From July 25th to August3rd, as part of the "Europe Meets Middle East (EMME)" program, the Service For Peace chapter in Austria hosted four Israelis, four Palestinians and seven Austrians in the beautiful village of Losenstein.

They met to build together a wooden platform in partnership with the municipality of Reichraming. Besides the construction works, the participants had a workshop on project-planning and a discussion with Mr. Zavlak, who founded an NGO for integration in Vienna.

During the cultural evenings of their respective countries, conflicts between the participants came to the surface. It was a huge effort for them to step out of the boundaries of their countries' histories and respectively comfort zones and to make steps towards one another.

"The reason why, I am participating in this program, is because I want to live in a country where peace is possible," said Rasha from Palestine, mother of three daughters.

"Taking part in this project gave me the opportunity for the first time, to get to know the personal history of people from Palestine, apart from the news shown by the media. I have never experienced such a respectful contact between Israelis and Palestinians," explained Ariel, part of the Service for Peace team in Israel.

    Participants in "Europe Meets Middle East (EMME)"