SIXTEEN members of Combatants for Peace – a bi-national movement of Israelis and Palestinians who have put down their guns to engage in dialogue – are to visit Warrington.
They will take part in workshops at the Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Peace Centre on Saturday, July 24 as part of a visit to the UK to promote a message of non-violence as a means of ending the occupation and helping to end the Middle East conflict.
There will be two workshops entitled Rainbow of Identities between 10am and 5.30pm and No Victory in Violence between 7.30-9.30pm.
The 16 members of the group comprise former members of the Israeli Army and Palestinian armed groups.
The tour, being hosted by the community arts organisation Encounters – www.encounters-arts.org.uk -in association with Amnesty International UK, will see the group staging theatrical events and running workshops based on their personal stories.
The 16, from Tel Aviv in Israel and Tul-Karem in the occupied West Bank, regularly risk arrest and face persecution from their own communities for their activities, including for crossing into so-called “no-entry zones” to meet face-to-face with members of the “other side”.
Combatants for Peace’s UK Representative Ben Yeger said: “We no longer believe that the conflict can be resolved through violence. We believe that the bloodbath will not end unless we act together to terminate the occupation and stop all forms of violence.
“We’re calling for the establishment of a Palestinian State alongside the State of Israel, and we will use only non-violent means to achieve our goals.”
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