Galia Galili

I grew up in a household filled with many contrasts. My mother was born in Scotland to a mother born and raised in Jaffa, who defined herself as Palestinian. Her father was British and did not know any Hebrew even after 30 years in the land. They were a well-off Jerusalemite family. So my mother grew up in a wealthy, liberal and very left-wing household.

My father grew up in Rabat, Morocco. His father was an ardent Zionist who organized in 1956 the migration of sixty Moroccan Jewish families to Israel. My father arrived when he was 13 years old and fought his entire childhood for his right to keep studying 一 many of his peers in the moshav were sent to work. Despite financial difficulties that left him on the brink of poverty, he became the first doctor of Moroccan descent in Israel.

Politically speaking, he was on the right. “I grew up with Arabs and I am telling you they can’t be trusted” he used to claim, in contradiction with my mother’s opinions. It is probably because of this division that I avoided political topics at first.

I grew up in Jerusalem where I played with Palestinian children in the neighborhood of Silwan, East Jerusalem. We would ride donkeys together. As a kid I knew Palestinians, I did not think they were different from me aside from their economic situation. But when they would come back with me to our neighborhood, my dad would get very upset.

At the time of the Second Intifada, my brother was a medical student and worked in a hospital in the center of Jerusalem. He was among the first responders who aided the victims of the horrific terror attacks that were happening. This encounter with horror and pain deeply affected him, and me too. I began showing interest in the conflict, getting involved with left-wing organizations and joining protests.

When the 2014 Gaza war (Operation Protective Edge) broke out, I had already started to feel like my country was moving away from me, that I could no longer identify with what was being done in our name. I wanted to do something and no longer remain passive.

After joining a few left-wing organizations I still felt as though I was not active enough. It felt like I was busy only resisting, and not doing anything to actively build an alternative. I realized that if I wanted a different future for my children, I would have to take a more practical and meaningful role in the struggle for peace.

At the end of 2018, my oldest son reached the age when he had to enlist in the military. I wanted him to join the army to defend our country, not to attack and oppress another people. That is not a reality I am willing to live in, and surely not sacrifice everything I hold dear. 

I joined Combatants for Peace where I found a place where everyone, from both sides, takes full responsibility for our reality and works together with our most natural partners in this mission.