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Hope inspires British-born peace activist

April 8, 2015 13:56

By

Simon Rocker,

Simon Rocker

2 min read

Few Israelis know the dangers of Gaza better than Roni Keidar. The former JFS pupil's home lies just a few hundred metres from the border with the Hamas-run territory.

In last summer's conflict, a Qassam rocket from Gaza killed one of the Thai workers on her family's farm. A few days later an exploding mortar damaged their home and destroyed their and their daughter's cars. Later they found the opening to a Hamas tunnel among their greenhouses.

But despite three wars with Gaza in under a decade, the 71-year-old grandmother has not lost hope. She is an active campaigner for a local peace group called Other Voice, founded in 2008, and speaks out, wherever she can, for the need for a Palestinian state.

"Violence is making it worse and worse as time goes on," she said during a short trip back to Britain to address meetings of Yachad students and Meretz UK.

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