The authors of ‘The Future is Peace'
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What personal experiences led to the belief that peace is possible?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk with Aviva Insurance.
Now, for those who have suffered in the Middle East and for those who have spent a lifetime watching the war there ebb and flow, it's understandable to lose hope that peace is possible. But the authors of a book called The Future Is Peace Believe Otherwise say, This book brings together Palestinian peace activist Azizi Abu Sarah and Israeli peace activist Mawaz Inan, both of whom have experienced devastating personal losses and yet continue to push for peace. I'm delighted now to be joined both by Azizi and Mawaz and you're both very welcome to the programme. Good morning to you.
Hi, good morning. It's great to be with you.
Thank you both for being with us. And now, as I might begin with you, because your journey together, where you arrived at the conclusion that the future is peace, it began really on the 7th of October, didn't it, where you were deeply and personally impacted?
Yes, you are right. My parents, my beloved parents, Bila and Jacobi, were among the first victims of the Hamas attack of October the 7th. They lived only 200 meters from the border with Gaza, and we lost contact with them early morning, Saturday morning. And later in the afternoon, we learned that their house was burned to ashes with them inside. And we've decided, me, my three sisters, and my young brother, to start the Shiva immediately. It's the seventh day of mourning within the Jewish tradition. And on the second day, my brother, Magen, told us that we must make a family decision and then to share it with everyone that is willing to listen. And he wanted this decision to be that we are rejecting revenge.
that we don't want to avenge the deaths of our parents, and he explained that by avenging their death, we're not going to bring them back to life, and we'll only escalate the cycle of violence and bloodshed. We, Palestinian Israelis, have been trapped within for a century, and he argued that to cherish my parents' legacy and memory, we must create a new path, a new vision for peace and reconciliation.
Sorry, can I ask you, Maoz, when your brother suggested that to you first, did you agree with him or did you need to be convinced?
No, it took us maybe five minutes, if I want to exaggerate. It's exactly the way our parents raised us and prepared us for this tragic moment, always to reject revenge, always to reject violence, and that we have the agency to change the future, and we have the agency to make the future a better future, first for us, but for all the 14 million people living between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea.
So then Aziz, we come to you and your decision to reach out after October 7th. Tell us, you write about this beautifully in the book, about making that decision and wondering whether it was the right thing to do. Tell us about it.
Yeah, I reached out to Ma'oz right after October 7th because I felt that this is a dark moment. And in dark moments, it's important to show empathy. And I knew it because of my own personal story where I lost my brother in the first intifada due to torture by Israeli soldiers. And I was 10 years old when that happened. And only eight years later, when I met an Israeli teacher and I went to study Hebrew, who reached out to me and who showed me empathy, that my journey for peacemaking started. So I felt it was important to do the same with Ma'oz because at the moment we are living in, It's just empathy seems to be something that's not happening. There was, I mean, I didn't have a doubt, but I also knew the pain that is gonna be happening on the Palestinian side with Gaza being destroyed and more attacks.
There was so much fear. And that empathy also came from Mao's back, where on television, a few days after his parents were killed, he said that he's crying not only for his parents, but also for children in Gaza that are being killed. And that's a level of empathy that can put us on this path for creating a different future.
Did your family though, Aziz, and your friends understand your decision to reach your hand across in the way that you did, not just privately, but very publicly?
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