On October 5th, ALLMEP hosted our first in-person event in nearly two years, the Mid East Storyteller Awards. The event honored grassroots peacebuilders from Israel and Palestine, highlighting the activist stories that they shared in this summer’s program. Mid East Storytellers was created on the premise that stories are a powerful medium for amplifying the values of the peacebuilding community. By highlighting these narratives and sharing them with the world, this community has shown that it rejects hatred, bigotry, and racism, and refuses to accept the status quo that denies Palestinians and Israelis equality, liberty, and security.

This group of storytellers represented a variety of peacebuilding initiatives from within ALLMEP’s membership, including participants from Women Wage Peace, Tech2Peace, Yala Young Leaders, New Story Leadership, B8 of Hope, and Standing Together. ALLMEP has long considered the diversity of our membership to be among our greatest strengths and, as our members continue to grow and expand, we are incredibly proud to showcase their work.

The event was hosted at America’s House in East Jerusalem and attended by policy makers, participants, friends, family, and ALLMEP board members. Board members evaluated the stories based on three criteria – Social Media Influence, Community Engagement, and Social Impact – and selected the following three storytellers to receive awards of $1000 in support of their activism: Micha Silverman – Tech2Peace, Rawan Odeh – New Story Leadership, and Mahmoud Waked.

Micha Silverman, of Tech2Peace, honored at the Mid East Storyteller Awards

Join ALLMEP in thanking these storytellers, and the entire cohort, for sharing their stories and working every day to create a more just and equitable reality for Palestinians and Israelis. Listen to all of their stories and learn more about the program here.