Bunting Peace and Justice Speaker Series to explore joint Israeli-Palestinian peace activism

Loyola University Maryland's Bunting Peace and Justice Speaker Series will host members of Combatants for Peace—a grassroots movement of Israelis and Palestinians working together to end the occupation and bring peace, equality, and freedom to their homeland—on Thursday, Nov. 14, at 6 p.m. in the 4th Floor Program Room of the Andrew White Student Center. The event is free and open to the public. Registration on the Bridge is encouraged.

The talk, titled “Partnering for an End to War and a Just Peace in Israel/Palestine: An Evening with Combatants for Peace,” will offer an eye-opening account of the realities on the ground, share powerful stories of transformation, and discuss how we can partner to create a future of just peace. 

Combatants for Peace (CfP) is committed to joint nonviolence and uses civil resistance, education, and other creative means of activism to transform systems of oppression and build a free and peaceful future from the ground up. Launched in 2006, they are the only movement worldwide founded by former fighters on both sides of an active conflict. As a result, they were nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and 2018. 

“Combatants for Peace is a remarkable social movement consisting of both Palestinians and Israelis who work across the polarized conflict line for an end to the Israeli occupation and for a just peace. They seek to address all forms of violence including the grotesque physical violence that has long dominated the news, but also the just as harmful structural violence that fosters it, and the cultural violence that sustains it,” said Michelle I. Gawerc, Ph.D., professor of sociology. “We are incredibly honored to have activists from the movement with us at Loyola to talk about the work they do to advance a future that enables both peoples in Israel/Palestine to live with safety, dignity, and freedom, as well as the challenges they face in that work.”

Delivering the keynote talk will be CfP activists Elie Avidor, Iris Gur, Sulaiman Khatib, and Mai Shahin.

Avidor is an Israeli engineer and former combatant who grew up in Haifa. He fought and was wounded during the Yom Kippur war at Mt. Hermon. He is a member of CfP’s bi-national activists leadership team and now focuses on helping Palestinian shepherd communities resist Israeli ethnic cleansing and settler violence in the Jordan Valley using “protective presence.”

Gur is an educator and social activist, a former school principal in the Israeli education system, and a human rights activist. She has served as the community director at CfP since 2021.

Khatib is CfP’s co-founder and international relations director. As a local Palestinian community organizer, renowned international speaker, and lecturer, he has been recognized worldwide for his contributions to promoting peace, social justice, and equality for all.

Shahin is a therapist and activist with CfP with more than 12 years of experience in conflict resolution, specializing in nonviolent communication, nonviolent resistance, and war trauma-focused therapy. Her belief in nonviolence is deeply rooted in her identity as a woman, a Palestinian, and a believer in the power of humanity.

“The mission of the Office of Peace and Justice is to explore the causes and consequences of violent conflict, as well as the conditions that promote conflict resolution, peace, and justice. My hope is that these events will help us think about complex world problems with a better understanding of the context, the nuances, and the realities faced by those who live through it daily,” said Heidi Shaker, Ph.D., director of the Office of Peace and Justice and associate professor of French. “Although the Israeli-Palestinian conflict receives heavy media coverage, it is quite different to engage directly with activists working together on the ground. Having this kind of personal encounter can be life changing. My hope is that attendees will leave with a deep respect for all human life, and that we will recommit to our responsibility to work together in both our local and global communities for a more just peace.”

CfP and the Office of Peace and Justice will also screen the documentary film, There is Another Way, in the Loyola Notre Dame Library Ridley Auditorium (L045) at 12:15 p.m. The film, directed by Stephen Apkon of Reconsider, builds on the award-winning Disturbing the Peace (2016), which features CfP members and documents “Israelis and Palestinians, born into conflict, sworn to be enemies, who laid down their weapons and challenged their fate—knowing that no one is free unless everyone is free.” The screening will be followed by a director and activist Q&A. The event is free and open to the public, but advance registration is required. 

About the Bunting Peace and Justice Speaker Series
The Bunting Peace and Justice Speaker Series, made possible with a generous gift from Mary Catherine Bunting, hosts speakers and events that contribute to raising awareness about peace and justice issues.