Yasser Akawi is what they call an Arab Israeli — a Palestinian with Israeli citizenship. He works for Physicians for Human Rights, an organization composed of both Jewish and Palestinian doctors. But his passion is with Ta’ayush. It too is an organization composed of Palestinians and Israelis. (Ta’ayush means “living together.”)

Yasser Akawi is what my mother would call “tall, dark and handsome.” He is young, unlike the other peace activists we have met in Israel, who are mostly from the 1960s generation. His hair is close-cropped, his face angular, his eyes dark and intense.

When he talks about Physicians for Human Rights, his speech is punctuated by pauses as he searches for English words. When he talks about Ta’ayush, he comes alive. Somehow no longer needing to stretch for words, he describes with obvious passion a group quite unlike the rest of the Israeli peace movement.

Judy Rebick

Judy Rebick

Judy Rebick is one of Canada’s best-known feminists. She was the founding publisher of rabble.ca , wrote our advice column auntie.com and was co-host of one of our first podcasts called Reel Women....