Click here to read in a browser

Dear friends,

At our last alumni conference, held about four months ago, we described our lives here as a reality of ongoing catastrophe. And now we find ourselves experiencing yet another chapter of this catastrophe – another war within a war that never ends. Once again, Israel, alongside its allies and adversaries, is bombing civilian populations under pretexts that are neither acceptable nor credible. Once again, it is we – the civilians – who bear the consequences: sirens and shelters; falling missiles and shrapnel; entire communities without adequate protection; the closure of educational frameworks for children; damage to our mental health; and the loss of income and property. And once again, the international community is failing to take meaningful action to prevent or stop these crimes.

All arenas are burning, including the routines of our daily lives, as the entire region is under missile attack. More than ever, there is no clear prospect for an end to this round of fighting with Iran, and we are required to endure within an impossible reality. Once again, it feels as though the space for action – and even the space to breathe – is steadily shrinking.

After two and a half years of an unending loop of war, it can sometimes feel as though everything has already been said. And yet, even if there is nothing new to add, it remains crucial to keep speaking. It is our responsibility to refuse silence in the face of a paralyzing reality, and to continue naming injustices and demanding change. To this end, we turned to members of the School for Peace community, our alumni, to help us bring forward the many voices that are now surfacing within us.

Our Alumni Write on the War:

Ameer Bisharat points to the bitter truth of this cynical war, which is claiming tens of thousands of lives, while its real “victories” lie in the intensification of the Jewish and state terror in the West Bank, alongside the weakening of Palestinian citizens of Israel.

Ya’ara Peretz reminds us of the climate-related damage of war. It may seem “marginal” in the face of such massive loss of human life. Yet the destruction of our living environment – at a time when ecological systems are already collapsing – harms us profoundly, both in the immediate term and for generations to come.

Ruti Eliasi-Shuster lays bare her broken heart as someone born in Iran, grieving the unnecessary deaths caused there by Israel and the United States. Despite the pain of seeing her homeland ruled by a cruel regime, Ruti does not rejoice in the killing of its leader – especially when those driving this war, Netanyahu and Trump, are no less alarming.

Abed Abou Shhadeh shares what it means to live with two young children under sirens and missiles. One of the most difficult aspects of this distorted reality, he reflects, is not necessarily a media that echoes the regime or a feeble opposition – but rather how quickly we, as civilians, come to accept the new normal of endless wars.

Noor Abo Ras and Moran Barir correspond from afar and up close about what lies between the personal and the political, between missiles and the holiday table; between a new baby and a world falling apart; between denial and confrontation with reality; between survival and resistance.

This is also your moment to raise your voice and to use all the resources at your disposal to call for a ceasefire across all arenas. This is urgent not only in the immediate sense – so as to save lives that are being cut short at this very moment – but also for the long term, through diplomacy that can temper the violent and unnecessary aggression of powerful states.

Sincerely,

Roi and the entire School for Peace team.