Palestinian and Israeli writers reflect on bridging divides in ‘The Future is Peace’

[0:00] The October 7th terrorist attack in Israel and the war in Gaza that followed have left [0:05] countless families grappling with profound loss. For many others, the grief stretches back even [0:10] further, tied to years of violence that predate this latest chapter. For two men, one Israeli, [0:16] the other Palestinian, the killing of loved ones by those seen as enemies could have deepened the [0:21] divide. Instead, it set them on an unexpected path toward understanding and reconciliation. [0:26] They tell that story in their new book, The Future is Peace. Our Ali Rogan recently spoke with them. [0:33] Aziz Afusada, Ma'ol Zinon, thank you so much for being here with me. This book documents your [0:41] literal and figurative journey together. How did you start down this path? [0:47] The journey started only a few days after October 7th. On October 7th, I lost both my parents. [0:54] They lived a quarter of a mile from the border in Gaza, and they were among the first victims of [1:00] the Hamas attack. And on that day, I lost many of my childhood friends, people I knew my entire life. [1:06] And three days after, Aziz reached out to me, offering his condolences. And it was literally like a hand [1:14] reaching out, saving me from drowning into the ocean of sorrow and pain. And in the last two and a half [1:21] years, we've been walking together, quartering The Future is Peace. And now, I can say it very proudly, [1:26] and I'm privileged that I'm able to say it a few times a day, that yes, I lost my parents, and I lost so [1:32] many, but I won Aziz. I won Aziz as a brother. [1:35] Aziz, you also, like Ma'oz, lost loved ones at the hands of those who you had been conditioned [1:49] throughout your life to fear, to hate. [1:52] Yeah. [1:53] How do you constantly not let the anger win? Because you both made a conscious decision, [1:59] at one point or another, not to pursue revenge. [2:02] Aziz, it's very hard when you lose a family member. My brother Taysir was arrested by Israeli [2:10] soldiers from home, an allegation of throwing rocks. He was 18 at the time, I was nine years [2:16] old. He refused to confess to the charges, so he was tortured in prison, which resulted [2:22] in untreated internal injuries. And by the time he was released, he was pretty much on the [2:27] deathbed. And soon after, he died when he was 19 years old, and I was 10 years old. [2:33] People want to hurt those who hurt them, and especially when you're 10. And that's what [2:37] I did for the next eight years. That's what filled me the desire and the feeling of making [2:42] those who killed my brother pay. It stopped only when I went to study Hebrew and then Ulpan [2:48] and met Israelis for the first time who treated me like a human being, like an equal. That's [2:54] why I reached out to Maoz, because I understand my life changed because of somebody who reached [2:59] out to me. And I felt it's important for me to also reach out to those who have a terrible [3:06] reality. After Maoz's parents were killed, we are together. We are not against each other. [3:11] It's not Israelis versus Palestinians. It's those of us who believe in justice and equality [3:15] and peace versus those who don't yet. [3:18] Why was it so important for you to take this journey of healing together? [3:22] Yeah, so the way we wrote that future is peace is as a journey because both of us come from [3:28] tourism background. And the book follows that journey. Israeli, Palestinian meet together [3:35] and guide the readers and youth through this journey of eight days. And this journey we [3:40] visit Maoz's hometown where he grew up, meet with people inside Gaza and tell us their stories. [3:47] We go through Jerusalem and Jaffa and Nazareth and Galilee, the West Bank. We interview people who lost [3:54] family members in the Kibbutzim and in Gaza, for example. And then we talk about the future. And I think [3:59] that's what makes the future's peace very unique because it's important to talk about the current [4:05] reality and analyze and political things. Very important. But that's not enough. If you don't [4:12] have a vision to where we're going, we will fail. And we will never get out of the hell we live in today. [4:18] There is anger within us. But we've decided and it's a choice. We are offering it to everyone to channel [4:25] the bitterness, the sorrow, the pain, the trauma to create a different future. Not to let those feelings [4:33] destroy us. Only two days after losing our parents, we were sitting together. Three sisters, my young [4:40] brother and myself early morning and my young brother asked us to take a family decision, advising us to [4:49] reject revenge and telling us that we should not avenge the death of our parents because avenging [4:55] their death will only escalate the cycle of bloodshed, terror and trauma that we both Palestinian and [5:01] Israelis have been trapped within for a century. But there was still a lot of bitterness within me [5:08] and a lot of anger. And I wanted to punish the Israeli government because I hold the Israeli [5:13] government accountable for the safety and security of my parents and so many of my childhood friends. [5:20] Because again and again, the Israeli government promised us that wars will bring security [5:26] and bombs will bring quiet. But it totally failed on October 7th. And we are modeling and manifesting [5:33] the future by the brotherhood that we have forged together, even though we were destined to be on [5:42] opposite sides. But we choose to be on the same side, the same side of humanity, the same side of equality, [5:48] of dignity, justice and peace. In the book, you ask many difficult questions. You have difficult [5:54] conversations. And you talk about the importance of that. Why is it so important to have difficult [5:59] conversations? And what types of breakthroughs have you experienced in asking those tough questions? [6:05] And one of the stories we share is my dad coming to a peace meeting and asking if the Holocaust really [6:12] happened. And he keeps going on. Did it happen? Is it just because Israel want to use it to justify the [6:19] occupation? And he keeps digging more and more. And eventually, when he finishes, there was silence. [6:27] Because people are not used. I have to say, even within the peace movement, [6:31] I'm used to those kind of questions. We sometimes do walk over eggshells. And Ramel Hanan, whose [6:38] daughter was killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber, stood up. And he said, you know what, [6:44] I don't expect you to believe in something you never learned about. So why don't you let my dad, [6:49] his father was in Auschwitz before, take you to the Holocaust Museum and tell you his story. And 70 other [6:56] Palestinians, all of them had lost family members in the conflict, stood up and said, [7:00] actually, we also had the same question, but we didn't want to ask it. And they went. And it was [7:05] very hard. People cried. People were upset at times. People, there were comparisons made that made [7:10] people upset. There's a photo in the Holocaust Museum of people standing at checkpoint and the [7:15] Palestinians passing by saying, this is like us in the morning going through the checkpoints. And for [7:21] the Israelis, for the people who were experienced Holocaust, they're like, no, no, it's not the same. [7:27] By the end though, everyone was hugging. Everyone was in tears. Everyone understood so much. And then [7:33] the Israelis came and said, we want to learn about the Palestinian history after. Can you take us to a [7:39] Palestinian village that was destroyed in 1948? Again, there were many questions, hard questions, [7:44] the Israelis asked things like, why did you run away? You could have stayed. And the Palestinians going like, [7:49] no, we didn't choose. We were bombed. What do you want us to do? But it going back and forth [7:54] and asking those questions was important to build relationships. Without it, I think the relationships [8:00] be fake relationships. The spark that lit this fire that has become this book and this journey for you [8:08] was really your shared grief over the loss of your loved ones. They're not with us anymore on this earth, [8:15] but I wonder how do you think they would feel about the work that you're doing now? [8:18] I mean, in a moment like this one that we are sharing now, I feel them. I feel the series here, [8:24] I feel my parents are here, and they are very proud of us. I wish they were here so we could ask them. [8:31] But if they were here, this is what I hope they would say. And it's a poem by Samih al-Qasim, [8:36] a Palestinian Druze poet, who says, the day I'm killed, my killer rifling through my pockets, [8:41] will find travel tickets. One to peace, one to the fields and the rain, and one to the conscience [8:48] of humankind. So I beg you, my dear killer, do not ignore them. Do not waste such a thing. I beg you [8:56] to use these tickets and go traveling. And that's what we believe our family members are saying, [9:03] and what we hope everyone who's listening, watching, reading the future of peace is going to do is to [9:11] travel with us on this journey. We will fail on our own. The only way we can succeed is if people join us. [9:17] The book is the future is peace. Aziz Abusara, Mawuz Inun, thank you so much. [9:40] Support journalism you trust. 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