after five months of war, peace camp activists still “at the stage of collective trauma”

In front of Jerusalem town hall, despite pressure from the police, Shir Mehamkin sticks up posters on which it is written that “only peace will bring security”. She belongs to the Debout ensemble organization, and today believes that we must move away from purely security management to seek a political solution to the conflict. “We tried fighting with the military solution for a long time and it didn’t work, it didn’t bring the security that the right had promised us. We live permanently in a state of insecurity”she emphasizes.

After five months of war between Israel and Hamas, the peace camp is trying to find its voice. October 7 shook up beliefs and righted minds. The left has lost most of its bearings. But the conflict and colonization that had been neglected in recent years have returned to the forefront. “We are at the stage of collective trauma, which continues every day, so it is too early for a public discourse about the future. People who think about this are doing it in closed, private spaces, this quest has begun. People have a lot of doubts about their values ​​and beliefs.”notes Ofer Zalzberg, specialist on the subject for L’Kelman Institute for conflict transformation.

Dialogue is still complicated with the Palestinian camp, trust has been damaged. Huda Imam, Palestinian and cultural figure in East Jerusalem, feels like she has been abandoned by a large part of the Israeli left: “There is no more communication, the gap is widening among many people. The Palestinians are very disappointed that the voice of humanity among some Israelis has completely mutated.”

Left-wing activists now say they are moving forward step by step, with their first goal being to stop the fighting in the Gaza Strip.