Published: 2 May 2023
Last updated: 5 March 2024
Israeli Rami Elhanan and Palestinian Bassam Aramin are coming on a The Jewish Independent tour to spread a lesson in peacebuilding born of the deepest grief.
Smadar Elhanan was 14 when she was killed by suicide bomber in 1997. It was the first day of school and she had been shopping for schoolbooks.
Abir Aramin was 10 when she was killed by a soldier in 2007. She had just bought candy and was standing outside her school in Anata, in the West Bank.
They are among thousands of children killed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. But unlike many other parents, Smadar’s father Rami Elhanan and Abir’s father Bassam Aramin did not allow themselves to be drawn into the cycle of anger and violence which continues to fuel the conflict.
Elhanan and Aramin became ambassadors for peace, solidifying their friendship in their shared bereavement and travelling the world advocating for an end to the conflict.
The Jewish Independent is bringing them to Australia this month for a tour which will include public events in Sydney and Melbourne, meetings with politicians, and educational sessions at schools and universities.
The Jewish Independent publisher Uri Windt said he was delighted Australian audiences would have the opportunity to hear the two men speak.
“Very few can truly know the loss and despair Rami and Bassam have experienced, but all of us can be inspired by their remarkable turn towards forgiveness and reconciliation," Windt said.
“At a time when conflict in the Middle East seems so intractable, democracies around the globe so polarised, these two men model something quite profound: the willingness and ability to listen to the other; the pain of their people; and their dreams for the future.
