Transforming Wealth into an Instrument of Change

Since 2016, we have supported numerous Palestinian and Israeli peace-building organizations working tirelessly towards a nonviolent transformation of the conflict into an enduring peace. We offer our love and care to all our members, grantees, and wider community during this time, and especially those who are directly affected or have family, friends, and fellow organizers on the ground. We stand with you. In our membership and wider community, we have members of many different ethnic, national and religious origins, and there are many of us with roots in Palestine and Israel, the Balkans, and many other parts of the world which have been ravaged by ongoing conflict and dehumanizing political narratives that arise and are cultivated by those who for a variety of reasons choose war over peace. Our community reflects the accumulation of these generational wounds, and yet we strongly commit once again to holding each other with sensitivity and kindness. We recognize that our shared humanity demands that we work towards higher visions of peace and compassion together, which the region and its inhabitants deserve. We also recognize that calls for violence, revenge and destruction will not bring back the loved ones, will not assuage the grief nor ensure any sense of peace or security for the people of Palestine and Israel. Threshold chooses to move beyond fear and divisive narratives to embrace and advance a co-created reality where all people in the Middle East have equal civil and human rights, dignity, freedom and security. We recognize that there is no forceful solution to this conflict and that there are strong peace communities made up of Palestinians, Israelis, Arabs, Jews and many others who speak other languages than brute force and ceaseless violence. This has been demonstrated for many years at Threshold, seen in our diverse portfolio of grantee organizations with myriad approaches to peace and yet are unified in the centrality of our shared humanity. Rooted in our mission and vision of the Middle East Peace Funding Circle, the wider Threshold mission, and aligned with our grantees, and the wider peace community, we ask for the following: An immediate ceasefire on all sides and an end to the bombardment and indiscriminate killing of civilians in Gaza, the West Bank and Israel and the protection of all children on all sides. Children belong to all of us and have no say in any violence being perpetuated. Their lives must take precedence. An adherence to international humanitarian and human rights laws by all actors, which includes the release of all those taken hostage from Israel and all Palestinians who have been unlawfully held in administrative detention or are illegally imprisoned. Hold all those accountable and bring to justice those who have perpetrated violence and suffering against Israelis and Palestinians in accordance with international law. Allow for the safe passage of humanitarian aid which is needed across the Gaza Strip and for vital resource flows to not be interrupted, including access to water, power, food and fuel. Above all else, Threshold has remained an organization rooted in peace, democratic values, inclusivity and non-violence over its past 42-year history. It is in this tradition alongside our support of the many statements and calls for peace made by our grantees and our peer groups that we have brought this forth.