The third cohort of Up and Coming politician program as changing agents for both Israelis and Palestinians had their certificate awarding ceremony on June 4, 2019.The program was conducted in collaboration between The School for Peace and the Palestinian organization Enmaa with the support of the European Union and it included 120 Israeli and Palestinian up and coming politicians.

 Here are some quotes from the graduates speeches

An Arab from Israel participant:

“It’s important for me to say that it was a very interesting process, at first it was hard but later i managed to overcome this hardness by being myself and talking about my feelings freely, this gives me strength to cope with every aspect in my life. Today i can express my opinions without hesitation not just toward the peace process but also toward every other issue. Therefore, i must thank you all from the bottom of my heart for empowering me and boosting my audacity which i constantly thought it reached a maximum but when arriving to the Oasis of Peace i realized that this was not the case, there is always a room for adding and improving.”

A Jewish-Israeli participant:

“Thank you all, a lot of time had passed, a year and a half to get to know you. At this time i met amazing people who truly care about making change, I appreciate it because it’s not  obvious. I learned a lot from you about your reality and your perceptions of it and I’m thankful for this opportunity. Although we are finishing today, you will always accompany me and i will think about you. Selections are coming and I’m a cog in the wheel but i will do my best to build a center that cares. For me I’m a partner, you can always contact me, i will  do my best to take a part in promoting ideas and initiatives.”

A Palestinian from Palestine participant:

“What helped me the most throughout this course is the meeting of people who think differently from what I’m used to. Optimism ends every time i go back to reality, the gap between us and this reality is really big where Palestinians are in a severe need for ending the occupation and Israelis don’t care that much. I hope that I’m wrong and maybe there will be compromised leaderships on both sides.”