“We know that we will have difficult conversations, but that’s the point”

Combatants for Peace is an grassroots organization that campaigns for mutual understanding and non-violence in the Middle East conflict. “Ethics and Armed Forces” talked to the co-directors Rana Salman and Eszter Korányi about the movement’s approach and activities, their understanding of reconciliation and ways of conflict resolution.

Ethics and Armed Forces: Could you briefly recapitulate how Combatants for Peace was founded, and what is the principal idea behind it?

Rana Salman: Back in 2006, it started when courageous people from both sides decided to lay down their weapons and join their forces to resist the occupation and all forms of oppression. When the Israelis decided not to serve in the army, it was a big scandal that hit the headlines. A group of Palestinians who had been sentenced to jail in Israel for some time heard about it and reached out to them. They started to meet in secret; it took about a year to build trust between them. That led to the foundation of Combatants for Peace. Today our members are not only ex-combatants. We have become a more inclusive movement with young people, women …

What are your activities and your principal aims?

Eszter Korányi: Together with the NGO Parents Circle – Familiy Forum, we commemorate a Joint Memorial Day ceremony every year where we mourn the victims of the conflict from both sides. There is also a Joint Nakba Remembrance Ceremony which is completely organized by us. This year was the 6th year that it took place. In terms of reconciliation, those two are very relevant.

We also offer educational activities, for example leadership projects for both Palestinians and Israelis. Especially for young people, it’s very important to have a peer group of their own identity. After they graduate from the program, they can join our binational activities. And there are other projects for the general audience. In what we call “personal story meetings”, a Palestinian and an Israeli activist share their stories of transformation. Like our founders, some of our newer members were part of the violent struggle for freedom for Palestinians or members of the Israeli army who realized that the joint nonviolent struggle is the way to really bring freedom and equality for everyone on the land. Others, like us, were not part of any armed groups, but we also acknowledge that all of us grow up with a certain narrative. In order to be able to co-resist, you need to get out of your narrative and go through a certain type of transformation.

Do you still organize community theater for Palestinians in the West Bank as a form of non-armed protest?

E.K.: Currently we don’t have a theater group, but there is a binational nonviolent communication group that has been running for over a year now. There is also a binational women group and youth groups. The other very important activity is field work. We organize binational field work in solidarity with Palestinian communities in Area C that suffer the most from the occupation. We help them pick olives or plant trees or clean the water channels before the rain season starts. Luckily, there are quite a lot of Israeli and international organizations which support these communities, but we are the only one who bring joint groups of Israelis and Palestinians, which is also strengthening the solidarity between Palestinians in the West Bank.

Do people who take part in these activities also expose themselves to risks?

E.K.: In Palestine, in general, everything we do on the field, especially since the 7th of October, has the potential to become violent. On one of the olive picking days, soldiers pointed their weapons at us, and another group told us that they also carried tear gas grenades. Another day, two of our young Israeli activists and even our Palestinian media person were in detention for a couple of hours. Recently, two of our young activists were attacked by settlers, one of them got quite injured.

R.S.: For Palestinians it’s riskier in general. During our joint demonstrations or activities here, usually our Israeli activists are in the front lines to protect Palestinian activists. One day, one of our Palestinian activists got arrested the day before the demonstration happened. So just the thought of organizing nonviolent protest seems to be frightening.

In your opinion, what are the main points for fostering reconciliation?

R.S.: Like our founders who started this work 20 years ago, most of us who have joined the movement have already gone through personal trauma or suffering or have witnessed injustice either personally or to our families. So we’ve reached a point where we can’t go on like this; we need an alternative way towards peace and justice.

For me, the most important thing about reconciliation is acknowledgement of the other’s pain, the other’s suffering, the other’s narrative, the other’s losses. And this happens through different parts in our activities like the Nakba ceremony, for example. It’s very important for me as a Palestinian that people acknowledge my suffering.

At the same time, we know that reconciliation doesn’t happen overnight. For us, it just comes together with changing the current reality. We work a lot on human connections and building empathy. But it’s not only about dialog; we act together to build a different future.

E.K.: In our current situation, it really starts with acknowledging that those on the other side are also human beings – very basic, but unfortunately, it's part of it – and also acknowledging that the conflict creates a loss for both sides, from the beginning until this day. Especially the ceremonies put an emphasis on this. With everything we do, we show ourselves as an example for the general public and invite others to join this journey and approach.

Does religion also play a role?

R.S.: As a movement, we center around universal human rights and international law. But our members and activists are Jews, Christians, Muslims, so we appreciate and honor how faith can also drive people to do the right thing.

Recent polls show that the general mood in Israel and in Palestine is not very reconciliatory and trust between Israelis and Palestinians is at an all-time low.^[1] Half of Jewish Israelis and 70% of Palestinians rated the humanity of the other side with 0 points. With that in mind, where do you find hope that one day reconciliation will be possible?

E.K.: Especially concerning polls in Palestine during the war, they say that people don’t really have any other means to understand what’s happening. And there are so many aspects that you can’t really check, for example if the one who answers trusts the one who asks the questions. That’s why we try not to get too depressed by whatever numbers we see. And there are some positive numbers, for example that about 60% of the Israeli population want to finish the war with an all-inclusive hostage and prisoner exchange.

We also know from other conflicts in the world that once there is a political will to end it and there are means of reconciliation, from grassroots movements and the political level, the change can happen quite quickly. You might know it from Germany after World War II, but also from South Africa and Northern Ireland. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely possible.

E.K.: We are for a two-state or any other solution that is agreed by both sides and will bring freedom, equality and peace for everyone. It is important to create the basis for any solution to happen; obviously we advocate for a political way and not a military, violent one.

From your experience, is it somewhat “easier” for people to remain hostile because then they don’t really have to get in contact?

R.S.: Yes, it’s very easy to just step back and do nothing. We know that we will have difficult conversations, but that’s the point. We don’t want to just be nice and hug each other and that’s it. There is a reality that we really want to talk about and see how we can change it because we believe we are going to stay on this land together.
We can understand that people stick to their own narrative. They think that if they feel empathy towards the others’ narratives it might take out their own identity.

So how do you manage to start a dialog then?

R.S.: What makes it easier for us to connect with each other is that we try to create a safe space for people to share their stories. That’s how the movement started. It’s not about political statements; this is something true, something that I have experienced, and this is what the other side has experienced. We’re not saying: That’s right, that’s wrong. It's more about how I feel. You can’t judge a feeling or lived experience.

Our education systems, the media, they all affect how we see the other. Especially for our young people, it can be very difficult because they might have never met an Israeli or a Palestinian. We grow up with the same stereotype image about the other. It’s the enemy. It’s a soldier with a weapon. It’s a violent settler. When we bring people together, we break that kind of stereotype because you see a human being in front of you that has gone through a different experience.

And maybe then people discover that the feelings on both sides are the same?

R.S.: Yes, this is what we do in our ceremonies: coming together, grieving together, mourning our beloved ones. But it is also a big step that we go on activities together, protest together, pick olives together. We show that there we’re not just selling a dream. It’s happening right now.

What about your families and your friends, do you have conflicts about your work?

E.K.: I consider myself lucky because my close family and friends support what I do. Not always ideologically. I argue a lot with some of my friends, even with my father, and we don’t agree on what should be the political solution, who started the conflict and many other things. But at least they do acknowledge that this is a very authentic and true relationship for something good between the two people. Other people in bigger circles obviously don’t agree with the whole thing at all. But once I have the support of the closest circles, that’s what counts.

R.S.: My closest family also supports what I do, that’s where I get my strength from. But others, even from my extended family, do not agree. They might see it as normalization, but that’s understandable for me. Our activists also face that kind of criticism and opposition. But just being with a like-minded community encourages us to continue. We think that the path we chose will lead us to a more sustainable peace. It doesn’t mean that everybody’s wrong and we’re right.

Some people say that by commemorating the Joint Memorial ceremony for the victims of the conflict on both sides, you are equating defenders of Israel with terrorists.

E.K.: We focus on the civilian victims of the conflict. It doesn’t mean that we exclude everyone who lost someone who was a soldier or even a member of Hamas or Fatah or whichever group that uses violence. Eventually, those who talk to someone who lost someone to the conflict, and those who speak about their loss at the ceremony, both are obviously for nonviolence and reconciliation and for commemorating the loss. Even if their son chose violence, when they decide to speak during our ceremony, they follow a different path. I also don’t remember anyone from the Palestinian side on the ceremony who lost someone while doing a terrorist attack.

Would you say that non-violence is always the right solution?

E.K.: We focus on the conflict here and we are very clear on that. We’ve had nearly 80 years of examples of how violence is not getting us anywhere, we should use nonviolent means to solve it. But if you ask me about other conflicts in the world, if Ukraine should dismantle its army and just let Russia occupy its territory, I’m not even sure if we would all agree on the answer. In my opinion, you should do everything everywhere in the world to solve an emerging conflict of power in a political way, by teaching love instead of hatred. And if it comes to violence, then it comes to violence. But each country, each army should be clear that they did everything to avoid it.

R.S.: I think it’s a different case here because we live under occupation. Once we have an independent Palestinian state, we might need an army for defense and security. In any country, to protect it against invasions from outside, that’s something valid. But that doesn’t mean that I encourage violence or wars in any way. What we see right now is a very militarized society. Anywhere in Jerusalem, for example, you see people with weapons. Just a few months ago, I had a permit, and we took the kids to the zoo. At the entrance was an Israeli family, and the father was carrying a weapon. It is scary to see this or to get on a bus and another passenger comes in with a gun. It really affects society and what we teach our children. There are generations of fear.

From your experience, what would be your message to our audience?

E.K.: There has been a big debate for thousands of years if there is such a thing as a good soldier. I think it is very important to keep in mind that they are there to protect civilians in the first place.

R.S.: It is important to remember why they made that choice. When young Israelis refuse to join the army and go to prison instead because they refuse to be part of a system of oppression, we as Palestinians see it as a courageous step. But it’s a totally different context. Maybe in Germany, it’s an honor to be serving the country and to protect civilians. Just to stay connected to their humanity, whether in uniform or not, that’s all.

Dear Rana, dear Eszter, thank you for the interview.

Questions by Rüdiger Frank.