2023 Outstanding Peace Activist

We are thrilled to announce that this year the Luxembourg Peace Prize will be honoring two peace activists, one Israeli and one Palestinian, in a powerful symbolic celebration of unity and hope. It is a momentous occasion to witness these two outstanding individuals, Gershon Baskin and Ali Abu Awwad, who have dedicated their lives to promoting peace, receive their awards side by side during the ceremony.

Gershon Baskin is an Israeli peace activist and researcher of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He is the International Communities Organisation Director for the Middle East, as well as the Director of the Holy Land Bond, a new investment fund set up by ICO and Gershon aimed at building shared societies, by investing in housing projects for Palestinians in East Jerusalem, housing projects between Jewish and Palestinians Israelis and cross-community technology businesses. Prior to his current position, Baskin was the esteemed founder and former co-chairman of IPCRI (Israel/Palestine Center for Research and Information), an organization dedicated to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a “two states for two people framework”. According to him, “When there are no partners for peace, it is important to begin to plant the seeds of hope.”

Ali Abu Awwad is a prominent Palestinian peace activist who has worked in peace-building in Israel and the State of Palestine for years. He has created a Palestinian non-violence movement called Taghyeer, which envisions a democratic, independent Palestinian society based on freedom, dignity, and security for all. By founding and organizing it, Awwad sees nonviolence as manifesting a lifestyle of successfully defending one’s rights. According to him, “Non-violence is the art of practicing your humanity, it is the art of being a human being. Peace is a place where we can live by accepting our differences and respecting each other’s rights.”