'Peace has become a dirty word': Israel's peace camp gathers

Colourful images doves decorated the backdrop of the stage where the Jerusalem Youth Choir singing in Hebrew and Arabic, opening the main event of the "People's Peace Summit."

The third edition of the annual event was held in Tel Aviv on Thursday and attended by hundreds of participants.

The conference was organised by the "It's Time" coalition, more than 80 organisations working to bring the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to an end with an agreement guaranteeing both peoples' right to self-determination.

The mood at the convention was one of stubborn hope.

Participants acknowledged that, as the country approaches general elections in October, left-wing activism under one of the most right-wing coalitions in its country's history has become increasingly challenging.

As one speaker said on stage: "Peace has become a dirty word".

"There is always a reason for optimism. And there is always a good reason to work for peace," Achinoam Nini told AFP.

Nini, 56, one of Israel's best-known singers internationally and a prominent face of the country's peace movement, performs under the stage name Noa.

With Israel still waging war on multiple fronts, she said, there is also a battle inside the country.

"We're fighting for it to be a liberal democracy ... Towards the elections, it's just going to get worse and worse," she said.

Although the conference was planned as a joint Israeli-Palestinian event, the bulk of attendees appeared to be veterans of Israel's peace camp, many of them acquainted through decades of shared activism.

Organisations including Peace Now, Standing Together and the Bereaved Families Forum set up stands in the main hall, promoting their work and selling merchandise.

Activists from the West Bank and Gaza were unable to attend, blocked by a permit system that has become near-impenetrable since the Hamas attacks of 7 October 2023 and the subsequent war in Gaza.

The event did, however, draw several dozen members of youth movements, as well as Palestinian citizens of Israel.

"If we don't unite all the peace movements, the situation will be difficult in this country. We are trying to be an influential part of the government," said Tahani Abd al-Halim, 44, a teacher from Kafr Manda in northern Israel.

"There must be change. Two peoples must live together. And the government must be not only the Jewish people but also the Arab people," she said.

During one of the panels preceding the main event, a video message from French foreign minister Jean-Noel Barrot announced that France will host an international meeting in June dedicated to a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, one year after a previous such conference.

Israeli media coverage of the Tel Aviv event was conspicuously thin -- a reflection of how marginal the peace camp has become in the national conversation.

Also absent were representatives of the mainstream centrist parties in the Knesset, Israel's parliament, let alone those of the right.

A handful of left-wing and Arab lawmakers did attend, among them Ofer Cassif, 61, of the far-left Hadash party.

"I'm expecting the worst but hoping for the best," the politician told AFP.

"What we have been trying to do is to pursue our beliefs and to do whatever we can in order to materialise a better future for both peoples of this country, of this land, and the whole region," he added.

"And I believe that eventually we will prevail. The question is when."