What you can do

What one person can do

Reading and checking already count. You can argue about this conflict for years without once reading the agreement you are arguing about. Read one, open its source, and you know what was really signed, and can say so when someone gets it wrong. That is not a peace process. It is a start, open to anyone with a phone.

What is known about small steps is modest, and we will not claim more. On meeting the other side: a 2019 review of 27 experiments found that contact between groups usually reduces prejudice, though less so for ethnic prejudice, and few studies dealt with adults.¹ On knowing the other: a 2013 study of 370 Israeli and 102 Palestinian textbooks found that both sides say little about the other’s daily life.² On words: in 2001 the Mitchell committee called on both sides to condemn incitement and act against it.³ For learning the other language, or refusing to share content that degrades people, we found no study that measures an effect; they are here because they are within reach.

The risks are not equal, and we will not write as if they were. In Gaza in 2020, Hamas security services arrested activists after a video call with Israelis, and three were charged.⁴ In Israel, according to Adalah, dozens of Palestinian citizens were charged with speech offences in the five weeks after 7 October 2023.⁵ Nothing here is advice to take a risk. What is safe where you live, you know better than we do.

Five things to do this week, on your own

Read one agreement, and its source

Pick a page, for example the peace with Egypt or Oslo I. Read the short version, open the document itself from the list of sources, and find one clause the page mentions. About twenty minutes.

Read the other side’s story

Grew up on the Israeli story? Read the Palestinian story. Grew up on the Palestinian story? Read the Israeli story. You do not have to agree. Note one thing you did not know, and one thing you think the page gets wrong.

Listen to one song in the other language

On Songs of peace, pick a song in a language you do not speak, read what the page says about it, and listen. A song is not an argument, and the page says which songs are about peace and which about longing or grief.

Check one claim

Take a sentence you saw online this week, or one on this site with a source note. Where does it come from, who published it, and when? If the site is wrong, that is worth knowing too. How to check: a source in five steps.

Ask someone older what they remember

Ask a grandparent or another relative what they remember of 1967, 1973 or 1993: where they were, what they felt, what they expected. Compare it with the agreement page from that year, for example Oslo I. Memory and the record often differ, and both are worth keeping.

Eight organisations, and what each says about joining

Women Wage Peace

A movement founded in 2014 that describes itself as Israel’s largest grassroots peace movement, with more than 44,000 members.⁶ According to its website: a “Join Us” page, events, meetings and marches, a petition, and supporter groups abroad. No age limit or youth group is mentioned.⁷

Women of the Sun

An independent Palestinian women’s association in Bethlehem, set up in July 2021, which works to strengthen women economically and politically.⁸ The site does not say how to join; it lists the programmes, among them education and political participation, and has a contact page.⁸

The Parents Circle – Families Forum

More than 800 bereaved Israelis and Palestinians, since 1995.⁹ According to its website: a school or group can book a meeting to hear members’ stories; there is a youth programme, Young Ambassadors for Peace, a summer camp and a joint memorial ceremony. Membership is open to anyone who has lost a family member to the conflict.¹⁰

EcoPeace Middle East

Jordanian, Palestinian and Israeli environmentalists, since 1994, with offices in Amman, Ramallah and Tel Aviv.¹¹ According to its website: a young professionals’ programme, education programmes, internships, talks and tours. No details of age or conditions.¹²

Standing Together

A grassroots movement that calls itself Israel’s largest Jewish–Arab movement, with local and student chapters.¹³ According to its website: a join page in Hebrew and Arabic, and a form for updates. No age limit or membership fee is stated.¹⁴

Combatants for Peace

Israelis and Palestinians, former fighters from both sides, founded in 2006 and committed to non-violence.¹⁵ The site invites you to join but does not say how; it has a newsletter, a joint Memorial Day ceremony and a joint Nakba Day ceremony.¹⁵

Hand in Hand: Center for Jewish-Arab Education in Israel

Six bilingual schools where Jewish and Arab children who are citizens of Israel learn together: in the Galilee, Haifa, Jaffa, Jerusalem, Kfar Saba and Wadi Ara, with more than 2,000 pupils.¹⁶ The site does not explain how to enrol; it has a “Get Involved” page and a newsletter.¹⁶

ALLMEP (Alliance for Middle East Peace)

A coalition of more than 200 Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilding organisations, since 2006; its members are organisations.¹⁷ For one person: a directory of members and an events calendar, a way to find a group near you.¹⁸