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"You are the reason I came to this tour. The fact that you guys - Nur and Tuly - Palestinians and Israelis are on the ground working hand in hand
gives me hope..."
( feedback from a tour participant from Australia)
Combatants for Peace has been busy, as usual, the past few weeks in Israel and Palestine |
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Hi, Friend!
The biggest event of the year, the Joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony is behind us, and we are back to daily life - and daily protesting against the occupation. Summer is here, and it is hot, Israel is preparing for another round of elections. We, as always, are out on the ground to care for the oppressed's voices and lives. Our newsletter below highlights our recent events and activities. We would love you to join us! Join the Israeli-Palestinian peace camp and become a true agent for change. We'd love to hear from you about your ideas and dreams. Please, be in touch!
In Peace & Solidarity, from Israel and Palestine, Combatants for Peace |
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| What we have done in the last month: |
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Reaching 2000 young people!
In the 2018/19 school year
We
are proud to say that we close a very successful scolastic year of
meetings with Mechinot. Mechinot are year-long preparatory programmes
for youth before the army, open for all walks of society. Meeting with
these young people is crucial as for some of them this is the first time
to meet a Palestinian - or even a left-wing Israeli. Shaping their view
is a key to make a change. In the 2018/19 school year we met 1500 youth
from pre-army programmes, and another 400 from high schools. |
| | Meeting for new members
A seminar designed to reach out to those that are interested in joining the movement
After
our Joint Memorial Ceremony in May, we hosted a day-long ‘New Members
Meeting,’ introducing many new faces to our movement. Several dozen
people attended this meeting, and many of these have since joined our
regional groups in Israel and Palestine, as new CfP members. |
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Eye-opening in Bethlehem
Tour to the Bethlehem area
Many Israelis have no idea about the reality of the occupation, or the experience of those living under it. We offer tours to Qalandia, Bethlehem, Hebron, and many other ‘hot spots’ in order to educate Israelis and open people’s minds and hearts. We ask the difficult questions: where are settlements expanding? Is there any legal recourse for Palestinians whose homes are demolished? What does it mean to live in "C-Area"? And, most importantly, what can we do to show solidarity, express support and help affected Palestinian communities and effectively & nonviolently resist the occupation? The tours are eye openers for many Israelis, and many decide afterwards to join our movement!
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Tours for internationals
We organised several tours for international groups. The biggest event was definetely a group of international theraphysts from all over the World that joined us on a tour at Salfit and Qalqiliya in the northern West Bank.
The tour included villages such as Azzun al-Atma, Deir Istiya, Deir
Balut, Marda and Kifl Hares where participants met the reality of the
occupation, and two members from our movement shared their personal
transformational history with them. Some of the feedbacks we got:
When I see what is going on here in Palestinian places I ask myself
about my automatic support for Israel. Support that I used to, as a jew
to give blindly ( USA) I ask myself about the parents. How can you be A parent here in both Israel and Palestine ( Mexico) |
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Demonstrations and demolitions...
We are there on the ground wherever we can support
Our Central group met families that their homes and animal shelters were demolished recently. They help them with plans and volunteer work, so they can rebuild their properties. We organized several demonstrations protesting the seige on Gaza (including one at Eurovision).And our activists in the Jordan Valley have been walking with Shepherds, on an almost-daily basis, protecting them from violence. |
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