Israel/Palestine: Combatants for Peace newsletter, February 2019

2019 begun for us with a series of new activities. House meetings with Israel & Palestinian youth, planting olive trees in endangered Palestinian villages, educational tours in Palestine and a new show presented by our theater group have kept us busy in the last weeks. On the Israeli side, politicians are already campaigning for the upcoming Israeli elections, and we now have a critical window of opportunity. We plan to reach larger audiences in the coming weeks and hope to spread the message of walking down the path of justice, dignity and peace for everyone living in this land.

Internationally: our longstanding members Michal and Osama will come to the US(more info below) and in May, we invite you to join a group to travel to Israel and Palestine to meet with us! We would be happy about your attendance at the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Day Ceremony 2019! There are only 3 days left to register!

And, as always, we want to thank you for your ongoing support. Without such an amazing community of supporters we would not be able to do what we do. Shukran and Toda Raba! Please don’t stop, we need you (Donate now!).

In peace,

shalom & salam,

Combatants for Peace

Updates from the field

Confronting the army with nonviolence Last week we went to the area of Beit Ummar, between Jerusalem and Hebron. This as a place, where Palestinians are being continuously confronted with settler and army violence. More and more illegal Israeli outposts are built in this area. When we arrived the plan was to plant olive trees with locals living there. But we have been greeted with tear gas by the Israeli army. Non-violence won, we planted trees and created a different reality once more.

 

“Personal Stories” – new Theater show We marked the first performance of the CfP Theater Group in 2019 with the title: “Personal Stories”. The Combatants for Peace theater group has been trained in “Theater of the Oppressed” an interactive modality founded by Augusto Boal,which uses theater as a form of education and activism. They performed in Talita Kumi, just outside of Bethlehem.

 

Rabbinical Students join us in Hamra Two weeks ago, Israeli settlers uprooted dozens of olive trees belonging to Palestinian farmers. We came in solidarity to replant, together with our partners from “Rabbis for Human Rights” as well as a group of rabbinical students from the US.

 

Youth meetings & tours Every week we meet with several groups of “Mechinot” students – 17 and 18 year-old Israeli teens who are in preparation programs for their mandatory army service. We want to provide a different view of the reality in our both countries, about the occupation and ways forward. For many, this is their first (and only) opportunity to hear the story of a Palestinian before entering the West Bank as a soldier at a checkpoint.