The Israel Project will launch a cross-country “Mothers for Peace” tour and TV ad campaign in February to bring attention to the culture of hate in Palestinian schools. The tour, which comes on the heels of Hamas’ victory in the Palestinian legislative elections,  features Nonie Darwish, an Arab woman who grew up in Gaza as the daughter of a “martyr” who organized and carried out operations to destroy Israel, and Miri Eisin, an Israeli woman who has been at the forefront of defending her country.

The tour will start on February 8th in Washington, DC.  The two will travel to New York City, northern New Jersey, Atlanta, San Jose and end in San Francisco on February 15th. Both women have three children and share a common hope for a peaceful future, one in which Palestinian children are taught to aspire to become doctors, teachers and lawyers, not suicide bombers. They also hope for an Israel where there is no need for checkpoints or a security fence to prevent terrorists from killing innocent civilians.  

By talking about her upbringing in Gaza, Nonie hopes to bring attention to the deceptions and hatred in which she was steeped as a child and that continue as part of her culture to this day. “I learned to hate Israelis and Jews at an early age,” she says. One popular song children in her school sang proclaimed, ‘Arabs are our friends and Jews our dogs.’ “I learned that hate, vengeance and retaliation are important values to protect Islam and Arab honor,” Nonie says. “The severe indoctrination is devastating on children. Those who end up as terrorists are simply the ones who took their education and upbringing seriously and did was they were told.”

Miri was born in the San Francisco Bay Area and moved to Israel with her family when she was nine. Like most Israelis, Miri served in the Israel Defense Forces and then continued her military career until recently retiring with the rank of colonel. She now works to help increase understanding of Israel and Israelis. A serious lack of understanding and mistrust has led Palestinians to “see Israel on the whole as an aggressive militaristic society waiting to destroy them,” Miri says. “The only way to change this is through education - a very big hurdle.”

Now that Hamas, a terrorist group bent on Israel’s destruction, is in control of Palestinian areas, those on the side of peace need to be even more vigilant. Nonie and Miri will discuss ways that average citizens can get involved and effect change in the Middle East.

The 30-second TV ad features Nonie, who now lives in the United States, speaking out against the indoctrination she experienced growing up, her love for her culture of origin and her desire for peace. “Peace,” Nonie states in the ad, “has to be taught as a value.”

The ad will air hundreds of times Jan. 31 - Feb. 28 on CNN, MSNBC and FOX News in all of the cities and regions included in the tour: Washington, D.C., New York City, Atlanta, northern New Jersey and the San Francisco Bay Area.

The ad also shows real footage, captured from Palestinian TV, of Palestinian youth learning to load guns and marching with rifles.

“Palestinian children deserve a better future, but the culture of hate and terrorism is holding the Palestinians back from their dreams,” said The Israel Project Founder and President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi. “When the abusive culture of hate and terror ends there will no longer need to be fences or checkpoints. Instead there can be negotiations and two states - Israel and Palestine - living side by side in peace. I sincerely hope this campaign helps highlight just how serious this problem is.”

The Mothers for Peace Tour is co-sponsored by the Jewish Community Relations Council of Greater Washington, Georgetown Israel Alliance, and Israel on Campus Coalition of Greater Washington, the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, the Jewish Community Relations Council of UJA Federation of Northern New Jersey, the Jewish Federation of Greater Atlanta Community Relations Committee, the Jewish Community Relations Council of Silicon Valley, the Jewish Community Relations Council of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin, Sonoma, Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and The Israel Center of the Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin & Sonoma Counties

To view the TV ad, please visit www.theisraelproject.org/tv .

For more information about the Mothers for Peace tour, please visit www.theisraelproject.org/m4p
 
Sincerely,

Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi
Founder and President

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The Israel Project is an international non-profit organization devoted to educating the press and the public about Israel while promoting security, freedom and peace. The Israel Project provides journalists, leaders and opinion-makers accurate information about Israel.

Board of Advisors: Senator Evan Bayh (IN), Senator Saxby Chambliss (GA), Senator Norm Coleman (MN), Senator Ben Nelson (NB), Senator Rick Santorum (PA), Senator Arlen Specter (PA), Senator Ron Wyden (OR), Congressman Rob Andrews (NJ), Congresswoman Shelley Berkley (NV), Congressman Tom Davis (VA), Congressman Eliot Engel (NY), Congressman Frank Pallone (NJ), Congressman Jon Porter (NV), Congressman Jim Saxton (NJ), Congressman Brad Sherman (CA), Congressman Joe Wilson (SC), Actor and Director Ron Silver

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Related: Israel, Palestinians

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