On that horrible morning of October 7, just as the first news reports came in, messages started to appear on the “Combatants for Peace Binational Leadership” WhatsApp group. Ahmad wrote, “I’m stuck now between my family in Gaza and my friends in Israel. I pray for them to be safe. I worry about them.” Then, Moran responded,

“I worry about my family that lives near Gaza and your family in Gaza. I wish this stupid bloody cycle would end already”.

No doubt, October 7, and the long, bloody war that followed it, shook us all to the core. But “Combatants for Peace” (hereafter: CfP), a movement founded on 2006 by former Israeli and Palestinian combatants, already had 20 years of experience choosing and re-choosing non-violent action in an extremely violent reality, which helped us come back to our senses faster than others, and eventually not only survive it, but even grow from this rift.

16 months later, discussing rebuilding trust couldn’t be more relevant. As conflict zones grow and intensify around the globe (by two thirds since 2021, topping 6 million km2, as reported in the latest Conflict Intensity Index (CII)), I hope the experience gathered by Combatants for Peace during this turbulent time, will be at service for peace activists, academics and development professionals working to rehabilitate affected communities worldwide.

Already the following morning, 8.10.23, the movement’s leaders organized a series of activists’ online meetings. Starting in uni-national groups, moving on to a bi-national forum, the intention was to create a space for both peoples to express their pain and anger openly. What saved these conversations from explosion was insisting on talking “emotions” rather than “opinions” or “facts” (which were still very much unknown), and having both Israeli and Palestinian leaders facilitating the talks and setting the boundaries for their community members when needed.

It does not mean there were no moments of crisis or breaches of trust, but the long years of trust-building and friendship allowed us to hold unprecedentedly fragile, open talks. It was the first time since the movement was founded that Israeli activists expressed feelings of hatred and revenge towards the Palestinians, but also a space for the Palestinian activists to admit the spontaneous joy they felt witnessing those first images of Gazans crossing the fence, before the dimensions of the horrors sunk in. It was the first time the Israelis experienced what it feels like to be victims of a massacre, and the first time the Palestinians were in the shoes of the brutal perpetrators.

It was a punch in the face, but also the sharpest reminder to how similar and connected we all are, to the fact that no one is actually immune to this conflict’s heavy toll. And as the Palestinian activists of CfP have never given up on this partnership- not when their land was taken, not when delayed for hours or humiliated at checkpoints, not when they couldn’t leave their houses under military curfew, not when they lost family members in the violent routine of the occupation- this was the Israelis’ turn to remember that it’s in these moments of crisis that our values are standing to the test. We overcame fear and arranged a binational face-to-face activists meeting early in November 2023 in Beit Jala.

"It was a punch in the face, but also the sharpest reminder to how similar and connected we all are, to the fact that no one is actually immune to this conflict’s heavy toll"

In their study from this exact time, November 2023, “Trends in Jewish and Arab relations in Israel following the Iron Swords War”, Achord Research Center found that since the outbreak of the war, both Jews and Palestinian citizens of Israel felt a heightened sense of threat, fuelled by misconceptions that the other side is interested in violence, despite both sides actually being opposed to it.

The study therefore recommends maintaining daily, even casual, encounters between the members of the two groups, in order to break these misconceptions and reduce concerns about the other group and the perception of the threat. While the study focuses on the relations between Jews and Arabs within Israel, we can assume that between Israeli Jews and Palestinians the mutual fear and misconceptions are even stronger, as separation, alienation and lack of acquaintance are much higher, and therefore the importance of encounters between the two groups increases. As most casual interactions between Israelis and Palestinians take place under very clear power dynamics, when the Israeli is either a soldier or a settler, the activities that CfP are organizing are invaluable.

And indeed, since that first face-toface meeting in November 2023, CfP kept insisting on meeting each other- on zoom too, but more and more frequently at binational staff meetings in the Beit Jala office, and soon after- in any way possible:

On joint demonstrations calling to end the war, demanding safety, equality and freedom for all; On binational solidarity fieldwork at the West Bank- rebuilding water channels that collect rainfall at the arid Jordan Valley, harvesting olives with farmers who the military regime prevents from accessing their lands, planting new trees instead of those uprooted by settlers or the army; At joint weekend seminars,where the activists had the time and space to openly discuss their pain, anger, hope and despair, to ask tough questions and answer honestly without fear or judgement, to unwind, to laugh.

As movement restrictions on Palestinians increased, CfP looked for new, creative locations in area C where both peoples could stay; As the army forces’ brutality grew- female activists took the lead and front at potentially tense protests and field activities, and mediated in explosive situations to de-escalate and keep everyone safe. New educational activities were launched to reach wider, more “unconvinced” audiences, along with those feeling lonelier than ever in the current social climate and looking for a community to engage with: a unique program for religious Jewish youth, an in-depth activism training program, and many posts, online webinars and talks with local and international audience, voicing messages of co-resistance and hope for change in a world that was splitting into “Pro-Palestine” vs. “Pro-Israel”, at the expense of both peoples. And maybe most notably,  we insisted on holding the 19th yearly Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony (together with the Bereaved Families Forum), commemorating the Palestinian and Israeli recent victims of the 7/10 massacre and the war on Gaza, focusing on children, stressing the unbelievable shared pain and loss and calling to end the bloody cycle of violence for our shared humanity and shared future.