{"id":395879,"date":"2026-04-16T21:28:12","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:28:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/395879\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T21:28:12","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T21:28:12","slug":"bereaved-israeli-and-palestinian-peacemakers-find-brotherhood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/395879\/","title":{"rendered":"Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian peacemakers find brotherhood"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Aziz<\/p>\n

Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon in Manhattan, April 15, 2026. Photo by Simone Saidmehr<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Simone<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\tBy Simone Saidmehr<\/a><\/p>\n

April 16, 2026<\/p>\n

Aziz Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon have a message that can sound utterly preposterous as violence hardens as the main mode of communication between Israelis and Palestinians: The Future Is Peace, the title of their new book.<\/p>\n

They are dead serious \u2014\u00a0and bring their own grief and healing to the cause.<\/p>\n

On October 7, 2023, Inon\u2019s parents, Bilha and Yakovi, were killed by Hamas terrorists in their home in Netiv Haasara near the border with Gaza. Decades earlier, Abu Sarah\u2019s brother, Tayseer, was killed by Israeli forces following a year-long detention for alleged stone throwing.<\/p>\n

You might recognize Abu Sarah and Inon from the winter Olympics, where the world watched as they carried the torch together\u2014the first Israeli and Palestinian duo to ever do so \u2014 or from photos of them embracing the Pope, a picture of brotherhood.<\/p>\n

Their book takes readers on an eight-day journey through the region, from the streets of East Jerusalem, where Abu Sarah grew up, to the farmland in the kibbutz that Inon\u2019s father tilled. Along the way, they meet other bereaved families and friends who have been touched by the conflict. They found that the resistance to engaging with the other side\u2019s narrative came from a fear of erasing one\u2019s own.<\/p>\n

Agreement, they concurred during an interview in Manhattan, is not a prerequisite. \u201cI think what we bring in The Future Is Peace\u00a0is that we show first you don\u2019t have to agree on everything. It doesn\u2019t matter if you are pro-Israel, pro-Palestine, there will be things you will disagree with, there will be language you will not be happy with, there will be things that you think we got wrong,\u201d said Abu Sarah.<\/p>\n

For them, non-consensus is the beauty of the book \u2014 and their relationship with one another. \u201cRelationships which have no disagreement, by the way, are boring,\u201d he added. \u201cWe often quote Pope Francis, who said, \u2018The only place that has no disagreement is a cemetery.\u201d<\/p>\n

Inon suggests the skeptical reaction to peacemaking is a coping mechanism. \u201cYou\u2019re protecting yourself from wanting to believe. You think no one knows how to take you there.\u201d He added, \u201cWe talk along the journey about the importance of dreaming. What we realized is that when you don\u2019t dream, the others, the extremists, are dreaming for us, and then their dream is our nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parallel paths to peace\u00a0<\/p>\n

Abu Sarah\u2019s experience living under the occupation and growing up in the West Bank led him to pursue anti-Israel activism.<\/p>\n

At age 10, he watched his \u201cprotector,\u201d the sibling he shared a bed with each night, succumb to his wounds from injuries sustained during his time in an Israeli prison. \u201cAll I knew was that someone had killed my brother, and I wanted to hit back,\u201d he says in the book.<\/p>\n

\"\"Aziz (age 4) with his brother Tayseer (age 13) Courtesy of Abu Sarah Family<\/p>\n

Following his death, and during the years spent living under occupation, Abu Sarah sought revenge. Eventually, when he realized it would be difficult to get a job without speaking Hebrew, he enrolled in a Hebrew language class \u2014 the first time he had ever met an Israeli who was not a soldier at a checkpoint.<\/p>\n

As he began connecting with his teacher and classmates, he slowly let down his guard. Getting to know Israelis beyond the context of occupation gave him a new perspective and sparked his interest in peacebuilding. Eventually, he founded Mejdi Tours, leading dual-narrative trips across Israel with a Jewish counterpart, explaining landmarks through the lens of their respective communities.<\/p>\n

Inon made his own journey to connecting across the divide, starting long before Oct. 7. As so many young Israelis do, he and his wife, Shlomit, had traveled the world after their army service. He realized that he had developed friendships with people in far-flung countries but hadn\u2019t managed to make a single Palestinian friend back home.<\/p>\n

Passionate about tourism as a means of connection, Inon decided to open a guesthouse in Nazareth, the largest Arab city in Israel. When he first came to Nazareth, many were skeptical of him. \u201cThere were many rumors that I was a Mossad agent, or Shin Bet, even worse,\u201d said Inon. Over time, he began to build relationships and trust in the Palestinian community.<\/p>\n

The murder of his parents could have been the end of his mission. Instead, Inon recommitted himself to it. Just days after Oct. 7, Inon and his siblings publicly stated that they did not seek revenge against the Palestinian people for the atrocities committed that day. He even hosted a memorial service in Nazareth so that his Palestinian friends living in the city could attend.<\/p>\n

\"\"Maoz\u2019s parents Yakovi and Bilha Inon in the Golan Heights Courtesy of Inon Family <\/p>\n

While they had lived somewhat parallel lives, with both men working in the travel industry as a means for peace, Inon and Abu Sarah met only once, several years before Oct. 7.<\/p>\n

After Abu Sarah learned of the death of Inon\u2019s parents, he decided to reach out. Inon\u2019s immediate empathy was striking to Abu Sarah, for whom forgiveness of the other side took years. A friendship and partnership began. \u201cI lost my parents on Oct. 7, but I gained Aziz as a brother,\u201d said Inon.<\/p>\n

I asked them what moments of tension have been like in their relationship. Inon said the two have managed to find common ground over shared values. But for a long time, he struggled to get on board with the value of justice, which is a priority for Abu Sarah.<\/p>\n

\u201cI kept telling Aziz, I don\u2019t know how to bring justice to Tayseer or my parents. I remember President Biden saying that when Israel assassinated Nasrallah, justice was being done. But with the same bomb, 300 civilians were killed. So will it now be legitimate for them to avenge the death of \u2026 their innocent loved ones?\u201d<\/p>\n

Eventually, after discussions with religious leaders, Inon came around to embracing the idea of justice. He discovered that of the 613 mitzvot<\/a> in Judaism, the only two that are mandated are justice and peace. \u201cAfter learning that, I said, \u2018Aziz, from now on, I can have justice within the values that I believe.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Another disagreement they\u2019ve faced: Abu Sarah\u2019s love for country music \u2014 Inon can\u2019t stand it.<\/p>\n

A different kind of solution<\/p>\n

Inon and Abu Sarah can seem almost radical in their commitment to dialogue. To some, their approach may feel detached from reality. They know that most Israelis and Palestinians do not think the way they do. But to them, the belief that violence is inevitable is far more difficult to accept.<\/p>\n

\u201cLoss, instead of making us want to walk away, makes us more convinced that this is the only path, \u201c said Abu Sarah. \u201cReally, if we give up, then what we should do is go get a gun and shoot at each other. Because what\u2019s the alternative? You either believe we can solve this by sitting and working it out, or you believe we have to kill each other, and we refuse to believe that alternative.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Maoz and Aziz tasting grapes from the Abu Sarah family garden in Wadi al-Joz Photo by Uri Levi<\/p>\n

Notably, only one page of the book is devoted to discussing a solution to the conflict in the literal sense. \u201cHere are shelves of practical solutions, chapter after chapter about borders, about water resources, about Jerusalem, about refugees, about security arrangements,\u201d said Inon, laughing about the Israel-Palestine section that has become a fixture of many bookstores following the Gaza war. For them, the book is less about prescribing a specific political outcome and more about laying the emotional groundwork needed to get there.<\/p>\n

Abu Sarah and Inon did not want to close themselves off by endorsing a single political solution. \u201cWe don\u2019t want to be in a box,\u201d Inon said, explaining that neither of them feels strongly tied to one specific outcome.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur values are human dignity, security and safety for everyone, recognition of everyone \u2026 People want to argue with us, two states, one state, three states, monarchy. That\u2019s less the issue. If that agreement is based on those values,\u201d said Abu Sarah.\u00a0 \u201cThen we\u2019ll be fine, regardless of the political \u2018blah, blah, blah,\u2019 if it\u2019s not, you can have the nicest drawn map, and it will fail.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mocking the peacemaker\u00a0<\/p>\n

While both men had been engaged in peace work long before Oct. 7, that day and the war in Gaza that followed changed the landscape. Colleagues and friends told them they could no longer find it in themselves to care about the suffering of the other side.<\/p>\n

\u201cPalestinian friends would say \u2026 this happened because of what they\u2019ve been doing to us \u2026 Then I would talk to Jewish friends who would tell me, \u2018I used to sympathize with you Palestinians, but from now on, I just don\u2019t care,\u2019\u201d Abu Sarah said. \u201cThe moment you do that, part of your humanity dies. I prefer to have the pain of feeling than to kill that part of me that maybe makes it easier.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Maoz and Aziz sipping carob juice at the spice market in the Old City Photo by Uri Levi<\/p>\n

Abu Sarah said that when he tells people he is a peacemaker, they are incredulous. \u201cThey go, \u2018Oh, well, how is that going?\u2019 Like in a mocking way.\u201d He compared it to those working to find a cure for cancer. \u201cIf you\u2019ve met a cancer researcher who\u2019s trying to develop vaccines\u2026 you would respond to someone who is trying to make vaccines, saying, \u2018God bless you.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPeace has been done many times. A cancer vaccine has not,\u201d he remarked, laughing.<\/p>\n

Inon recalled a memory of his father shared during his parents\u2019 shiva. Every night, his siblings sat around the table listening to him \u2014 the manager of the kibbutz\u2019s farm \u2014 talk about his day.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would share the catastrophe in the fields,\u201d Inon said. \u201cThe floods, the drought, the wildfire, the insects. Every day there was something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

But he always had faith in next year\u2019s crop.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe would say that next year, he will sow again. It doesn\u2019t matter how devastating this season is,\u201d he continued. \u201cHe will learn from his mistakes. He will consult with other farmers \u2026 and next season, he will sow again \u2014 not with prayers, not just believing, but knowing that next year will be better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Simone Saidmehr is an editorial fellow at the Forward. She previously served as a research assistant at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, where she worked on the Koret Project on Arab-Israel Relations<\/a>. Originally from New York City, she is a graduate of the dual bachelor\u2019s program between Columbia University and Tel Aviv University, where she studied Middle Eastern studies and political science.<\/p>\n

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