Combatants for Peace

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Combatants for Peace (Hebrew: לוחמים לשלום) is an organization of Israelis and Palestinians who are veterans of armed conflict, and have concluded that there can be no solution through violence. The Israeli members served as combat soldiers in the Israel Defense Forces, while the Palestinian members "were involved in acts of violence in the name of Palestinian liberation."

The organization, founded in 2005, supports a two-state solution to the conflict. A statement on their website says, "We call for the establishment of a Palestinian State, alongside the State of Israel. The two states can exist in peace and security beside each other."^[1]

Combatants for Peace has organized a series of meetings between veterans from both sides, most taking place in East Jerusalem in the early years, but have expanded now into four Local Groups operating between Tulkarm-Tel Aviv, Beersheva-Hebron, Ramallah-Jersalem and Jerusalem and Nablus.

In January and February 2007, Brit Tzedek v'Shalom, the Jewish Alliance for Justice and Peace, sponsored a 22-city speaking tour featuring a Palestinian and an Israeli representative of Combatants For Peace. Since this time the organization has held a number of lectures in the United States and European Union and over 100 speaking events in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories. In 2007 they were awarded the 2007 Search for Common Ground Award.

1 Criticisms
2 Sources
3 References
4 External links

[edit] Criticisms

StandWithUs criticized Combatants for Peace for "blaming only Israel for the ongoing conflict".^[2] It has similarly drawn criticisms of one-sidedness from Jerry Gordon and other individuals.^[3]^[4]

[edit] Sources

"120 former Israeli, Palestinian combatants in new peace drive" Haaretz. October 4, 2006.
"New movement: IDF soldiers and Fatah prisoners" YNet. October 4, 2006.
Combatants For Peace in Los Angeles, February 2007[1]