Tuesday 22 September 11:00–12:30 UK · Online
Who are Maoz Inon and Aziz Abu Sarah?
Maoz Inon is an Israeli social entrepreneur and peace activist. He built a series of guesthouses and tourism ventures across Israel and the wider region, on the conviction that travel brings people into contact who would otherwise never meet — an idea Servas members will recognise instantly. His parents were killed in the attacks of 7 October 2023. In the days that followed he said publicly that he was weeping not only for his parents but also for the people of Gaza losing their lives, and that he did not want what had happened to him used to justify anyone taking revenge.
Aziz Abu Sarah is a Palestinian peacebuilder from Jerusalem, a National Geographic Explorer and TED Fellow, and co-founder of MEJDI Tours, which runs journeys led by guides from both communities so that visitors hear more than one account of the same place. His older brother died after being held in an Israeli prison. He was among the first to reach out to Maoz after October 7th.
Together they wrote The Future Is Peace: A Shared Journey Across the Holy Land, a New York Times bestseller built around eight days travelling the land together. In April 2024 they opened the TED conference in Vancouver with a joint talk — sitting facing each other rather than the audience — about choosing reconciliation over revenge, again and again. Both are among the peacebuilders featured by the Peacewalk, the pilgrimage to Jerusalem described below.
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Listen before you come
Maoz and Aziz spoke at length to Krishnan Guru-Murthy on Channel 4 News's podcast Ways to Change the World. Worth your time before the event on the 22nd.
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