Hands of Peace

Summer program - the flagship summer program is a powerful, unifying experience that starts young "Hands" ages 14-16 on their journey to becoming agents of change. For three weeks each summer, Hands of Peace brings israeli and palestinian teens from the middle east to concurrent programs in chicago and san diego, where they are hosted in american homes and take part in daily dialogue and activities with american teens. In dialogue groups, led by pairs of israeli and palestinian professional facilitators, the teens get to know people from "the other side," learn how to listen deeply to widely different perspectives, share their personal and sometimes painful narratives, and explore nonviolent approaches to foster Peace, justice, freedom and equality for all.

Raising youth voices - raising youth voices brings the youth leadership lessons of the summer program to local youth in san diego. Raising youth voices offers facilitation training workshops to underserved communities, recruiting refugees, immigrants and low-income teens ages 14-15. After learning facilitation skills, participants practice those skills by facilitating conversations in their homes, schools, houses of worship, and at Hands of Peace events. Summer program scholarships for four raising youth voices participants bring a variety of backgrounds and lived experiences into the summer program. This diversity more accurately represents the diverse populations in san diego and the u.s. to the middle east summer program "Hands." The grant received underwrote the fees of four participants in the 2022 summer program.

Alumni programs - following the initial summer program, Hands of Peace nurtures impactful leaders by developing critical thinking, conflict resolution and peacebuilding skills in our alumni, who now number over 750 youth ages 16-35. Recognizing that youth leadership development takes time, especially in the midst of the stressful israeli-palestinian conflict, regular alumni seminars for american, israeli and palestinian alumni include ongoing dialogue and skill building workshops in subjects such as design thinking and social entrepreneurship, public speaking, media literacy, storytelling, conflict analysis, reconciliation and resilience. Whether by delegation or across the four delegations, americans, palestinian citizens of israel, jewish israelis, and palestinians from the west bank and east jerusalem, alumni connect to analyze the challenges they are facing, plan the contributions they can make to their communities, and strengthen the connections they need, both within the alumni group and with other community leaders, for access to additional expertise and resources. Alumni can also take leadership roles within Hands of Peace as chaperones, facilitators, committee members and board directors.

Community circles - to create supportive environments for our youth leaders, Hands of Peace serves as a hub for intercultural exchange and education for a vibrant international community. Monthly intergenerational dialogues, book circles, film screenings, panels and talk are designed by a volunteer committee of alumni and community members around the israeli-palestinian conflict and broader issues of civil discourse, conflict resolution, reconciliation, and peacebuilding. Community members are encouraged to learn by doing, and to listen carefully to voices of youth in these conversations.