VIRGINIA

Miko Peled is a peace activist who dares to say in public what others still choose to deny. Born in Jerusalem in 1961 into a well-known Zionist family, his grandfather, Dr. Avraham Katsnelson was a Zionist leader and signer of the Israeli Declaration of Independence. His Father, Matti Peled, was a young officer in the war of 1948 and a general in the war of 1967 when Israel conquered the West Bank, Gaza, Golan Heights and Sinai.  Miko also served in the Israeli Defense Force.

Miko’s unlikely opinions reflect his father’s legacy. General Peled was a war hero turned peacemaker.

Miko grew up in Jerusalem, a multi-ethnic city, but he had to leave Israel before he made his first Palestinian friend, the result of his participation at age 39 in a dialogue group in California.

The political became personal for Miko when on September 4, 1997 his niece Smadar, 13, was killed in a suicide attack in Jerusalem.  He was driven by this tragedy to explore Palestine, its people, and their stories.

Miko Peled insists that Israel/Palestine is one state—the separation wall notwithstanding, massive investment in infrastructure, towns and highways that bisect and connect settlements on the West Bank, have destroyed the possibility for a viable Palestinian state. The result, he says is that Israelis and Palestinians are governed by the same government but live under different sets of laws.

At the heart of his conclusion lies the realization that Israelis and Palestinians can live in peace as equals in their shared homeland.