Elik Elhanan and Bassam Aramin
Previously Aired On: January 28, 2008 – Listen to the Show!
Combatants for Peace are former Israeli and Palestinian fighters who no longer see each other as enemies. They forswear violence and advocate together for an end to the Occupation. Abir’s father, Bassam Aramin, was formerly a Fatah fighter who spent 7 years in an Israeli prison. He now heads the Al Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue.
On January 16, 2007, 3 Palestinian girls were walking home from school in Anata, East Jerusalem. An Israeli Border Police jeep drove through the school zone firing rubber bullets; Bassam’s daughter, Abir, was wounded and died 3 days later. She was 10 years old. ABIR’S GARDEN has emerged as a way of memorializing Abir by building a safe place for her classmates to gather, play and heal on the grounds of her school.
In 2007, Bassam received the Bremen Peace Award for reconciliation work in the Middle East and the Eliav-Sartawi Award for Middle Eastern Journalism by Search for Common Ground.
Elik Elhanan, military refuser, served as a soldier in an IDF combat unit from 1995-98. In 1997 his sister, Smadar, was killed by a Palestinian suicide bombing in Jerusalem. He speaks all over the world and is now pursuing a Ph.D. in Middle East Studies at Columbia University.
For more information and to and support the Abir’s Garden Project please visit: 
