Bereaved Israeli and Palestinian peacebuilders urge UK Jews to ‘amplify our message’
Four Parents Circle members brief Board of Deputies during UK visit, calling for dignity, dialogue and equal rights for both peoples
Bereaved Israelis and Palestinians working together for reconciliation appealed to the UK Jewish community this week to help “amplify” their message of dialogue, dignity and shared humanity in the aftermath of 7 October.
Four members of the Parents Circle – Families Forum (PCFF) – a joint Israeli-Palestinian organisation made up of bereaved families – met senior communal leaders at a roundtable hosted by the Board of Deputies on Tuesday night, chaired by Senior Vice President Adrian Cohen.
Speaking at the event, the delegates described personal loss, daily fear and the rising pressures on both societies – but said expanding dialogue, not withdrawing from it, was the only way to prevent further violence.
Mor Ynon, whose parents Belha and Yaakov were killed in their home in Moshav Netiv Ha’Asara on 7 October, said she was driven to join the PCFF by anger, fear and a growing sense that isolation would only deepen hatred.
“I was overwhelmed by emotions – sadness, shock, anger,” she said. “When you don’t know someone you fear, and when you fear you hate, and when you hate you dehumanise. After that, terrible things happen on both sides.”
Ynon said 140 new bereaved families had joined the organisation since the Hamas attacks – not all newly bereaved, but many “triggered” into action by the events. She added that British Jews could play a crucial role in strengthening reconciliation work: “The fact that you are willing to listen to us meaningful. Anything you can do to help us amplify our message, we appreciate.”
Ibrahim Al-Jaafari, 20, from Bethlehem, recalled losing his cousin Jihad, who was shot and killed during a military raid when Ibrahim was nine. “It shattered his lung and his heart,” he said. “I felt helpless. Nobody can change our reality except us – and that is why I joined the Parents Circle.”
He also pointed to the bleak daily realities in the West Bank, describing restricted movement, sudden checkpoint closures, and attacks by extremist settlers. “It’s very hard,” he said. “But we have a message, and we need you to help spread it.”
Mohammed Awad, a community coordinator with PCFF, said Palestinian society is increasingly aware of the need for partners on the Israeli side. “Before you judge Palestinians, you must know our daily life,” he said, describing blocked roads, limited access and fear during raids. “We don’t have stability. But when Palestinians see Israelis who care about their dignity and rights, it changes something.”
The group stressed that the PCFF does not advocate a specific political formula but insists any future arrangement must guarantee security for Israelis and equal human rights for Palestinians.
Ynon said: “Whatever peace looks like – one state, two states – two things must exist: safety for Israelis, and equal human rights for Palestinians.”
Asked about polarisation abroad, she criticised the global tendency to turn the conflict into social-media slogans. “Seven million Jews and seven million Palestinians are not going anywhere,” she said. “If you want to support us, support solutions – not hashtags.”
Cohen told the group the Board had long supported organisations working on coexistence and stressed the importance of hearing bereaved families who “choose dialogue over revenge”.
The delegates are in the UK for a week of meetings with Jewish, Christian and Muslim communities, supported by UK Friends of the Parent Circle, which raises funds for the group’s joint narrative workshops, youth camps and dialogue programmes in Israel and the West Bank. Their visit will conclude with a fundraising dinner this weekend.
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