Good Conversation Centre: Crack in the wall. United in mourning for peace | B. Aramin (Palestine) and R. Elhanan (Israel)

Moderated by: Eliza Gaust. Event in English translated into Polish and Polish Sign Language

Bassam Aramin – a Palestinian – and Rami Elhanan – an Israeli. They were united by loss. Bassam’s 10-year-old daughter, Abir, was killed by an Israeli border guard outside her school. Rami’s 14-year-old daughter, Smadar, was killed by Palestinian suicide bombers in central Jerusalem. Both co-founded the Parents Circle – a group of parents who have lost children in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In the circumstances of a worsening conflict in which innocent people on both sides are being killed, Rami and Bassam say: this will not end unless we start talking. They are activists for peace when it seems increasingly distant and unattainable. Their pain becomes their strength to create bridges instead of building more graves.

Bio

Bassam Aramin lives in Jericho, West Bank. He was arrested at the age of 17 and spent seven years in an Israeli prison. He went on to study history and received an MA in Holocaust Studies from the University of Bradford in England. In 2005, Bassam co-founded Combatants for Peace with his son Rami Elik. He became a member of the Parents Circle in 2007 after the loss of his 10-year-old daughter Abir. Bassam dedicates his time and energy to his belief in a peaceful, bloodless end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and to Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. Bassam was the Palestinian co-director of the Parents Circle – Families Forum until August 2020.

Rami Elhanan is a seventh-generation Jerusalemite on his mother’s side. His father was an Auschwitz survivor. He is a retired IDF soldier from 3 wars. He presents himself as Jewish, Israeli and, above all, human. Rami joined Parents Circle a year after the loss of his daughter, Samadar, and speaks before Israeli, Palestinian and international audiences. Rami was the Israeli co-director of the Parents Circle – Families Forum until August 2020.

Eliza Gaust – cultural scholar, trainer in the field of DEI and anti-discrimination activities. For many years she has been active in the field of equal treatment and human rights – in public institutions, non-governmental organisations, and from 2022 to 2024 in the City of Łódź Office as Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of the City of Łódź for Equal Treatment. She worked for many years at the Marek Edelman Dialogue Center, where she was responsible, among other things, for intercultural and anti-discrimination projects. Since 2013, she has coordinated the Living Library Łódź. She co-founded the coalition Łódź Różnorodności, which brings together people from minority groups and with migration experience, living in Łódź. Graduate of the Flying University of Human Rights.

The Biedermann Factory is a partner of the event.