Sulaiman Khatib

Sulaiman Khatib
Born	Hizma
Residence	Ramallah
Nationality	Palestinian
Occupation	Peace Activist
Organization	Combatants for Peace
Website	http://cfpeace.org/

Sulaiman Khatib is co-Director and co-founder of Combatants for Peace, a bi-national, grassroots nonviolence movement in Israel and Palestine. Combatants for Peace is dedicated to three main pillars: nonviolent direct action, joint partnership between Israelis and Palestinians and ending the Israeli military occupation.^[1] Khatib was nominated, along with Israeli co-founder of Combatants for Peace, Chen Alon, for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017.^[2] He has been compared in the press to a modern-day Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr or Nelson Mandela.^[3] He cites these three nonviolence leaders as his personal inspiration and the key to his transformation from violence to nonviolence.^[4] Khatib has also been referred to as the "The Savior of Palestine" and the "Palestinian Yitzhak Rabin"^[3] for his dedication to nonviolence and his leadership in the Palestinian movement for freedom.

Early life

At thirteen, Khatib informally became affiliated with the PLO Fatah movement. He participated in illegal activities such as raising Palestinian flags and writing graffiti as well as throwing stones.^[5] When he was fourteen he and a friend attacked and stabbed two Israeli soldiers in an attempt to steal weapons. The two soldiers were injured and Khatib was sentenced to fifteen years in jail.^[6]

Incarceration

Khatib has described his imprisonment as brutal: the prisoners were routinely stripped naked and beaten and tear gas was sprayed into prison cells on a daily basis.^[6] To improve conditions in the prison, prisoners participated in hunger strikes. The longest strike was in 1992 and lasted 17 days. He credits these hunger strikes for teaching him the virtue of patience^[6] as well as giving him deep inner strength and fortitude.^[7]

Next he was transferred to the Janad jail, near Nablus. Khatib educated himself in prison and taught himself both Hebrew and English. He calls his self-schooling in jail, "revolutionary University."^[5] Khatib started to read about Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela and Mahatma Gandhi; these nonviolence leaders showed him that there was another path to freedom.^[6] At this same time, he started to educate himself about the "enemy:" he watched Schindler's List, which Khatib credits as changing his life forever.^[6] He realized that the other side had an equally compelling counter narrative to the conflict, and the only way to solve it was to work together. He was released at the age of twenty-five, after ten years and five months in jail.

Non-violent Peace Initiatives

Upon his release from Israeli prison in 1997, Khatib dedicated himself to peace and reconciliation work. He started working as Office Manager in the Fatah Jerusalem District office,^[5] And he joined together with Palestinian friends and founded the Abu Sukar Centre for Peace (later Alquds Centre for Democracy and Dialogue).^[6][8][9] During the second Intifada, he was one of the main voices calling for non-violent resistance.^[5]

• In 2004, he went on a mission to Antarctica with a joint group of Israelis and Palestinians.^[10] Their team consisted of eight members: four Israeli, four Palestinian - many of whom were former fighters from both sides. They sailed over 100 km in the world's most dangerous waters and climbed a previously unclimbed peak. The objective: "to find common ground." ^[11] The expedition forged deep bonds between the participants and gained widespread, international media attention.
• In 2005, he was invited to the United States to participate in joint dialogue with Jewish Americans and Israelis.^[10]
• In 2005, he co-founded Combatants for Peace with Israeli and Palestinian friends.^[9][12]
• In 2007, he became the Palestinian General Coordinator of Combatants for Peace.^[12]
• In 2008, he co-founded the People's Peace Fund.^[13] Which, together with Combatants for Peace brought 11,000 non-violent Palestinian demonstrators together in a rally for Peace.^[14]
• In 2010, he became the director of Alquds, an organization that organized joint Israeli-Palestinian sports teams for youth.^[9] He led a team of 24 youths, both Israeli and Palestinian in Australian rules football. Their team was known as "The Peace Team," and they traveled across the globe to play other teams from all different nations. When asked about the organization he said, "the main message isn't just about sports or winning the game. It's about winning life.".^[9][8]
• In 2017, Combatants for Peace joined an unprecedented coalition made up of Youth Against Settlements, the Center for Jewish Non-violence, the Holy Land Trust, All That's Left and the South Hebron Popular Resistance Committee in a non-violent direct action called "Sumud Freedom Camp", located in the evicted village of Sarura in the South Hebron Hills.^[15][16]

Combatants for Peace

In 2014, Khatib became the Palestinian Director for Combatants for Peace. Combatants for Peace is the only bi-national, grassroots nonviolence movement in the world that was founded by former fighters on both sides of an active conflict.^[2] The Combatants work together in equality and partnership with the goal of spreading their message of peace, security and freedom to both their peoples. There was recently a documentary made about the movement, called 'Disturbing the Peace'^[17] The documentary features Khatib as well as six other Combatants for Peace in their personal transformations from violence to nonviolence. The film has won awards all across the world, including the first Roger Ebert Humanitarian Award.^[18]

Khatib's main message revolves around hope and forgiveness.^[19]

Awards

Nobel Peace Prize Nomination, 2017

"When I was young, I believed Israel was evil and Israelis were nothing more than soldiers with guns. That all changed when I met the brave Israeli women and men who helped found Combatants for Peace together with me and my Palestinian friends. I am so proud to be part of that historical movement. We met on the level of our souls and shared our humanity; we moved together in forgiveness and solidarity. Combatants for Peace is the model for our people’s future coexistence. It highlights the fact that world peace really can be achieved. If we, former fighters of both Israel and Palestine, can lay down our weapons and work together in brotherhood, then truly it is possible everywhere. We carry the dream and vision of seeing beyond the walls of hatred. We imagine the light of freedom for both our peoples, and through nonviolence, I know we will succeed. Combatants for Peace is a model of unity, and together we are going to make our dream a reality. Both our peoples carry thousands of years of connection to this land. We both love the Olive trees and Za’atar, it is part of our souls and hearts and will never go away. Both our peoples have the right to live in peace, freedom and dignity, not only for ourselves, but also as an example for the good of the world. When Jerusalem finds harmony, the world will find peace. When we join together in our nonviolent struggle, we will find the true heart of the Jerusalem, Yerushalyim, Alqauds, that we all love and belong too. Together we can change the world. Change starts on the inside, and expands to the whole world - join us.^[27]

in solidarity, unity and love, Sulaiman Khatib Co-Founder of CFP and Peace Activist, 2017^[28]

References