In early 2005, Yonatan Shapira and Bassam Aramin began meeting secretly along with a handful of other Palestinian and Israeli fighters in an effort to find a better way. The organization became known as Combatants for Peace.

Less than a year after they held a press conference announcing their goals, Bassam’s 10 year old daughter Abir was killed, he believes, by Israeli soldiers. But instead of hate, Bassam pledged continued non-violence while demanding justice for the death of his daughter.

Yonatan and Bassam talk with Dick Gordon about their stories and Combatants for Peace.

This program was produced by The Story for January 24, 2008.

For more information, visit:
thestory.org
combatantsforpeace.org

The Gaza Strip is one of the most violent and densely populated areas in the world - and half its population is under 16. Dr. Eyad Sarraj is a psychiatrist and human rights activist who works with the children of Gaza.

For years now, he has dealt with the scarring impact that constant fighting with Israel has had on kids. But the recent fighting between Hamas and Fatah has been much harder for him to explain, both to children, and at times to himself.

Dr. Sarraj talks with Dick Gordon about what it was like to live through the recent violence and how hard it is to maintain a professional distance when he hears stories from traumatized children.

This program was produced by The Story for June 21, 2007.

For more information, visit:
thestory.org
gcmhp.net (Gaza Community Mental Health Program)

Israel pulled out of Gaza more than a year ago, but residents there say they are anything but free. Israel retains a tight rein on the border. Palestinian militants continue to direct attacks outward towards Israel, but fighting has also turned inward, as Fatah and Hamas struggle for power.

Laila El-Haddad is a Palestinian journalist who divides her time between Gaza and Durham, N.C. She was in Gaza City this December when violence broke out between the two factions. Dick Gordon talks with Laila about the prospect of civil war in Gaza on The Story. He also hears what it’s like to raise a child under occupation. Laila has a son, 2 ½ year old Yousuf, who is just now beginning to question what the fighting is all about.

For more information, visit:
www.thestory.org
a-mother-from-gaza.blogspot.com/ (Laila El-Haddad’s weblog)

His brother and two cousins were shot and killed. Four brothers were injured. The family home was bulldozed with his mother inside. His father was jailed for twelve years. These are just some of Mohammed Omer’s family stories.

Mohammed is 22 and was born and raised in the Rafah refugee camp in the Gaza Strip.

He is a photojournalist, and he has been documenting his own life, and the lives of other Gazans, since 2002. Dick Gordon talks to Mohammed about growing up in one of the most dangerous places on earth on The Story.

For more information, visit:
www.thestory.org
www.rafahtoday.org/ (Mohammed Omer’s weblog)