Support Palestinian nonviolent activists Ahmed and Jamil

Support two non-violent Palestinian activists and strengthen our work by donating now to facilitate our participation in the Tamera Peace Research and Education Center summer educational programs.

Especially in this moment, as violence continues to rise and war spreads across the region, Palestinian nonviolent activists need your support to rebuild, recharge, rethink, and fight for a better future in Palestine. We, Ahmed and Jamil, were offered an incredible opportunity to participate in Tamera’s summer programs to do just this- but it can only happen with your help.

We are asking for 7,300 Dollars (6,300 Euros) to cover flights, visas, program fees, room and board, and additional transportation costs - We know this is not cheap, but we also know that connecting to activists and thinkers from all over the world and having the opportunity to learn, think, strategize, and plan will be a much needed boost to the nonviolent resistance movement in Palestine and for peace globally.

Any small amount that you can donate will help.

Donate here now.

About us, the activists:

We, Ahmed Helou, and Jamil Qassas, are Palestinian non-violent leaders in Combatants for Peace who are committed to building a better, peaceful future, in Palestine.

Ahmed, born and raised in Jericho, has family roots in Beer Sheva and Gaza. As a teen, Ahmed participated in the first intifada resulting in his political detainment for seven months. After his release, Ahmed committed to his community, volunteering and working to build up his local community, including volunteering as a medic in Jerusalem. Ahmed is a survivor, after being shot by Israeli bullets in East Jerusalem while trying to provide medical care for a friend who had been fatally wounded he continued with his commitment to help others. Over the years, he began to be involved in nonviolent Palestinian activism and resistance to the Israeli occupation. Today, he is a leader in the nonviolent movement, Combatants for Peace as well as other organizations.

Since October 7 2023, Ahmed has been fighting to assist his family in Gaza, over 160 of whom have already been murdered by the genocide. His remaining family members struggle to survive. In his words:

“My grief is bottomless. Sometimes it feels hard just to breathe. But even from that place- the place where everything feels lost- I choose to rise and say: we must not give up. We must not surrender to hatred, to loss to revenge…

Peace is not weakness. It is the strength to choose the harder path- to listen to the pain of the other, to recognize their suffering and to build bridges over rivers of blood. It is the courage to stand against those who profit from the endless war…

We are not many. But we are determined. Determined to live, not die. To build, not destroy. Even after losing everything.

I choose to dedicate my life to peace- to a nonviolent struggle against injustice, occupation, and extremism- ours and yours. Because that is the only path that remains: a shared future, built on mutual recognition and the belief that peace is still possible.

I have lost my loved ones, but not my hope. Peace is not a slogan. It is the only way to live.”

Donate now to support Ahmed and Jamil’s continued education and connection with international nonviolent activists and support Palestinian nonviolent resistance.

Born in Jordan to a refugee family, Jamil was raised in Dheisheh refugee camp, outside of Bethlehem. Jamil’s family had been made refugees twice, once in 1948, and again in 1967, disrupting their lives and causing trauma to their family. Jamil’s family was divided, some living in Jordan, some in Lebanon, some in Palestine, all in refugee camps. Jamil grew up around violence and death, his uncles killed in Lebanon, their communities destroyed in the Sabra and Shatila massacres. With this as his context, Jamil wanted to fight back against the Israeli occupation, and participated in the first intifada, suffering from live bullet fire, and eventually being detained as a political prisoner. Upon his release, he saw that the situation in Dheisheh had only deteriorated, a wall went up and curfew enforced. His younger brother, at the age of 14, ventured outside of the house to go to a neighbor and was killed by Israeli snipers. On that day, he not only lost his brother, but he also forever lost his mother’s smile.

Jamil committed himself to nonviolent resistance and activism during the second intifada, after witnessing his mother, who had lost a brother and a son to Israeli violence, react to a bus bombing inside in Israel. In his words:

“My mother was crying. I asked her: “Why are you crying, Mama? Those are Israelis who were killed, not us.” She looked at me and said, “Those kids who were killed have mothers. And those mothers will have the same feelings and the same pain that we went through. The tears of a Palestinian mother are not different from the tears of an Israeli mother. Blood has only one color. There is no red blood and black blood.”...

I first met Combatants for Peace during the Israeli-Palestinian Joint Memorial Ceremony. I was amazed to see and hear what they were doing. I soon joined the movement and became an activist. Today I continue to fight for the freedom of my people, but I do so peacefully. In Combatants for Peace we work together, Palestinians and Israelis, for justice, peace and equality. ”

Donate here to facilitate Ahmed and Jamil’s learning in Portugal and aid them in a moment to rest, recharge, and recommit to the nonviolent fight for justice in Palestine.

About Tamera:

Tamera Peace Research and Education Center is a community working towards autonomous decentralized models for a post-capitalist world, with the vision of a planetary culture of autonomous and interconnected communities: a post-patriarchal civilization free of violence and war. Tamera’s programs are an incredible opportunity to learn more about nonviolence, activism, and imagining and building an alternative future.

Through these programs we, Ahmed and Jamil will be able to grow our skills and knowledge in nonviolent activism, meet and learn from other global nonviolent leaders and activists, join and build up the network of nonviolent activists and imagine a future together.

Tamera’s setting is in a beautiful natural village in Portugal, participation in these programs will give us a much needed break from Israeli occupation and violence, after almost two years of genocide on our land, against our people and families. This will allow us to heal, grow and come back to the fight in the land recharged and energized.

Donate now and help us overcome the economic challenges and support our participation in Tamera’s programs, revitalize Palestinian nonviolent activism, support the continued development of Palestinian nonviolent leadership voices, and help bring change to Palestine.