Middle East Peace Civic Forum podcast Peace Tribe Rising Matt Lakenbach, Tarek Nahabet, Peter van Geldern, Angela Sparrow, Ghassan Manasra,

Transforming the Conversation: Peace Tribe Rising

Consider that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is anchored—and continually reinforced—in language, and that the facts on the ground are a reflection of the conflict-oriented dialogues and conversations that take place in communities, in the media, in politics, online, and beyond. 

This reality of conflict and difference has become rooted in our collective identities, constructed from our understanding of history, culture, religion, tribe, etc. All too often, these identities come at the expense of demonizing and diminishing “the other,” perpetuating the cycle of violence, revenge, and pain while reinforcing the  unsustainable facts on the ground.

At the Middle East Peace Civic Forum, we view language as a tool to create common humanity, brotherhood and sisterhood. Standing in a shared vision of coexistence, dignity, and peace, we are consciously and intentionally empowering the identity of the peacemakers and those who are deeply committed to living together in peace. 

Through the Peace Tribe Rising podcast and community, we are expanding the conversation for reconciliation, love, and healing—in the Middle East and worldwide. We are breathing life into a reality of reconciliation, shared opportunity, and common purpose within the Abrahamic family.

Growing the Movement for Peace

The Middle East Peace Civic Forum is organizing, uniting, and empowering a global movement of artists, musicians and others who believe in the power of music and the arts to move the soul and inspire peace and human rights. We are building bridges among artists, thought leaders, civil society peace leaders and people everywhere who are committed to living in peace—in the Middle East and worldwide. 

Too often, the language of division, intolerance, and anger prevails, feeding into the cycle of violence on the ground. Through this initiative, we are leveraging the power of music, art and language to expand the Peace Tribe and contribute a vision of peace. Many well-known artists bring a significant following, and they are versed in the power of celebrity, language and music to bring social change. We are committed to embracing the language of peace, and believe that real, lasting peace is possible if we work together and make a commitment to upholding human rights, eliminating injustice, serving others, and acting with kindness. 

Our intention is to be a catalyst for a massive international movement for peace, creating a new reality in which Israelis and Palestinians live together in mutual respect, security, and peace.


Empowering Affinity Groups

Affinity and friendship grow when we work together. We believe that to have a partner, we must be a partner. 

Within the Middle East Peace Civic Forum and Peace Tribe Rising, we are creating Israeli-Palestinian and Jewish-Muslim-Christian partnerships based on trust and mutual respect within our own organization and beyond. 

The Empowering Affinity Groups initiative builds positive relationships that bridge cultural, religious, historical and national divides. Affinity group programs may include the fields of agriculture, medicine, education, technology, entrepreneurship and any number of other fields and common interests. 

This program is growing warm and cooperative relationships, promoting economic development and sustainability, and causing effective partnerships. We are also growing partnerships with like-minded organizations to expand the impact of their programs.

 The Middle East Peace Civic Forum is empowering groups of Israelis and Palestinians who share a common interest to develop positive relationships.

Moving beyond concepts of difference and conflict, we are implementing a vision of friendship and partnership through programs on the ground. The Mushrooms for Peace project is an expression of this. Through our efforts, Israelis and Palestinians are coming together to promote economic opportunity, development, and peace through small-scale mushroom farming! Through this program, we are building positive relationships and establishing trust among Palestinians, Israelis, and their international partners.

This mushroom-growing project has been field-proven in Tanzania, where participants have substantially increased their incomes.

Your partnership will help provide the training, equipment and project management necessary to launch Mushrooms for Peace in the Holy Land! You can make a difference by donating today to the Middle East Peace Civic Forum's Mushroom for Peace project. Thank you for your generous donation!