Although her daughter was killed by a Palestinian suicide-bombing attack, Israeli peace activist Nurit Peled-Elhanan is part of a group of trying to promote reconciliation among Israelis and Palestinians.
Peled-Elhanan is a member of the Families Forum, a group of bereaved Israeli and Palestinian parents, which, she once said, “does not represent anyone except for its members, who strongly believe that we have been made to pay the highest price for a war that should have ended long ago, by letting careless, not to say ruthless and cynical politicians, use the lives of our children as chips in their deadly games.”
The forum says it aims to play a crucial role in spearheading mutual understanding between Israelis and Palestinians. It hopes to get at the roots of the ongoing conflict by allowing both sides to come to terms with the consequences of escalating violence, and to change their beliefs.
While the violence of recent months suggests the difficulty of resolving this conflict, members of the Family Forum refuse to revenge their loss,” according to the group’s Web site, “and choose to reconcile at the forefront of public awareness. In doing so it will humanize both sides and will act as an example to the Israeli and Palestinian people.”
Peled-Elhanan, who is critical of the Israeli government, is slated to tour several American locations, beginning this week, with Hanan Abu-Ghosh, a Palestinian women’s advocacy specialist. Because of their shared sense of grief (Abu-Ghosh’s brother was killed by an Israeli soldier), the women bonded over the loss of immediate family members to violence in their region.
Peled-Elhanan and Abu-Ghosh say they have traveled to the United States in hopes of enlightening Americans about what they call the “reality” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“I believe that many people in America and in other regions of the world don’t know [what] happens on the ground,” Abu-Ghosh says. “People in the USA don’t know the situation in Palestine, because the media in general doesn’t reflect the [conflict from both sides]. As a Palestinian woman living under the occupation, I can speak about my experience and the suffering of the Palestinians.”
The two women are scheduled to speak this Saturday, September 30 at 3 pm at the Beneficent Church on Weybosset Street in downtown Providence. Sponsoring the event are the southern New England chapter of the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), the Rhode Island Community Coalition for Peace, the Interfaith Peace Initiative, the Rhode Island Green Party, and Rhode Island Unitarian Universalists for Social Justice. A benefit for the Middle Eastern informational program of the local AFSC chapter is slated to follow, from 5 to 8 pm at AS220 on Empire Street.
