In the summer of 2020, we launched our podcast, produced by The Spot and dedicated to our stories:
B8 OF HOPE, THE PODCAST
Listen to our podcast on your preferred platform by clicking on this link:
https://linktr.ee/b8ofhope
In the pilot episode #1, hear Yara and Noa, two young courageous women, one Palestinian, one Israeli, tell their story to the co-founder of B8 of hope Mehra Rimer: how they have met at the Women Wage Peace march and how this sparked a very special friendship.
Women Wage Peace is one of the organisations supported by B8 of Hope. It is led by women from all walks of life paving a path to a positive change in Israel and Palestine..
Stay tuned until the end of the episode to hear the anthem of the Woman Wage Peace organisation, a song by Yael Deckelbaum “Prayer of the Mothers”.
In the episode #2, you can hear Dan, an Israeli volunteer driver and a member of Road to Recovery and Susan, a Palestinian mother of two young children, one with a form of cancer and the other with a severe disorder that involves periodic paralysis.
We had a first hand experience of the work of Road to Recovery : humanitarian action and humanisation.
We had the most inspiring conversation with Dan and Susan joining them and Yuval Roth the founder of RtR, by Zoom at the Ramat Gan Sheba Hospital.
Life is hard enough : who wants to talk about conflict and peace when basics needs are not met ?
Road to Recovery is an Israeli grassroots initiative which is part of our pool of grantees and consists of a network of Israeli volunteer drivers driving Palestinian patients from checkpoints to Israeli hospitals for specific treatments that are not available in Palestinian hospitals. RtR addresses some of the medical needs. But not just that.
The conversation in the car and in the waiting room also matter. Stopping by the beach or going to the park on the way back home and finishing a hard stay at the hospital on a positive note also matter. Changing the mindsets of people and creating people-to-people connections are pre-conditions for a path to peace. Road to Recovery is definitely paving a path ! Every angle counts !
In the episode #3, you can hear a story about a wonderful friendship between two women, a Palestinian and an Israeli, united in their struggle against breast cancer. Ibtisam Erekat and Ruth Ebenstein have a good sense of humour too !
This inspired Ruth who is an independent journalist to create the blog: How to Laugh (and Cry) Through Breast Cancer
The episode #4 lets us hear Nasri and Meron present their vision, from conflict to reconciliation. Living here, separate and together – this is the ethos of A Land for All – Two States, One Homeland. This group of Israelis and Palestinians offers a new horizon for reconciliation between the two people, based on the existence of two sovereign states in one open land. They are one shared movement, divided into two separate branches – one Israeli and one Palestinian – both jointly and severally.
In the episode #5, Mehra welcomes Samah Salaime, a social and peace activist from Wahat Al Salam – Neve Shalom, an Oasis where Israelis and Palestinians coexist peacefully.
Ali Abu Awwad, co-founder and leader of Taghyeer (Change) movement, answers Mehra’s questions about nonviolence in the episode #6. Taghyeer is a Palestinian organization that leads a National Nonviolence Movement of grassroots communities and emerging leaders practicing nonviolence as a unifying identity for the Palestinian people.