Combatants for Peace

An Israeli-Palestinian women's choir sings at the joint Memorial Day ceremony, April 20, 2026. (Ofer Amram)

‘Here is where hope lies’: Palestinians and Israelis mourn losses in joint ceremony

In a secret location due to right-wing attacks in previous years, bereaved families recognized each other's grief and called for a shared future.

By +972 Magazine April 21, 2026

Photos of Palestinian refugees displayed at the entrance to the Joint Nakba Remembrance Ceremony in Beit Jala, the West Bank, May 14, 2025. (Combatants for Peace)

Remembering the Nakba while witnessing a genocide

As Israel destroys Gaza, Israelis and Palestinians gathered in Beit Jala not only to mark the catastrophe of 1948, but to elevate living Palestinian testimonies.

By Dikla Taylor-Sheinman May 19, 2025

At the joint Memorial Day ceremony, April 29, 2025. (Oren Ziv)

Against all odds, Israelis and Palestinians mark 20th joint Memorial Day ceremony

Facing both October 7 and Israel’s ongoing assault on Gaza, bereaved families sought to make space for shared grief — and insist on a different path forward.

By +972 Magazine April 29, 2025

Latest

Rachel Beitarie, Executive Director of the left-wing Israeli NGO Zochrot, sits in front of the Jaffa Clock Tower. Around 95% of Jaffa's Palestinian population fled or were expelled during the Nakba. (Oren Ziv)

The Israeli left has broken the Nakba taboo. Will the right of return be next?

The past year has seen many left-wing Israeli groups looking beyond the occupation to confront the legacies of 1948, but they remain divided over redressing the exile of Palestinian refugees through return.

By Ben Reiff June 23, 2022

Palestinian peace activist Osama Iliwat (left) seen in the village of Jeb al-Deeb, south of Bethlehem in the West Bank. (Courtesy of Combatants for Peace)

Palestinian peace activist denied entry to U.S. for speaking tour

Osama Iliwat was supposed to speak to synagogues, churches, and universities across the United States about the power of nonviolence and bringing an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Instead he was sent back to Palestine. A Palestinian peace activist was denied entry to the United States last week after being extensively questioned by American border…

By Edo Konrad March 4, 2019

Palestinian and Israeli women embrace during the alternative Memorial Day ceremony, April 17, 2018. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Thousands of Israelis, Palestinians mark Memorial Day together

After numerous venues backed out of hosting the ceremony and the High Court had to intervene to allow Palestinian participants to join, the crowd exceeded capacity. Right-wing Israelis protest outside. Nearly 7,000 Israelis and Palestinians held an alternative Memorial Day ceremony in Tel Aviv Tuesday night, organized by the Bereaved Families Forum and Combatants for…

By Joshua Leifer April 18, 2018

Israeli minister of Defense Avigdor Liberman holds a press conference during the construction of the new Israeli settlement Amichai, to be established as the new home for the evacuated residents of Amona, October 18, 2017. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)

Liberman goes to war against alternative Memorial Day ceremony

Frustrated but unbowed, organizers of the Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony hope this year’s event will be the biggest yet. Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman announced Tuesday that Israel would deny entry permits to 110 Palestinians who planned to participate in the annual Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day Ceremony. Liberman called the alternative Memorial Day ceremony, organized jointly by Combatants for…

By Joshua Leifer April 11, 2018

Family of Cpt. Ziv Daos mourn during his funeral in Holon Cemetery, March 18, 2018. Daos was killed vehicle-ramming attack near the West Bank settlement Mevo Dotan. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)

In Israel of 2018, bereavement is a ‘lifetime achievement’

Israel awarded its most prestigious prize to Miriam Peretz, whose two sons were killed in combat in Lebanon and Gaza. Here are three Palestinians who lost their children, but won’t likely be recognized for their grief. By Orly Noy In the days of the Iran-Iraq War, before Iran sent out young — and often very young…

By Orly Noy March 19, 2018

Hundreds of Palestinian and Israeli activists march in an anti-occupation, pro-peace rally on Road 60, the West Bank’s main north-south highway, July 7, 2017. (Wisam Hashlamoun/Flash90)

Hundreds march against occupation on major West Bank highway

Palestinian and Israeli anti-occupation and pro-peace groups march along main settler highway. MK Ayman Odeh calls for Palestinian statehood while putting an end to ‘the racist discourse of separation.’ Hundreds of Palestinians and Israelis marched along a major highway used by settlers in the West Bank on Friday demanding an end to the occupation and…

By Michael Schaeffer Omer-Man July 7, 2017

Jewish and Palestinian activists at the Sumud Freedom Camp, Surara, West Bank, May 19, 2017. (Gili Getz)

Diaspora Jews must place our bodies on the line

As internationals and Jews, we are unjustly privileged — and therefore obligated to take part in nonviolent direct action in support of the Palestinian struggle for freedom. By Leanne Gale My first protest in the West Bank was in 2012. On the advice of a college professor, I went to a demonstration in Susya, a Palestinian…

By +972 Magazine May 23, 2017

Israeli soldiers confront Jewish American activists in Sarura, a village that had been rebuilt of Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists, May 21, 2017. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

WATCH: Israeli forces dismantle West Bank protest camp

Soldiers dismantle a protest camp built by Palestinians, Israelis, and diaspora Jews in the south Hebron Hills — less than 48 hours after it was built. Video by Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org Dozens of Israeli soldiers dismantled on Saturday night a protest camp in the West Bank village of Sarura, which was established by Palestinians, Israelis, and diaspora Jewish activists…

By Mairav Zonszein May 20, 2017

Palestinians and Israelis take part in the yearly alternative Memorial Day service organized by Combatants for Peace in 2016. (Oren Ziv/Activestills.org)

Israeli government bars Palestinians from joint memorial ceremony

The Israeli Defense Ministry canceled all permits for Palestinian peace activists from the West Bank to attend a joint ceremony on the eve of Memorial Day. For the first time in the 12 years since its founding, Sunday’s joint Israeli-Palestinian Memorial Day ceremony will take place in Tel Aviv without Palestinian peace activists. In previous years…

By Haggai Matar April 30, 2017

Israeli security forces detain a Palestinian protester in Nabi Elias, where dozens of Palestinians and several Israelis protested against plans to expropriate agricultural land to build a settler-only bypass road. (Ahmad al-Bazz/Activestills.org)

WATCH: Soldiers prevent Palestinians, Israelis from protesting together

Israeli activists had hoped to join Palestinians to protest a new settler-only road that would uproot hundreds of olive trees. The Israeli army saw to that. By Ahmad al-Bazz and Haggai Matar, Photos by Ahmad al-Bazz and Keren Manor / Activestills.org The Israeli army prevented dozens of Palestinians and Israelis from protesting together against the expropriation…

By Activestills January 7, 2017