Israel's News & Views Blog

Sulha is an Arabic word that refers to a traditional Islamic form of third-party mediation in disputes and conflicts in order to make amends. Traditionally, clans that are involved in a dispute will sit down opposite one another with a mediator and arrive at some kind of mutually acceptable settlement/compromise.

The three-letter root of sulha is s.l.h, which is the same root for the Hebrew word that means “to forgive.”

The Sulha Peace Project is an Israeli grassroots peace organization that organizes events for Jews and Arabs to come together and promote reconcilation and co-existence.

From May 1-5, there will be a “sulhita” in the Negev desert for 16 and 17 year-olds of all faiths from Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

From the Sulha Peace Project website:

During this five day encounter, young participants from all peoples, religions and cultures within Israel and the Palestine Authority will have an opportunity to get to know, experience and create with the “other”. Heart to Heart Gatherings between Arab and Jewish Youth (16 -17 years old ) in nature.

We invite young participants from all peoples, religions and cultures within Israel and the Palestine Authority.

In our “Sulhita” the youths, experience listening circles, workshops, interfaith prayer, cooking, dancing, playing, and making music together. Our gatherings bring about new feelings and deep transformation in everyone.It opens the heart and inspires new thoughts and questions.

The annual Sulha for adults will take place from August 22-24.

Here is an excerpt from an article about last year’s annual Sulha that was published in Haaretz.

For many Palestinians and Israelis, this event was their first opportunity to spend time with people from other side. There were Arabs speaking Hebrew, Jews singing in Arabic, and groups of religious Jews and Muslims walking together freely, mingling as though this was an ordinary occurrence in Israel.

One Muslim woman attracted attention as she walked with her religious Jewish friend. “I’m the Hamasnakit,” she joked, using a slang Hebrew reference to an Islamic fundamentalist, “and this is my settler friend.”

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“For peace we must start with ourselves and then we can give to our friends, to our families too. We shouldn’t talk about history we should talk about our future. If we talk about history we will remember our pain, and then we won’t be able to talk about peace.”

The organizers of Sulha emphasized that the festival was not meant only for the left-wing, but for people of all political and religious affiliations to come together to celebrate coexistence.

“Some people say we’re preaching to the choir. I say there is no choir, there are only soloists singing out of tune,” said Meyer.

This became clear when a religious girl from Modi’in showed Taber and his friends the orange ribbon attached to her bag, and explained that her opposition to disengagement does not reflect hatred for Palestinians but love for the land.

Taber’s friend Tareq, 24, said, “Ok, me too, I’m also orange,” agreeing that his was not a struggle against Israelis, but against occupation.

Among the cross-cultural groups at the retreat was the Parents’ Circle – Families Forum, an organization for bereaved Palestinian and Israeli families who have lost relatives during the conflict that arranges workshops and discussion forums around Israel and the territories to promote dialogue instead of violence.

Wajee Tomezi, a Palestinian from Kfar Edna near Hebron whose brother and three cousins were killed by Israeli fire, stressed the importance of bereaved families looking beyond their own pain to understand the pain of the other side.

“We both paid the heaviest price in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, and despite this price, we believe that both sides have the same pain and the same hope, so for this we are together, and we believe that only dialogue will end this conflict, not arms,” he said. “If I use revenge, what good does that do? Revenge only makes more anger and more bloodshed.”

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