Salt of the Earth: A Conversation between a Palestinian and an Israeli Peace Activist

Join Osama lliwat and Rotem Levin, Palestinian and Israeli peace activists, as they share their personal stories of transformation, lessons of joint peaceful resistance, and the vastly different realities they face in the same land. The devastating escalation of violence in Israel and Palestine has left many feeling powerless, angry, and hopeless. Rotem and Osama believe in the possibility of a different reality grounded in a shared future of security, equality, and justice for all people.

Osama lliwat was born in Jerusalem, where his family is originally from, and was displaced like so many Palestinians around the world after the war of 1967. He grew up in Jericho. He has been in the peace world for more than 15 years and is the co-founder of Visit Palestine. He has dedicated his life to nonviolent resistance, working with different organizations, such as the Sulha Peace Project and Interfaith Encounter Association, appearing in several documentaries, including Objector and The Other, and regularly speaking on peacebuilding at organizations and universities around the world.

Rotem Levin was born and raised in Ein Vered. After his military service, he participated in a transformational intensive dialogue program in Germany, where he got to know Palestinians on a personal and intimate level. This instigated a change in perspective on the story he was born and raised with. After this experience, he started organizing similar programs in Aqaba, Jordan, where he offered the experience to other post-military Israelis and to Palestinian and Israeli medical workers. He is a committed activist and doctor by profession.

Sponsored by the Interdisciplinary Humanities Center