Maoz Inon, an Israeli tourism entrepreneur, was grieving the deaths of his parents, incinerated in their home near the Gaza border on Oct. 7, 2023, when he received an unexpected text message of condolence. It came from Aziz Abu Sarah, a Palestinian American tourism professional he’d met only once, more than a decade ago.
“I sent him a message, and he surprisingly responded,” Abu Sarah recalled to J.
The two spoke over the phone, each sharing about relatives they lost to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Abu Sarah’s brother Tayseer was 19 when he died following beatings during Israeli imprisonment 35 years ago.
“We clicked,” Inon said of that phone call with Abu Sarah. “I lost my parents, but I won a brother. This is how I see Aziz.”
Since the start of the Israel-Hamas war, the two men have been traveling the world on a mission to promote peace even as it looks as far away as ever. From June 14 to 16, they will speak in Richmond, Palo Alto and Aptos to share their roadmap for creating a lasting peace in the region by 2030.
Abu Sarah, born in a town three miles east of Jerusalem, had already been promoting a message of peace before the current war began.
He was only 10 when his brother died, and he grew up with hatred and anger toward Israelis. He even threw stones at them, he told National Geographic in 2013. But interacting with Israeli Jews in a classroom as a young adult changed his perspective about the people he once considered his “enemy.”
“We both understand the price of this conflict, more than anybody else,” Abu Sarah told J. over Zoom from London, where earlier that day he’d met with a group of Orthodox rabbis. “We understand the cost of the absence of peace. We understand the pain that comes with it.”
What happened on and after Oct. 7 has made his efforts feel more urgent than ever, Abu Sarah said.
For Inon, a co-founder of Abraham hostels and tours in Israel, working with Abu Sarah has become his reason for getting out of bed in the mornings since Oct. 7.
“Being a peace activist and a peace builder, it’s part of my personal healing, and I see it is the only way to justify the death of my parents — that they will be victims of peace and not victims of war,” Inon told J. over Zoom from Israel. “This is how I heal myself, and not only myself, but I’m also able to heal the people around me.”
There is no typical audience for this pair, and they know that everyone who listens to them won’t agree with what they have to say.
“We are engaging with a large segment of society and not just, you know, those who already 100% agree with us,” Abu Sarah said.
For those who do agree, the pair hope to build support for InterAct, the nonprofit that Abu Sarah co-founded in 2018 to create practical solutions for lasting peace through education, cultural exchange and economic cooperation. Inon now serves as InterAct’s executive director.
Their visit to Northern California came about through “multiple dots coming together,” Abu Sarah said. One of those dots involved Rabbi Paula Marcus of Temple Beth El in Aptos, a friend of Abu Sarah’s who has traveled with both him and Inon in and around Israel. On June 16, Marcus will facilitate a conversation with them at her Reform synagogue. The event, which will also be livestreamed, is co-sponsored by Chadeish Yameinu, a Renewal congregation in Santa Cruz.
“This is an opportunity to hear the voices of two important peacemakers who are immersed in this work,” Marcus wrote in an email to J. “They have shared profound loss and their grief motivates them to do all they can to build hope and create the capacity for change to ensure justice, security and peace.”
On June 14 in Richmond, a discussion with Inon and Abu Sarah will be followed by a musical performance from Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Iman Jordan and a DJ dance party. And on June 15 in Palo Alto, Congregation Etz Chayim and Spark Church are hosting the pair at the synagogue.
Inon said attendees can expect a “very open and honest conversation” that won’t “ignore the difficulties, the reality which we are all living within.”