PALESTINE LOVES ISRAEL
by Joujou
With the Israel-loves-Iran movement, a communication line in the middle east was opening…
Quickly, other pages appeared, taking the idea and pushing it forward. One of them was Palestine-loves-Israel, founded by Joujou, a palestinian living in Germany. Inspired by Ronny Edry, Joujou opened a platform of her own, dealing with an even harder conflict: the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that has lasted for over 60 years now.
Understanding that Peace can only be achieved by understanding the other side, Joujou created Palestine-loves-Israel in order to build a bridge between the two people that have been mistrusting each other for so long. On pages like Palestine-loves-Israel and Israel-loves-Palestine, created by the Israeli Noa, Arabs and Israelis find a platform to really get into conversation with someone from “the other side”.
Soon the pages filled with people from Israel, Palestine and all over the world, getting to know each other. With sharing their stories, talking to each other and discussing the Arab-Israeli conflict, more and more people from both sides became friends during the process.
While some find it hard to say “We love you” to people that they were taught to mistrust and even hate, they still can heal their wounds just by getting to know each other better. On Yom Kippur day, the Jewish day of atonement, we say “sorry” to each other, showing each other that we see each other’s traumas, each other’s pain and each other’s fear.
When facing another war in Gaza in November 2012 thousands of people from Israel and Palestine were already holding hands virtually, standing up against this war and showing the world, that they would remain friends, no matter what. While bombs and rockets were falling, people flooded the page, caring for each other, offering help and grieving together. And we showed our faces. Now, more than ever, we stood up and demanded peace.
Never before had there been such a bridge between the two people that enabled them to communicate in such a way.
After this experience, Joujou, Ronny and Michal decided to meet in Tel Aviv to push forward the Peace Factory and create a Think Tank for creative ideas for peace. We’ve really become friends in this process, sharing the same vision: Peace in the middle east.
All this happened just by opening new lines of communication in the virtual world, just by standing up and saying “We love you” to the people on the other side of the fence.
Yet, it’s still a long way to go and we realized that it’s up to us, the people of the Middle East, to make a change. Peace won’t come with more propaganda, mistrust or suppression. Peace will come when we, the people, are reaching out to each other.
We don’t need another war of “self-defense” – we need to recognize each other’s traumas. We don’t need more propaganda of hateful extremists, we need to get to know each other. We don’t need mistrust, fear or hate, we need understanding, compassion and friendship. We don’t need more borders, we need to understand that we are ALL ONE.
OUR VISION
The way to make peace is by reaching out and seeing each other as human beings again. The people of the Middle East are ready for peace and we’re ready to take the steering wheel in our own hands. The time has come to stand up and raise our voices together, calling out for peace.
Our vision is a free and democratic Middle East with open borders so that economies can prosper. With freedom and democracy so that creativity can grow. With autonomy and stable countries where every nation has it’s place to develop so that we can feel safe and free as neighbors and friends.
That is our vision. Our strategy: building bridges and creating friendships. Our forces: The thousands of people from both sides, that reach out to each other, sharing the same vision.
PEACE it’s VIRAL
PEACE starts with the people, one person at a time. Today it’s easier than ever to connect and reach out to one another. We can talk, we can meet, and we can start a new friendship without even leaving our homes just by the click of a button. One new person, One new connection. Peace is when we see and treat each other as people. All we have to do is talk.
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