New Story Leadership for the Middle East

Since 2009, New Story Leadership (NSL) has competitively selected the best and brightest Palestinian and Israeli young adults. They live, work and learn together in DC and advocate on Capitol Hill for jointly created solutions for their shared homeland. Our slogan is “Don’t Talk about Us Without Us.” Whenever decision makers talk about our future, we need a seat at the table. Follow us as we continue to build bridges, foster dialogue, and transform the narrative for peace. #SocialImpact #Changemakers #SustainablePeace #LeadershipDevelopment #NewVoicesForPeace

In a context of adversity and sadness, while we empathize with all those who are suffering from the conflict and direct part of our funding towards humanitarian aid and basic needs through some of our grantee NGOs on the ground, we are not ignoring sources of inspiration and hope.   This post and the 2 minutes clip are about rays of hope in times of war and our commitment to being part of the solution.   Context: The clip features a group of 19-35 year old Palestinians and Israelis, alumni of one of our grantee organizations, New Story Leadership for the Middle East (NSL) who came to Geneva, hosted by B8 of Hope for a 7 day retreat. The outcome was the Phoenix Plan.   NSL recruits cohorts of promising Palestinian and Israeli young adult leaders and brings them to Washington DC for 2 months. While living together in hosts families and working together on Capitol Hill, they are trained on leadership skills and advocate for justice and peace for a shared future, throughout Congress, foreign embassies, the State Department, Think Thanks and faith-based audiences.   Soon after October 7th and the start of the war, a group of 10 alumni (Muslim, Jewish, and Christian young adults from Israel, Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem) decided to move forward together. They first negotiated and crafted a joint statement calling for an immediate ceasefire and hostage release. After months of research and discussion over zoom meetings throughout the fall of 2023 and early winter of 2024, the alumni, in addition to the Director of NSL, 3 staff members and a facilitator (a total of 14 people) finally reunited in Geneva. Hosted by B8 of Hope, they developed the Phoenix Plan, which not only calls for the immediate cessation of hostilities and the freeing of hostages but also sets forth a roadmap for what needs to happen after the fighting stops : healing, reconstruction,justice, security and self-determination for both Palestinians and Israelis for generations to come. If you want to learn more about this project, please refer to the New Story Leadership website for a sneak peek. Video Credit @ Belik Yonatan