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Recently I discovered a movement created by Palestinian and Israeli ex-combatants who have joined forces to fight for peace. Their organization is called Combatants for Peace.

From their website:

WHO ARE WE?
The “Combatants for Peace” movement was started jointly by Palestinians and Israelis, who have taken an active part in the cycle of violence; Israelis as soldiers in the Israeli army (IDF) and Palestinians as part of the violent struggle for Palestinian freedom. After brandishing weapons for so many years, and having seen one another only through weapon sights, we have decided to put down our guns, and to fight for peace.

WE BELIEVE
That only by joining forces, will we be able to end the cycle of violence, the bloodshed and the occupation and oppression of the Palestinian people. We no longer believe that it is possible to resolve the conflict between the two peoples through violent means; therefore we declare that we refuse to take part any more in the mutual bloodletting. We will act only by non-violent means so that each side will come to understand the national aspirations of the other side. We see dialogue and reconciliation as the only way to act in order to terminate the Israeli occupation, to halt the settlement project and to establish a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, alongside the State of Israel.

Last June, a group of those ex-combatants met at Beit Jala, a West Bank village near Bethlehem that borders the Jerusalem neighbourhood of Gilo, which is populated by Jewish Israelis. At the gathering, Israelis and Palestinians who had in the past fought one another, told their personal stories and discussed how they had arrived at the conclusion that violence is not the way to solve the conflict.

Excerpt from the talk given by Chen Alon, an IDF officer:

In 1987-1988, when I began chasing Palestinians, perhaps even one of you, who were throwing stones at us in the refugee camps, I was told, and also told my soldiers, that we were protecting the State of Israel…
In 2001, on my last night in the occupied territories, I demolished a house not far from here, in El Chader. Later on during the same day, we initiated a curfew over the village of Husan and I could see Arab girls, at the same age as my daughter, in the village which in fact became a jail. While looking at these young Palestinian girls on the embankment which blocked the village, I was speaking to my wife on the telephone. She was troubled, telling me that no one can bring our daughter Tamar home from the kindergarten, and that she must find a solution. The memory of my daughter and the reality of the routine and the simple daily problems had shaken me.

Excerpt from the personal story of Suliman al-Chatib, a Palestinian militant who spent 10 years in jail for stabbing Israeli soldiers:

Later on I was transferred to the Janad jail, near Shechem*, where I worked in the Jail’s library. This provided me with an opportunity to read a lot, also about the history of the Jewish people. In fact I acquired my entire education and constructed my worldview in jail. I never went to university, but I did attend the learning groups in jail every day. This is when I started having new thoughts about the conflict and the means for resolving it.
In 1997, after 10 years and 5 months in jail, I was freed. The Beer Sheva jail was my last prison. In spite of numerous difficulties, such as the separation wall, the curfews, the settlements and more, some of us, who are here today, have established the Abu Sukar Center for Peace. We believe that combatants, who personally paid a price for their active involvement in the conflict, are the ones who can significantly change the situation.

*Nablus

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