The organization “Combatants for Peace” advocates for reconciliation between Israel and the Palestinians. Representatives are currently traveling through Germany and speaking to students.
A Palestinian and an Israeli talk about peace, calling for reconciliation and a move away from violence. This has been anything but a given, not just since Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on October 7th.
For the Palestinian Osama Eliwat and the Israeli Rotem Levin it is the only solution. They belong to the activist group “Combatants for Peace” (CfP). They are convinced that only through dialogue and empathy can a solution to the conflict between Palestinians and Israelis be found.
That’s why the two men now stand in front of students in the 11th and 12th grades of a Bremen high school and talk about the deep-rooted prejudices they grew up with.
Since 2006 for reconciliation
“Even as a little boy, I knew that if I wanted to protect my family and fellow human beings and be accepted and loved by the community, I had to join the army,” says Levin. But during his three years in the Israeli army he began to have doubts. After compulsory military service, he began to advocate for understanding.
“Combatants for Peace” consists almost exclusively of people who fought on one of the two sides before becoming involved in peace. The organization has been campaigning for reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians since 2006.
Eliwat grew up in Jerusalem and tells how he and his family were harassed by the Israeli army: “I grew up very afraid of the soldiers. Over time, fear turned into hatred. I saw soldiers beating my teachers, my father. And I wanted revenge.”
The Palestinian Osama Eliwat and the Israeli Rotem Levin want a move away from violence.
There is also criticism
It wasn’t until Eliwat was invited to dinner in Bethlehem by a friend that he had real conversations with Israelis for the first time. He then learned Hebrew and organized tours for Israelis to Palestinian areas to show them the conditions under which many people live there.
“I realized that my point of view is not the only one. My story is not the only one. I realized that I cannot expect other people to understand me if I don’t empathize with them,” says Eliwat.
But there is also criticism of “Combatants for Peace”. The Israel-affiliated organization “NGO Monitor” accuses CfP of taking a one-sided view of the decades-old conflict. In his lecture, Eliwat speaks a lot about Israel as an occupying power and about the Nakba, in German: the catastrophe. This is about the Palestinians’ accusation against Israel of having driven around 700,000 people from their homeland in 1948.
The expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Jews from Arab states is not mentioned in the lecture. The attack by Arab countries on Israel in 1948 – just one day after its founding – is also not mentioned.
Students in the 11th and 12th grades of a Bremen high school listen to Osama Eliwat and Rotem Levin.
Different perspectives
Teacher Nora Laux organized the visit. Her goal is for the students to become more open. “That they listen to perspectives that they don’t initially like.” That seems to have been successful: “I may no longer see the whole thing as politically as before. And I will think more about the people,” says a student after the conversation with Eliwat and Levin.
The two men had planned their speaking tour long before the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7th. If the situation in Gaza does not calm down, they want to continue appearing publicly. Because now their commitment to peace is more necessary than ever.