As the United Nations General Assembly, attended by Prime Ministers, Presidents, and diverse world leaders, convened for its 79th session, an actual "peacemaker" spoke in New York City. His message was simple, but it wasn't on the front burner of either the Israeli right-wing government or the Hamas decision-makers.
It still isn't.
The concept that Palestinian Hamze Awawde has been putting forth regarding the previous year of destruction and despair is succinct:
"There is no violent solution."
Awawde was in the United States, appearing in numerous cities to discuss the work that he has been doing. I attended a session hosted by the NYC Chapter of Supporters of Standing Together Abroad, a group that gathers on Sundays in Union Square to raise awareness for the Israeli Standing Together organization, their Theory of Change and to call for an end to the war and the return of the hostages.
Tamara Gayer, the point person for the New York group, moderated the conversation. Gayer referenced the ongoing weekend event, which promotes the calls to "Bring Them Home" and "Let Gaza Live".
"We are the keepers of the flame," Gayer said to a room filled with attendees. The atmosphere was both low-key and intense as everyone was fully aware of the stakes, punctuated by the Israeli incursions into Lebanon and the planned demonstrations to greet Benjamin Netanyahu.
Awawde started with a statement outlining his general premise:
"I'm not here to preach anything. We are in this together. We're keeping the idea of peace alive." Noting that it was almost the first anniversary of October 7, he addressed Netanyahu's role in the process: "Bibi wants total victory. For him, peace is dangerous."
Awawde pointed to the decades filled with killing and devastation as totally wasted. "Rabin and Arafat made decisions in their context," he said. "Hamas thinks they can push Israel out and make an Islamic place. Any person with two eyes should see this is the wrong approach, and it's not working."
Tackling a problem that often goes under the radar when people are trying to dialogue, Awawde said, "We need a new language. We need to help people see what is happening. We need to explain to people who are accepting the status quo. We have to impact those who are complicit or neutral."
Addressing the respective historical traumas of both Israeli Jews and Palestinians, Awawde acknowledged, "You have trauma. It's all about the past, [but] we can build and create. The October 6 formula is over. The sooner people wake up, the sooner it will end."
Awawde briefly talked about his background. I knew some details from previous calls where he was a featured speaker, including his background in conflict resolution and his emphasis on creating leadership in the ranks of the upcoming generation of Palestinians and Israelis through "education, dialogue, and action". Awawde, the recipient of a Bachelor of Arts from Birzeit University in Ramallah and a Master of Arts from Hebrew University in Jerusalem, was a vital part of Hands of Peace, which closed in March 2024 after twenty-one years.
That evening, I listened to the podcast that Awawde had made with Unapologetic: The Third Narrative when he was their first guest speaker. It filled in details of his backstory. He was born in Dura, a village southwest of Hebron, where his family had deep ties to the land. He remembered the presence of soldiers in his home to question his father, tear gas in the air, being surrounded by demolitions and arrests, and the repeated cycles of hostilities. Awawde moved to Ramallah following his university studies. After October 7, Awawde has resettled in Italy because he wants his son "to be in a safe place".
Questions from the floor comprised the event's final portion. The role of the American government in the ongoing situation was primary, in addition to the polarization of the American voting public, and the weaponization of antisemitism.
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