Over 100 students and members of the St. Louis community attended the presentation of Combatants for Peace on Monday night, January 29 in Ursa’s Fireside.
The panel discussion, which involved two former Israeli and Palestinian combatants, had as its goal to spark discussion about the Arab-Israeli conflict and facilitate meaningful discussion, towards a peaceful end.
The speakers were Sulaiman al Hamri and Shimon Katz. Al Hamri is the Palestinian coordinator for Combatants for Peace. His long history of peace work includes co-founding Combatants for Peace in April 2006, and working with other Israeli peace groups such as Taayush. Katz served in the Israeli Defense Forces as a combat solider and came to his views of non-violence during his travels in India after leaving active duty.
“My family has spent a total of 25 years in Israeli prisons — we have paid the price in the conflict, yet I remain committed to peace,” said Al Hamri, declaring “it’s a duty to retaliate against an occupation — whether for national motives or religious motives, but it is also a duty to do so peacefully.”
Katz said that “as an Israeli citizen I am obliged to go to the army, just like I am obliged to pay taxes, so I work to find a middle path that will allow me to remain true to my values.”
Junior Aviva Joffe, co-president of Students for a Peaceful Palestinian Israeli Future, which sponsored the event, told CampusJ that “The perspective we were trying to present was that dialogue is a means of bringing peace,” adding, “I was really pleased by the event because people asked challenging questions — a lot of what SPPIF tries to do is ask the hard questions.”
Those attending the forum were intrigued by the unique perspective presented by the former combatants, and the commitment of the participants to the peace process.
“It was nice to hear directly from the [combatants] involved, instead of the media,” said Tyson Meyer, a member of the local community who attended the forum.
Andrea Ginsburg, a senior who attended the forum, said “it made me really happy to see all the people here, It’s good to know that people want peace.”

Katz (left) and al Hamri (right) speaking to students after the forum