As part of B8 of Hope’s annual Let’s Talk About Peace workshop with Philanthropic Adventures, students at Institut Le Rosey met two remarkable members of our grantee organization, the Parents Circle–Families Forum: Israeli father Rami Elhanan and Palestinian father Bassam Aramin.
The workshop began by exploring peace activism, bridge-building, dialogue, and nonviolence—and the difficult work of overcoming the stereotypes, fear, and hatred that keep people apart. Rami and Bassam then shared their own stories. Each lost a daughter to the conflict. Each had every reason to retreat into grief or anger. Instead, they chose to work together to prevent other families from experiencing the same devastating loss.
Their testimonies moved the students deeply because they made reconciliation real. This was not an abstract lesson about peace, but an encounter with two people who have transformed unimaginable pain into a shared commitment to dialogue and change. In their choice to stand together, Rami and Bassam offered a powerful reminder that profound grief does not have to lead to revenge but can take us down the path of healing instead.
What a privilege to welcome two talented women from the Palestinian and Jewish Israeli peacebuilding communities: Juman Daraghmeh, who shared her communications expertise with B8 of Hope, and singer and peace activist Noa, a longstanding public voice for peace and shared humanity.
At the Geneva Graduate Institute and the University of Lausanne, B8 of Hope introduced students to the work of our Palestinian and Israeli grantees, our pro-solution approach, and the role of trust-based philanthropy in sustaining peacebuilding.
Naji Abbas visited B8 of Hope while in Geneva to address the UN Committee Against Torture, offering insight into the wider human-rights work of Physicians for Human Rights Israel.