It’s been a year since Hamas’ attack on Israel and the ensuing war that has taken the lives of over 42,000 Palestinians, 1,200 Israelis and 1,400 Lebanese people and displaced over three million people.

This week, two men who have been personally affected by decades of hostility between Israelis and Palestinians are coming to Whidbey to share their story.

Rotem Levin and Osama Iliwat have been traveling around the world together since the start of the conflict in hopes to remind that indifference is complicity and to bring people with different perspectives together to achieve peace and freedom for all by non-violent means.

The activists, who have been touring the U.S. since August, will speak from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 10. The event, called “Salt of the Earth,” will take place at the United Methodist Fellowship Hall, located at 301 Anthes Avenue in Langley.

Levin was born and raised in an agricultural community in Israel, where he feared being attacked by Palestinians. As a youth, he never considered not joining the military, as most people around him had to defend their country, he said.

After his mandatory conscription, Levin traveled to Germany where attended a “transformational intensive dialogue program.” There, he got to know Palestinian people on a personal level for the first time, according to his bio.

Talking with Palestinians, he said, made him realize that he only knew one side of the story and that he had been ignorant of events such as the Nakba, the violent displacement and dispossession of Palestinians during the Arab-Israeli war in 1948, and its impacts. Since then, he has organized similar educational events and worked with various peace organizations, and moved to the West Bank to better understand and connect with his Palestinian neighbors.

Iliwat is originally from East Jerusalem, but after his family was displaced, he grew up in Jericho, a city on the West Bank. He has been a peace activist for over 15 years, touring Palestinian and Israeli schools to talk about non-violent resistance and helping Palestinians keep their land, rebuild their homes and cope with trauma, among other efforts.

He has been particularly feeling the pain of both Palestinians and Israelis since Oct. 7, 2023.

Iliwat and Levin said the U.S. government is complicit in the devastation and hope to inspire Americans to demand a ceasefire. By supporting Israel in its retaliation against Palestine, the U.S. is contradicting the values of freedom and democracy that it has been preaching to the rest of the world, both activists said.

In the meantime, those under fire continue to be dehumanized based on what side they are on. But the children who have paid the cost, Iliwat said, didn’t pick a side. It is only with a complete ceasefire, he said, that the liberation of Palestinians and the safety of Israelis can be achieved.