January 12, 2007
Bob Dunn

Two former combatants from opposing sides of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will speak together in Amherst this month about why they now favor a peaceful resolution.

Elik Elhanan, a former Israeli soldier, and Sulaiman Al Hamri, a former Palestinian freedom fighter and Israeli prisoner, are among the founders of Combatants for Peace, a year-old organization that advocates for non-violent methods for ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

The presentation by Combatants for Peace is scheduled for Jan. 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the Bangs Community Center in Amherst. Admission is free.

The Combatants for Peace movement was founded in 2005 by Israelis and Palestinians who had been, at one time, actively involved in perpetuating the cycle of violence, according to a statement.

The group met privately for a year before going public in Israel last April.

The organization says both sides of the conflict should work together to end the Israeli occupation, halting the settlement project and establishing a Palestinian state with its capital in East Jerusalem, alongside the state of Israel.

Elhanan, whose sister was killed in a suicide bombing, and Al Hamri, who spent four and a half years in Israeli prisons, are visiting Amherst as part of a 22-city nationwide tour co-sponsored locally by the Western Massachusetts chapter of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom and the Veterans Education Project.

Lisa Lieberman, a member of the local chapter of Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, said by telephone that she feels the evening will help to instill a sense of hope in those who feel that Middle Eastern region is doomed to a never-ending cycle of violence.

The group advocates a negotiated two-state resolution of the conflict.

"We see all the violence and the horror and don't realize how many people on both sides are committed to peace," Lieberman said.

"When you see an Israeli soldier and a Palestinian militant who are willing to risk condemnation from their own communities to speak out in favor of a peaceful resolution, you realize that there is still hope," she said.