Combatants for Peace (CfP), a bi-national movement of peace activists from Israel and Palestine, has been one of forumZFD’s longstanding partners. During the last months of 2022, three of CfP’s leading activists, Osama, member of the board and International Relations Coordinator; Ahmad, member of the board and Coordinator of the Nonviolent Communication (NVC) group; and Rafa, Coordinator of the Youth group, together with Luis Gustavo Flórez, forumZFD’s Project Manager in Israel & Palestine, embarked on a packed and intense visit to Cologne and its region.
CfP was invited by forumZFD to hold the laudation speech on behalf of the organization at the Klaus Jensen Foundation Reconciliation Award ceremony in Trier. Post award ceremony offered the opportunity for more informal individual talks with local and regional politicians.
Members of Combatants for Peace and our project manager arrive at the forumZFD head office in Cologne
A sharing session at the forumZFD Academy for Conflict Transformation with course participants from Bolivia, Uganda, Cambodia, and Indonesia/West Papua, and Germany. For some of them it was the first time to hear directly from a Palestinian about the current situation in Israel and Palestine. It was an emotional and poignant moment.
Combatants for Peace at a typical German tavern with the board members of the Cologne – Bethlehem Twinning Association.
A Brown Bag Lunch at forumZFD’s Head Office. The start of the Second Intifada was exactly 20 years ago to this date. Our guests shared with us some of their vivid memories from that time.
Osama gives the laudation speech on behalf of forumZFD.
Olivier Knabe (forumZFD’s chair of the executive board) holding the Reconciliation Award given by Klaus Jensen (on his right), founder of the Klaus Jensen Foundation, and former Mayor of Trier.
During the visit to forumZFD’s Head Office, CfP engaged in fruitful conversations with course participants of the forumZFD Academy for Conflict Transformation. Also, a “brown bag lunch” was organized providing HO colleagues as well as the board members of the Cologne – Bethlehem Twinning Association with some insightful context related knowledge, including how it pertains to the current political situation in Israel and Palestine. The delegation also discussed CfP’s partnership with forumZFD, which currently focuses on the promotion of a Nonviolent Communication (NVC) group and a youth group.
Overall, this experience had proven to be a unique opportunity for all to hear from Ahmad, Osama, and Rafa about their challenges, achievements, and lessons learned in an ongoing nonviolent struggle to live in peace and with dignity. Despite the severe conditions of the Israeli occupation, their stories conveyed inspiring and hopeful messages. People were all touched in diverse ways by their resilience and forumZFD is proud to be working side-by-side with CfP.