The School for Peace

“This first cohort is only the beginning. Together, we are cultivating the political leadership Israel needs—courageous, inclusive, and grounded in human dignity.” —Roi, School for Peace director

The course began in the midst of a wave of incitement, silencing, and escalating violence against Palestinians — not only the bombardment of Gaza, but also systematic suppression of Palestinian voices, withdrawal from public activism, and growing fear of speaking out. The war was not a “background” to the course — it was present in the room, in the learning, and in every conversation.

From the start, it was clear: this was not a course happening despite the situation, but because of it. The challenge — and the choice — was to insist on political partnership while the ground beneath us was crumbling. Participants learned that real dialogue is not about “getting past” pain, but about staying with it.

Sessions combined facilitation skills — power analysis, dealing with complexity, shaping a facilitator’s stance — with the courage to ask uncomfortable questions, even of oneself. The conversations were charged, multilingual, and alive with tension that was deliberately left unresolved so it could be learned from.

Language itself became a central arena — not merely a matter of translation, but a political battleground. Questions of partial translation, unequal access, and the weight of words became core educational and political themes.

While some core issues — like occupation and the Nakba — were sidestepped, perhaps out of fear they would tear the group apart amid the horrors of war, the space also allowed for rare closeness. The Jewish group could face the reality of crimes committed in their name; the Palestinian group could share pain, guilt, and paralysis in the face of the war. Together, they created a bi-national space that stood in stark contrast to the prevailing relationships outside.