Ayelet ShahakIn a way we are a ray of light; we give people hope of some sort. We are the "advance party." If we talk and keep in touch then they obviously can do it too. We serve as an example, as the pillar of fire in front of the camp. And because it is so difficult, it is more important. Ayelet Shahak's daughter Bat-Chen was killed in a bombing outside a Tel Aviv mall in 1996. During the mourning period the Shahaks discovered that Bat-Chen's diaries were full of writings and poems about peace. Ayelet and her husband Tzvika have made it their mission to pursue their daughter's hopes for peace, becoming founding members of the Parents Circle-Bereaved Families Forum, a group of over 500 Israeli and Palestinian families who have lost loved ones to the conflict, and who advocate reconciliation over retribution. Ayelet, along with her Palestinian partners, lectures in schools throughout Israel and in the West Bank. The Shahaks have published Bat Chen's poems and diaries in Hebrew, Arabic, Dutch, German and Japanese, Italian and recently in English. |
| ||||||||||||||||
