Last Friday we launched the course of “Change Agents in the Mixed Cities”.

Yes, that’s what happened. In the midst of all the uncertainty, grief and the war that continues to claim victims and destruction – we launched a new course.

During the month of September, we assembled an amazing group of 25 Palestinians and Jewish-Israelis who live and work in the nationally-mixed cities. 25 active people who are are eager to acquire more tools and expand their circles of acquaintance and influence through our platform.

And just before the first meeting – the war broke out.

The initial thought was that it would not work. How can you build a group, start a process and encourage dialogue, activism and collaboration between Palestinians and Jews at this time?

The answer is that sometimes reality is very surprising, and sometimes complexity also creates good and special things.

On Friday, a group of 22 Jewish and Palestinian women (including 2 men among them) chose to come to Wahat al-Salam~Neve Shalom, despite the immense difficulty of this period, and to open the course with us.

At the meeting we made introductions and started experimenting with dialogue. The group navigated between initial introductions, trust-building, and defining the boundaries of the conversation, and deep discussions about feelings surrounding the situation.