josh Drill, an expat from New Jersey who found his way to activism after serving as an IDF officer in Hebron: 'We cannot accept this cycle of bloodshed, we cannot accept the current reality. It's just not livable for anyone. And I think that the clear understanding that the Israelis and Palestinians are here to stay, no one is going anywhere. We need to understand how we can live amongst ourselves as Israelis, and also Israelis and Palestinians. Because if we don't, the cycle of bloodshed will just continue and more lives will be lost'…
"'War isn't a law of nature – it is a human choice,' said Prof. Yuval Noah Harari in his keynote speech. 'And at any moment, it is possible to make a different choice, and start to make peace. True, we have tried to make peace in the past, and we weren't good at it. So what? We haven't been that good at making war, either, which doesn't prevent us from making another one, and another one. All these wars have led us to the abyss. It's time to give peace another chance'"
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