Hope

A.J. Muste Memorial Institute 

How can we end occupation and violence in Palestine/Israel? We asked our grantees, and they responded.

*How do you hold on to hope? What motivates you to keep resisting?*

We do not always hold on to hope. But, even if sometimes without hope, we can and will express that we don’t agree. As Palestinians cannot stop being occupied, we owe them at least this solidarity. - Gush Shalom team

We hold onto hope when Palestinians approach us and let us know that our presence in the military courts, or in the checkpoints, makes a difference. We also feel hope when we take Israelis of all ages to see the checkpoints and to meet Palestinians in the Occupied Territories, and they tell us afterwards how we have challenged their views and perspectives. We say that we will not finish our work until the Occupation is over, and the military administration is dismantled. - Ela Greenberg, Machsom Watch

My hope springs from the many people I meet who desire the same changes I do, people from both sides of the conflict. Despair is both the easiest and most impossible choice for us. I can speak for the people who work with me when I say that we feel personal responsibility to find a way forward. I wake up every morning with an understanding that there is no other choice than a shared society between Israeli Jews and Arabs. - Jamal Alkirnawi, A New Dawn in the Negev

When we think of those who are living the struggle every moment—the family whose home Rachel stood before in Gaza, our many friends there and throughout a very turbulent Middle East, our Palestinian friends in the U.S. and throughout the world steadfastly challenging displacement, and our colleagues inside Israel who work endlessly for change despite great threat and many obstacles--we know we must resist with them. It is energizing, because it is right. - Cindy and Craig Corrie, Rachel Corrie Foundation

Despair is not an option. We believe that we have no alternative but to continue the struggle for a just resolution of the conflict. And as neighbors whose fates are intertwined--someone once called us Siamese twins--we are committed to continuing to work together, for the sake of future generations of both peoples. - Ziad AbuZayyad and Hillel Schenker, Palestine-Israel Journal