Palestinian peace activist Aziz Abu Sarah lost his brother during the First Intifada, while Israeli campaigner Maoz Inon's parents were killed in the Hamas attacks of 7 October, 2023. They could have become enemies, but instead they have chosen brotherhood, working together to push for peace in the region. They spoke to RFI about their new book, in which they advocate for reconciliation as the only way to end the cycle of violence.
The 7 October attacks on Israel by Hamas militants killed 1,200 people, mainly civilians, while 251 others were taken hostage. Israel's counter-offensive on Gaza has killed more than 70,000 people in the territory, according to its Health Ministry.
While a ceasefire came into effect in October 2025, there is still no durable Israel-Palestine peace deal, with both sides accusing the other of breaking the truce.
Meanwhile, Israeli settlers, backed by the country's army, continue to expand their occupation of Palestinian land in the West Bank, in defiance of international law.
Abu Sarah and Maoz Inon co-lead the organisation InterAct International. Their book The Future is Peace: A Shared Journey across the Holy Land, explores "how compassion and unity can pull humanity back from the precipice of blind hatred".
They spoke with RFI about their friendship, and their determination to push the international community to back peace.
RFI: In your book The Future is Peace, you write: “In the world we were born into, friendship between Israelis and Palestinians seems inconceivable. But the pain of loss did not turn us into enemies. On the contrary, it brought us closer together.”
You became friends in the aftermath of the 7 October attacks. Maoz, how did that happen?
Maoz Inon: I met Aziz for about 10 minutes in 2014. We were only connected on Facebook after that.
Then, after 7 October, Aziz reached out to offer his condolences and told me he stood with me and my family during that terrible moment. It genuinely felt like someone extending a hand to save me from drowning in an ocean of grief.
Over the past two years, we have walked this path together and written this book together. I lost my parents on 7 October. I lost childhood friends and people I had known my whole life. But I gained Aziz as a brother.
RFI: Aziz, why did you feel the need to contact Maoz after 7 October, when he was really just an acquaintance at that point?
Aziz Abu Sarah: Because I understand what loss means. I lost my brother when I was 10 years old, and there is nothing more painful, nothing that creates more anger, than losing a member of your family.
At that very dark moment, there was very little empathy around. I also knew what was going to happen in Gaza and the destruction that was coming. I felt it was important to reach out to Maoz, to share my sympathy and let him know I felt his pain.
He responded with the same empathy. He said he was mourning for the children of Gaza as well. If there were a little more empathy like that in the world today, I don’t think we would see so many wars.
RFI: So you now see each other as brothers?
Aziz Abu Sarah: Absolutely. We see each other as brothers and we love each other.
We didn’t start out calling each other brothers. It was Pope Francis who used that word when we met him at the Arena of Peace gathering in 2024. We told him we wanted to share our grief in order to create dialogue and bring peace to our peoples in the Holy Land.
He said: “I support you, Brother Maoz and Brother Aziz, in bringing peace to this land.”
Maoz Inon: And because it was a Catholic blessing, there’s no divorce possible now.
RFI: To reach that point, you both had to reject the idea of revenge. Aziz, how did you make that journey?
Aziz Abu Sarah: It took time. It took me eight years. I was 10 when I lost my brother, Tayseer.
What changed me was learning Hebrew and meeting Israelis who were not settlers or soldiers. One of my teachers treated me kindly and as an equal. That made me realise the divide is not simply between Israelis and Palestinians.
The real divide is between those who want equality, justice and peace – and those who do not.
RFI: Maoz, is it easy to let go of revenge?
Maoz Inon: In the book, we draw on stories from the Bible, from Greek mythology, from ancient history, from other conflict zones and from our own lives. Again and again, we see revenge transformed into reconciliation.
Two days after our parents were killed, my younger brother asked my sisters and me to reject revenge completely and send a clear message that we did not want vengeance in our parents’ name.
We knew revenge would not bring them back. It would only lead to more violence and more bloodshed. To honour our parents properly, we had to continue their legacy and choose another path – a path of peace and reconciliation.
RFI: When you say that peace is our future, some people will see that as unrealistic given the reality in the Middle East today. What makes you both believe that peace is possible?
Aziz Abu Sarah: The only naïve people are those who still believe in war.
Since I was born, there have been at least 15 or 20 wars in the region – and I’m not that old. Have those wars made the Middle East better? No. The situation is far worse today because of them.
Believing in peace is not naïve. Believing in endless war is naïve.
I have seen what war does. The only rational thing is to believe that peace is the future. Every other option means accepting more death and accepting that the future will be just as terrible as the present – perhaps even worse.
RFI: Is peace the only possible outcome?
Maoz Inon: Yes. That is exactly what we show in the book.
We have studied conflicts around the world – in Europe, Rwanda, South Africa and Northern Ireland – and eventually all conflicts come to an end. History shows us that.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict will also end one day. That's not simply wishful thinking. The question is: why not now? What can we do to bring this conflict to an end today?
RFI: It takes courage to choose peace. Do you see any peacemakers among today’s Israeli and Palestinian leaders?
Maoz Inon: Before Egyptian president Anwar Sadat visited Israel in 1977, Menachem Begin was not seen as a man of peace. He had led the Irgun militia during the British Mandate and spent most of his political life opposing reconciliation – whether with Germany or with Arab countries.
Two weeks before Sadat’s visit, almost nobody in Israel believed peace was possible.
But under pressure from the international community, Sadat came to Israel. Israeli children welcomed him waving both Egyptian and Israeli flags.
And Begin – a former militant – said: “We can avoid another war, but we cannot avoid peace. Peace will come.”
[Editor's note: Sadat, Begin and United States president Jimmy Carter signed the Camp David peace accords on 17 September, 1978 – framework agreements that led to the 1979 Egypt-Israel peace treaty, bringing decades of hostilities between Jerusalem and Cairo to an end.]
That shows people can change, even those associated with violence and war. But we need the international community. We need France and the European Union.
RFI: Does that mean the international community must stop being a spectator to repeated wars in the region?
Aziz Abu Sarah: Yes. The international community has to act, not just make empty statements.
Countries cannot claim to oppose war while supplying weapons and profiting from conflict.
That's one reason why we translated this book into French and English – because we are reaching out to the international community. Israelis and Palestinians cannot do this alone.
We need people to pressure their governments to do two things: first, support peace efforts with concrete action and funding, as the European Union did in Northern Ireland. And second, impose sanctions on those promoting violence and bloodshed – whether they are political leaders, generals, Hamas or members of the Israeli government.
If you promote death, you should not be treated as an ally.
This interview was adapted from an interview by RFI's Arnaud Pontus and has been edited for clarity.
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