"War has broken out between Israel and Iran. [...] At the same time, #Gaza continues to starve and the #WestBank remains under military lockdown. Fear is deepening, trust is unraveling, and it’s getting harder to know what to believe, let alone how to stay hopeful. But through all of it, people are still showing up — organizing, resisting, and refusing to give in to the logic of violence.
Even as bombs fall across Israel, Palestine, and Iran, and the headlines move on to new horrors, we refuse to look away from #Gaza. That’s exactly what this moment of chaos is designed to achieve — to make the world forget. But we won’t. The forced starvation hasn’t stopped. The killings haven’t stopped. The violence continues.
This weekend, our colleagues attended the Paris Peace Summit with a message that felt more urgent than ever: Palestinians and Israelis can, and do, stand together. Our Executive Directors, Rana and Eszter, represented that joint voice — not as symbols, but as real people deeply rooted in this work. They traveled to Paris to speak for those who are suffering, those without a voice, and for those who are working for peace in the hardest conditions imaginable.
Now, with flights grounded and regional airspace closed, Eszter is stranded abroad, unable to return to her home in Israel or to her young children. And Rana, who is sadly used to severely restricted freedom of movement, is unable to return to Palestine via Amman, until flights begin to operate again. This is not symbolic. It’s the real, human cost paid by those working for peace.
While others choose vengeance, our peacebuilders choose connection — even when it means separation from their families, safety, and stability. They make these sacrifices not out of naivety, but out of deep conviction: that a different future is still possible, if we have the courage to fight for it together."
#CombatantsForPeace