Exactly one month from today, an event will take place in Jerusalem that the organisers have simply called I’s now, promising to be the largest peace convention ever attempted in the Middle East. And since we think that it will be an important event, we’re starting off with this first interview with Maoz Inon (one of the main organisers) a series of articles ‘behind the scenes’ of this extraordinary initiative, that has already brought together about sixty Israeli-Palestinian organisations, with different histories, strategies, political backgrounds, but all strongly oriented towards peace.
50 years old this year, known for the adventures of his youth along some of the most challenging trails in the world, from Machu Pichu to the Appalachian Mountains to Nepal, Maoz Inon was already quite famous in Israel before October 7th, as a successful entrepreneur in the field of so called ‘peace tourism’: the opportunity to cross territories historically disputed. He started his business in 2005 with a first and very beautiful facility in Nazareth, and his offer has since expanded into a network of hostels named after Abraham, the common ancestor of the three monotheistic religions.
Everything changed on the morning of 7 October, when the impossibility of phoning his parents, who had been living in a Kibbutz very close to the Gaza Strip, made him fear the worst. A few hours later his fears were confirmed, when their charred bodies were found inside the house that had been hit by Hamas militants with a rocket.
Bilha and Yakovi Inon
Far from giving in to despair, or the urge for revenge, Maoz Inon chose forgiveness, as he has said in a number of interviews that can be found online. In particular to the BBC, when in tears, he describes his immense pain not only for the loss of a beloved father and mother, both of whom were committed to peace, but also for the bloodbath that would inevitably follow.
It was at that precise moment that Maoz promised himself, his parents and the whole world that he would dedicate all his energies, abilities, resources and every moment of his life to the active search for a possible peace. And so it was: together with the Palestinian Aziz Abu Sarah, also an entrepreneur in the same field of ‘peace’ tourism, they began a series of high level meetings, from the United Nations in Geneva, to the Ted Talks in Vancouver, which led them to the famous Arena di Pace in Verona on May 18th last year, with Pope Francis blessing them in that embrace that moved the whole world.
Less than two months later, July 1st, the two were leading another important Peace Initiative in Tel Aviv: when thousands of people filled the stands of the Menorah Stadium for an event entitled It’s time, which Pressenza reported on in more than one article.
We thought it was an impromptu initiative. We now understand that it was the first important stage of a journey, which only a few months later (mid-December) would be renewed in a long march to the borders of Gaza, with the involvement of the same organisations that had already contributed to the success of the Menorah-Event in Tel Aviv – and that will gather in even greater numbers at the People’s Peace Summit in Jerusalem on May 8th and 9th.
We spoke to Maoz Inon on the phone to understand how it was possible to achieve such a result in such a short time. And what the possible developments will be in the future.
The People Peace Summit simply proves the existence of a “Peace Camp” in Israel: a coalition of sixty organizations like Combatants for Peace, Standing Together, Women Waging Peace and many others, in order to show the diversity and strength and vision that all together we can offer. We have been crying a lot, for all the suffering that took place for too long, but we are not giving up. We will be able to gather a huge crowd, to amplify our voices, to prove that we are a movement and that there is an alternative to this never-ending war. We have different departments in charge of the program and although I am among the leaders of this coalition, I don’t know exactly what will happen in those two days; the program will be finalized soon. I can only tell you that the entire first day there will be seminars, and talks, and music, and also tours in different locations around the city. We really wanted to conceive this meeting as the expression of the civil society in all its manifestations and engagements. While our politicians are only dealing with war and revenge, we are saying that an alternative exists, that we can create it. The situation is unfortunately escalating, the circumstances could not be more difficult, none or our Palestinian friends will be able to join, because the IDF will not permit… but you, we, all together, have the power to Make Peace. This Peace Summit will show that ok, we are not the majority yet, but a “Peace Camp” exist. Sixty different organizations joining in this project are an amazing reality!
How did you manage to put together so many organizations, despite their differences in terms of identity, practices, strategies?
After I lost my parents on October 7th, I received so many messages of condolences and among them the one from Aziz Abu Sarah, whom I now consider as a brother, was so touching and so important, that we decided to work together in this path of peace-making, to make it a priority, as a kind of mission. I joined Interact, the organization that Aziz had founded twenty years back, and together we wondered whether our experience as entrepreneurs could play a role.
And does it work? In these circumstances of impunity and dehumanization, when all we can do is only witnessing while feeling so powerless… can peace be achieved along a sort of roadmap?
This is what we believe: even the most unresolvable conflict can be addressed within a project based on five broad steps. 1st: you need to have a dream and be determined to turn it into a reality, and it doesn’t’ matter whether it will be in the social domain, or civil society, or business… you must have that dream, that peace will prevail, in Italy as in the Holy Land, as all over the world. Than we need to agree on our shared values: equality and dignity for all, end of the occupation, shared acknowledgment and recognition, reconciliation and healing, these are the pre-conditions for a security framework that can last.
Then we need to build a coalition, that could reflect the consensus on these shared values at a concrete level, because nobody can fulfil his dreams on his own. And we achieved this goal: this Peace Summit in Jerusalem, that we are co-organizing with sixty different organizations shows the existence of a strong pacifist movement in Palestine and Israel, that I’m sure exists in Italy as well and in so many pockets of Europe, and the only problem is how to make it visible and stronger and effective, able to lead, provided with legitimacy. Just to give you an example: at the beginning of April we were in London, where we had high level meetings in Westminster; we also met with the faith leaders of the Muslim, Christian and Jews communities, in particular with the bishop Anthony Poggo, from South Sudan, who very soon will become the representative of the Anglican Church within the Vatican. And how could I forget to mention that powerful moment at the Arena in Verona, last year, May 18th, with the blessing of Pope Francis: a moment, an embrace between me and Aziz, that was broadcast to the most incredible audience worldwide! An important result of that meeting with the Pope last May was seen immediately afterwards, at the G7 meeting in Apulia, where the relevance of peace activism on the part of Israeli- Palestinian civil society was mentioned in the conclusive document.
After we met with Pope Francis in Verona, which was such a transformative event for us, we spoke with several spiritual leaders, rabbis, imams, who helped me to realized that those who have the capacity to make a change for our suffering humanity, play in the field of imagination, or what we call aspirations; the political field comes as a consequence.
That title for your Peace Summit, “It’s now”: what does it mean?
People think that security and safety can be reached only by force and by more spending for weapons. They are wrong. The only path for security and safety is through dialogue, diplomacy, listening, making the effort to understand the other side, alongside your side. And for that we need a radical change of policy. The world is more than ever investing in machines of destruction, the only thing those “friends” of Israel are sending us are weapons, resulting in the present bloodshed. If only the 10% of the entire world security budget could be invested in dialogue and reconciliation… But for that, we need to create a political will, this is why we must work together, forge a new vision together, support each other, and not only here, between Israel and Palestine, but in Europe as well, where peace was made after those terrible bloodshed that were the WW1 and WW2. And I am perfectly aware of the debate that is going on in Europe these days, the alarming slogans towards a Rearm… But remember: May 8th, the 1st day of our Peace Summit in Jerusalem, will mark this year the 80th anniversary of the day, in 1945, when World War II came to an end in Europe.
This is why we choose It’s now, as a title for our summit in Jerusalem. Because indeed the time is now: if we want to choose peace, if we are serious about our vows to prevent this scary escalation towards a Third World War, the time is now. And I can’t imagine a better place, to renew these vows for our entire humanity, than Jerusalem.
In a recent interview to Al Jazeera you announced the intention of a new party that may be ready for the next election in Israel, representing precisely this Peace Camp and with candidates from Israel and Arabs as well. Can you tell us something more?
We have several projects and this is just one of them. Some projects are focusing on education, some on reconciliation, or concrete solutions, like in the case of Land for All or the The Geneva Initiative… Diversity is our strength, as long as we share the same values. Among these various projects, some members of the coalition are working on the idea of this new party that will see equal participation among Palestinians and Israelis, for the next election that will probably happen in October 2026.
Is there already a name for this party? And do all sixty organizations involved in the Peace Summit share this project?
Not all of them agree on the need for this institutional step, some consider more important their work on the ground. But overall there is a consensus that in order to be effective, in order to aim for a real change, the confrontation can be only at the parliamentary level. Clearly the majority of the people want the war to end. While up until now the conflict has been inflicted upon us on the basis of revenge, fear, bloodshed and more revenge, we know that this is not what people want. We hoped that our politicians would be able to choose a different path, but since this is not happening it is now up to us to imagine how to do it, and to make it a reality.
In a world that this year has counted as many as 56 conflicts worldwide (the highest number since the WW2) can we hope that this Peace Summit in Jerusalem will help to revive the peace movement at international level?
We are witnessing the growth of autocracies all over the world: Erdogan, Trump, Putin, Orban do not represent the majority of the population, but only a part that makes more noise than the others. We need to make ourselves heard too. I don’t think we are a minority, I think that we are a fair few, but many of us are discouraged, and silent. We need to stand up for each other and re-emerge from the silence in which we find ourselves confined sometimes. We must go beyond the fences of polarisations that too often trap our best energies – and move on, act, think, all together, towards the most important goal of making peace, knowing that peace is always made with the enemy, peace is what comes after years of bloody war. And in doing so we cannot forget all the other crisis that are endangering us: beside wars, we suffer from a political crisis, and the results are there for all to see; we suffer from an economic crisis, which benefits the rich while the poor get poorer and poorer; and last but not least, there is the environmental crisis, that affects all of us, inhabitants of this planet. What we urgently need is a holistic view of all these problems and possible solutions, and for that we need the broader holistic coalition around a grand vision. The world status quo is clearly collapsing, what we have tried so far doesn’t work anymore and so let’s say it: enough is enough! We also need to take on a spiritual leadership role, but we cannot wait for a prophet to arrive, we have no time for the next Messiah or some angels that could rescue us. Each one of us must make himself as a Messiah, a prophet, an announcing angel. And I am convinced it will happen, the only question is how many innocent lives will have to be sacrificed, still. That is why we say: It’s now. Because those who still think that no war will knock on their door are wrong. Those sitting in Europe, or anywhere else in the world, who think that war can only affect Israeli or Palestinians, or in Ukraine or in Congo… they are wrong.
So the time to wake up and react is now, to end this bloodbath and all together work for a lasting peace.
