Bilha and Yakovi Inon, parents of Maoz Inon and his four siblings, were murdered by Hamas on October 7th 2023. When he speaks (and he has been doing a lot of speaking) Maoz describes how three days after his parents were killed he had a vision. He says, ‘I woke up at night, my entire body was aching with pain like I have never experienced before. I woke up crying, and through my tears I could see [all] humanity, all mankind was crying. We were all crying—Israelis and Palestinians, between the river and the sea, and in the entire world—we were crying.
And then I could see the tears falling on our body and our body was wounded, wounded from the war, from so many wars we’ve been waging on each other. And our tears washed our bodies and healed the wounds.
It was a miracle that our bodies became whole again. . . . And then I looked on the ground, and the ground was red from blood. . . . And then our tears, after healing our bodies, washed the ground and they cured the ground. And then I could see through my tears, the beautiful ground and I could see the path of peace.’ ‘Beyond revenge’ Canadian Mennonite https://canadianmennonite.org/stories/beyond-revenge-maoz-inon
With Palestinian partners, Maoz is using his entrepreneurial skills to address the enormous challenge of reshaping the narrative and enabling some movement towards bridgebuilding. On Saturday 18th May, along with regular conversation partner, Palestinian Aziz abu Sarah, Maoz addressed Pope Francis at a peace conference in Verona and told him, ‘We are entrepreneurs and we believe peace is the greatest enterprise to be achieved.’ https://www.instagram.com/vaticannews/reel/C7HD4AgtOgR/
In a talk launching the newest series of TED talks in April 2024 Maoz and Aziz gave a bit more detail. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0juLRi90kRg&t=990s Their love and respect for one another is obvious and moving, and they know that to change the polarised narrative they need to present together. I thoroughly recommend the TED talk. Towards the end, having outlined how he feels his parents prepared him to walk a path of peace, Maoz talks about how forgiveness is key: ‘we must forgive the past and the present , but forgiveness is not for the future. Instead, a new future must be made.’ Maoz calls it a ‘miracle’ and says ‘Our stories meet in the future.’
The future Maoz and Aziz dream about encompasses reconciliation and recognition of the other, security and safety and equality. It is a lofty dream and cynics might scoff, but there is something very grounded about their determination to amplify their voices and build legitimacy as leaders.
The TED talk finishes with an analysis of hope which is not something you can find or lose, says Maoz, it is something you must make. He credits his Palestinian dialogue partners for teaching him this. And they invite all who dream of a peaceful future to join in working to make that dream a reality.
I find heartening Maoz and Azif and all the others who have consistently since 7th October rejected revenge and remembered the humanity of Palestinians trapped in Gaza, along with the humanity of the hostages and the young IDF soldiers.
They ask us to amplify their voices, to refuse to be enemies. This is a huge challenge and can seem naive and unrealistic. But unless we see the humanity of all, and treat one another as sisters and brothers, we are doomed to repeated violence and horror and grief.
Stepping out of the boat... 