From Shared Pain to Shared Purpose
August Newsletter 2025
When I, Aseel, first joined Musalaha a little over a year ago, I quickly noticed that our intra-reconciliation programs between Palestinian only consisted of people from Muslim and Christian backgrounds. As someone who grew up in the Triangle area, surrounded only by Muslims, it was my university experience that exposed me to the broader Palestinian society. Meeting Christians and Druze opened my eyes. People I once saw as “others” shared far more in common with me than I’d ever realized.
The Druze experience struck me as particularly complex. Though rooted in Islam, the Druze are a closed, esoteric community that has undergone decades of systematic efforts to assimilate into Israeli society, erasing their Arab Palestinian identity and heritage. This has created deep mutual mistrust, Druze often feel alienated, while many Palestinians see them with suspicion, shaped by encounters with Druze soldiers at checkpoints.
One of Musalaha’s purposes is to address the impact of the military occupation on Palestinian identity and society. The absence of Druze participants in Musalaha’s programs was overlooked; it’s one that mirrored the very geopolitical divisions imposed on us. So, this year, we took a leap of faith by expanding our Palestinian women’s program to include Druze women. It was extremely challenging, especially for participants from the West Bank who meet Druze soldiers at checkpoints, but it was also transforming. For the first time, many of us in the group felt we were whole as Palestinians.
In July, when protests erupted in Al-Suwayda, a predominantly Druze city in southern Syria, a Druze participant reached out and asked to talk about it. “What’s happening there,” she said, “is deeply connected to what’s happening here.” And she was right, therefore we decided to talk about it. A Palestinian Druze ally who chose to be unnamed also helped write this foreword.
Since mid-July 2025, armed groups tied to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) and allied Sunni Bedouin factions have attacked Druze villages in Suwayda, killing civilians, burning homes, and forcing families to flee. Though framed as anti-militia operations, the violence has overwhelmingly targeted civilians.
At the same time, while Israel escalates its genocidal war on Gaza, it appears to be enabling HTS’s expansion in southern Syria. Reports suggest Israeli complicity in allowing HTS, led by former al-Qaeda figure al-Jolani, who now rebrands himself as a “reformed” warlord, to gain ground, despite the group’s record of sectarian violence against minorities, such as the Druze.
For Israel, empowering such actors serves a familiar strategic purpose: to fragment Syria, undermine national resistance, and manufacture sectarian strife near the occupied Golan. But for us, the Druze, this alliance is more than geopolitics; it is an existential threat. It is a betrayal wrapped in diplomacy. Israel’s selective outrage, condemning “terror” in one context while enabling it in another, reveals not a commitment to peace, but a pursuit of permanent domination.
We must name this clearly: a regional power is propping up extremist proxies while claiming to fight extremism, at the cost of our safety, our faith, and our future.
The tragedy unfolding in Al-Suwayda is not remote; it echoes a history many of us know too well: a history of dispossession, marginalization, and endurance. As a Palestinian Druze, I don’t just observe this pain; I feel it. This is not only about solidarity. It is about shared survival. Shared dignity. A shared struggle for the fundamental right to live, worship, and exist freely.
Historically, the Druze have lived in the shadows of dominant regimes and sects, often paying the price for simply existing. Today, in southern Syria, attacks on civilians, health workers, and religious communities mark not just a humanitarian crisis but a direct assault on ancient pluralism and freedom.
In Palestine, reconciliation means truth-telling and recognition of all peoples. In Syria, the survival of the Druze depends on a similar recognition, one grounded in pluralism, the rule of law, and mutual respect. Reconciliation is not just about ending violence; it’s about building a future where difference is not punished but protected, where diversity is celebrated—not erased.
True peace demands more than ceasefires. It requires dismantling systems of domination, rejecting sectarian manipulation, and centering the voices of those historically silenced. The road to reconciliation begins with justice and honesty, with naming oppression wherever it occurs, and resisting the temptation to overlook one violence while condemning another.
The Druze of Al-Suwayda face an existential crisis. As a Palestinian Druze, I watch, I grieve, I hope, and I urge you to stand with us. Not just in mourning, but in action. In demanding a world where no community is disposable, where religious and cultural freedom are not theoretical ideals but lived realities.
Let our shared pain give rise to shared purpose. May the struggles of the Druze, Palestinians, and all oppressed peoples converge, not only in resistance but in reconciliation, rooted in justice, dignity, and lasting peace for all.
– Assel Rian, Project Manager & Outreach Coordinator & Palestinian Druze Ally
Young Adults Update:
After our Children’s Summer Camp this past July, we received wonderful feedback from families and achieved many of our goals in bringing the community together. This camp would not have been possible without our incredible volunteers, who demonstrated outstanding work ethic, devotion, passion, and teamwork.
Most of our volunteers this year came from our young adult program. We were also joined by a group of friends who share our vision and love for children. We are deeply grateful for each and every one of them!
To show our appreciation, we organized a fun and relaxing reward day for all our volunteers this past weekend. We enjoyed meals together, shared laughter, and celebrated each other’s contributions. Thanks to the dedication of our volunteers, we are creating a meaningful impact in our society!
– Saleem Anfous, Project Manager
Civil Society Leaders in Bethlehem Update:
The Muslim/Christian Civil Society Leaders group met for their second follow-up workshop this August, titled “The Freedom of Religion and Belief (FoRB) in Palestine.” The participants expressed interest in the topic and said they were never given the platform to talk freely about FoRB in their own context. The discussions were meaningful, and the participants shared some personal FoRB violation experiences that were powerful. Together, we thought of ways to overcome these violations as a community. We also discussed how Article 18 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is meant to protect everyone’s fundamental right to freedom of thought, conscience, and religion.
– Tamar Haddad, Project Manager
Mixed Cities Update:
This month we began our first project in the mixed cities of Lydd and Ramla. These cities were deeply impacted by the Nakba and became neighborhoods for Palestinians absorbed after 1948. Many Palestinian homes in the area remain unrecognized by the state, making them vulnerable to demolition and depriving residents of essential services.
It was special to be with our group for the first time in a new place, gathering in the house featured in the movie The Lemon Tree, and witnessing their genuine desire to build a better reality. Our first workshop, Active Listening, helped equip us to communicate through challenges. Inspired by their openness, we look forward to continuing this journey, including the upcoming Desert Encounter this next month!
If you haven’t seen the movie The Lemon Tree, check out our Articstic Recommendation section to learn more context about this project.
– Salim J. Munayer, Founder and Senior Consultant & Veronica Vigdorchik, Project Manager
Musalaha Academy:
In a world marked by deep injustice and division, reconciliation is crucial for everyone. The Musalaha Academy—our new digital learning platform launching in early 2026—invites you to learn, engage, and practice reconciliation through interactive courses, videos, and practical tools.
Rooted in faith and shaped by 35 years of lived experience, the Academy brings Musalaha’s unique reconciliation model to learners everywhere—students, educators, community leaders, and peacebuilders alike.
Before we launch, we’re inviting a small group of volunteers to test the Academy during our Beta Launch in October 2025. This is your chance to shape the platform and be part of its beginning.
👉 Interested? Email us at [email protected] to join the Beta team.
-Maaike, Project Manager
Artistic Recommendation:
Lemon Tree
2008 | War/Drama | 1h 46m
It is a quietly powerful and deeply human drama that explores the personal toll of geopolitical conflict through the life of one Palestinian woman. Directed by Eran Riklis, the film tells the story of Salma Zidane, a widow living on the border between the West Bank and Israel, whose lemon grove is deemed a security threat after the Israeli Defense Minister moves in next door.
What unfolds is a poignant legal and emotional battle, as Salma refuses to surrender the land her family has cultivated for generations. Her struggle, at once intimate and symbolic, becomes a resonant act of resistance, dignity, and perseverance in the face of overwhelming political machinery.
Through restrained storytelling and nuanced performances, Lemon Tree transcends the headlines to reveal the quiet heartbreaks behind territorial lines. It does not offer easy answers or polemics; instead, it focuses on the human cost of a conflict that so often dehumanizes. At its core, this is a film about boundaries: physical, legal, emotional, and the courage it takes to defend what is yours, even when the world insists it no longer belongs to you.
Fun fact: Our new mixed cities program meetings are held at the Open House in Ramle, a place with a story much like the movie. There, a Palestinian man returned to the home his family was displaced from during the Nakba, only to find it occupied by a Jewish Israeli family. The house has since become a powerful symbol of hope for a shared, better future.
Please join us in praying for:
- The Druze community in Al-Suwayda and for our efforts at Musalaha to build reconciliation among Palestinians of all backgrounds.
- An immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an end to violence in the West Bank, the safe return of all hostages, and for justice to take root in this land for every community
- Our volunteers—that they feel appreciated and encouraged, and that the impact they had on the children, as well as the impact the children had on them, would remain, and continue to bear fruit.
- Our civil society leaders would continue to grow in their relationships with one another and deepen their understanding of how to work together toward FoRB.
- The cities of Lyd and Ramla—that our program would inspire meaningful change, and that all participants would have open and prepared hearts for their upcoming desert trip
- Musalaha Academy, that it would foster reconciliation in more communities, and that the staff guiding it would have wisdom and encouragement as they lead this important work.