Hello, and welcome to our website! Thank you for your interest in the Middle East Peace Civic Forum and our work to transform conflict and realize peace in the Middle East.

The recent dramatic escalation of violence and terror between Israelis and Palestinians has had dramatic consequences. Injustice, intolerance and anger have become the norm. Clearly, a new approach to healing the Palestinian-Israeli relationship is wanted and needed.

I experienced the tragedy of the situation first-hand on July 2, 2008. Stepping off a bus in Jerusalem, I walked right into the scene of an unfolding terror attack. The perpetrator used a front-end loader to strike a series of cars and buses, flipping one of the buses over and crushing several cars. In one of the cars, the mother of a six-month old baby girl handed the child to pedestrians on the street seconds before being crushed to death.

To those who say that now is not the time for peace because tensions are again high, we declare that now is exactly the time for peace.

To those who say the utopia we envision is merely a dream, we say project the current dystopia into the future and imagine what that would be like. To that we say, hard pass.

To those who use arguments of religion, history, culture, or justice to perpetuate the conflict, we invite you to consider that the prophets anticipated a time of peace; that long-standing conflicts do end; and that human beings are capable of reconciling their differences and forgiving one another.

The prophet Isaiah foresaw a time in which the people would beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. A time is coming, he declared, in which Nation shall not take up sword against nation; and they shall never again know war.

At the Middle East Peace Civic Forum, we are clear that peace is possible. We stand grounded in our vision of authentic, comprehensive peace among Palestinians and Israelis. Not the illusory peace of dominance or acquiescence, but a lasting, deep, and purposeful peace characterized by mutual respect and honor.

Our task is to stand in that enlightened future, imagine and create what it looks like, and project backwards, forming a path to the present moment. That path forms the scaffolding of our work. Standing in a future of genuine peace, we have already created the conversations and structures that lead to an outcome of coexistence, partnership and workability.

The essence of our mission is to build the bridge between a reality of true peace fulfilled and the present moment.

Our three programs areas, Organize, Transform, and Empower, have been designed to realize this mission:

• Organize includes our efforts to build a broad movement, which we call the Peace Tribe, in support of real peace. This includes being the partners we wish to have in the other side and working together to find a path to healing, trust, and partnership. We are firm believers in the power of the arts to move the soul and create a path to open hearts and minds. The Sweet Peace Concert Series, which brings people together online and in person to experience this power.

• Transform is all about altering and upgrading the conversation: away from the enmity, anger, and pain of the past and present and towards an experience of real brotherhood and sisterhood within the Abrahamic family and beyond. We are trained in the creative power of language to shape our world, as we say, “Words Create Worlds.”

• Empower is our initiative to train citizens and leaders who stand for reconciliation and peace to be accomplished and effective in their efforts. Through empower, we offer coaching and training services and organize on the ground programs to create partnership and opportunity.

We have assembled a world-class team of professionals in a range of fields to meet this historic challenge. Our team members are highly trained in the areas of communication, conflict resolution, management, organizing, business, and the arts. As a team, we bring a powerful and unique listening for what is possible in the Israeli-Palestinian relationship.

We share a profound and heartfelt commitment to healing and reconciliation, and we are called to put our efforts into realizing the magic of what’s possible when human beings work together in the spirit of kindness, brotherhood and sisterhood.

We are actively establishing partnerships with like-minded partners. If you are part of an organization that you think might be a candidate for a partnership, we want to hear from you. We invite you to contact us to start the conversation.

As a growing organization, we also seek financial partners who share our vision. Please consider a generous contribution to the Middle East Peace Civic Forum. We are a recognized 501c3 not-for-profit organization, and all contributions are tax deductible.

We welcome questions and inquiries about partnerships, sponsorship, projects, etc. Please sign up for our newsletter, follow us on social media, and listen and subscribe to the Peace Tribe Rising podcast. We look forward to being in conversation with you!

Thank you for taking the time to learn more about us and for being our partner for peace!

Shalom, Salaam, Peace,

Matt