Israeli and Palestinian teens come together for future of troubled region

Geneva: They are teens from the US and a torn Middle East: mostly Christians, Jews and Muslims, who have been taking part in a years-long programme to become leaders and peace-builders. While a lot changed on October 7, they persist in working for a better future for Israelis and Palestinians.

Unbowed by the Hamas-led attacks and Israel’s ongoing military response in Gaza, the Jerusalem Peacebuilders Programme, a small nongovernmental organisation, have escorted 16 teens to Geneva to explore the mechanics of global institutions and diplomacy. Organisers are hoping to shape open-minded leaders who could help lead the troubled region one day.

The group, created to help foster cross-cultural understanding after the September 11 attacks by now-retired Episcopal priest Rev. Nicholas Porter and his wife Dorothy, has survived off donations and a persistence in keeping hope alive from both the teens and their parents.

“It is incredibly important at this time of war and division in the Holy Land, that there are people who are willing to cross that line of difference,” Porter said. Anger and a state of emergency initially led some Israeli and Arabic-speaking schools to cancel participation with the programme, but “slowly they came back,” he said.