Happy Easter to all of you
who nurture Peace
by taking care of the gifts of the Earth.
Peace to those who carry on their shoulders
even the burden of those who lack the strength
or the courage.
Peace to those who hate,
because within themselves
love and life have been uprooted.
Peace to those who laid down the arms
to hold plow and seeds to grow
in their hands.
Peace for those who turned into broken bread
and for those who are willing
to do it for us as well.

In Colombia, in the Abibe mountain range, Urabà region, on 21 February 2005, a joint military and paramilitary operative group put an end to the lives of Luis Eduardo, Bellanira, Deiner, Sandra, Alfonso, Natalia and Santiago, members of the Peace Community of San José de Apartadò, and Alejandro. Deiner was only 11 years old. Natalia was only 5 years old. Santiago just 18 months.
Since then, every year, on February 20th, the entire Community, accompanied by national and international organizations, has been making a pilgrimage, a journey of about 6 hours, to reach Mulatos and Resbalosa villages where the terrible massacre of innocent lives occurred. There, on February 21st, the Paece Community has been commemorating the death of those persons.
Since 2009, every year, Operazione Colomba has been standing by the Community to commemorate with them what happened, out of solidarity, out of justice.

10 years of war in Syria
during which we have learnt that we have to accept dictatorships, because those who dared to ask for freedom encountered only war and death.
10 years of tortures and war victims, of bombings on civilians, hospitals and schools, of silence and lack of intervention from our countries, 10 million of homeless and stateless people.
10 years that we spent mostly into tents inside refugee camps in Lebanon and this is something wonderful.
10 years of work to ensure that thousands of people could arrive in Europe through Humanitarian Corridors, so much for this lacking politics which cannot wait to reestablish its business dealings or to sell weapons; years that witnessed the courage of families, groups and local associations in welcoming and hosting people.
10 years in which we may have realised just how close we feel to this war as well as to the next ones and how it is deeply affecting our lives.
10 years during which we understood that this is up to us, that nobody will open spaces of humanity, peace and hope but you and me.

K

Why does Syria need a Peace Proposal?
We keep providing food, medicines, temporary solutions to Syrian people, we keep looking for creative ways of saving lives, but without a Peace Proposal we will keep feeling helpless when facing the horror of war.
Without a Peace Proposal, we can only sail on the surface of problems, with the violent waves of the system hitting and overwhelming us.
However, with the Peace Proposal we can become the bread, we can become the cure, we can become a permanent solution and we can uproot injustice for good, we will see the resurrection after years of death. We will dive deep and free ourselves from the injustice.

What is the Peace Proposal?
The Peace Proposal is a place. It is a place where each one of us will find comfort and shelter, but which requires hard work.

CURRENT SITUATION

Due to the increasing number of Covid cases in Israel (approximately 8,000/day), the Government imposed a 2-week total lockdown at the beginning of the year. The lockdown was later extended to the whole month of January, with every movement between Palestine and Israel prohibited.
On January 24th Israel closed Ben Gurion airport, blocking all flights for people coming back to Israel from abroad. Land borders with Jordan and Egypt have been closed since January 26th. These restrictions caused protests: on January 26th in the town of Bnei Brak a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews protested violently against anti-Covid measures, setting a bus for public transport on fire.
In Palestine, lockdown has been prolonged until the end of January, so movement between the West Bank governorates is prohibited unless it is strictly necessary.
Meanwhile, Israel has continued its massive vaccination campaign, and now one third of the population is covered.