“Questo è il modo in cui credo che il mondo possa essere guarito”

Testimony of Malkon, a young Palestinian who participated in the session between Istanbul and Athens. He shares his convictions and his journey with us during the Peace Ceremony held in Athens on 18 July.

From the Ashes of Genocides to the light of Hope – Bel Spoir

« My story begins before I was born. My grandparents came from Western Armenia—what is today Eastern Turkey. In 1915, during the Armenian Genocide, my grandfather lost his entire family. My grandmother, who was Aramaic/Syriac, also lost relatives in the Genocide. Both fled to Syria, where they tried to rebuild their lives, and where my father was born.

In 1935, they moved to Palestine. But in 1948, Israel expelled my family. We were among the more than 750,000 Palestinians forced from their homes – Nakbe (in Arabic). More than 10,000 Armenians and 50,000 Palestinian Christians also lost their place in the land they called home.

Decades later, in 2001, after my father’s death, I myself faced death. As I was crossing the Israeli checkpoint from my school in Bethlehem back to Jerusalem, I was shot at twice. I would not be alive today if not for a man who threw himself on me and my brother to shield us. That day left me deeply shaken.

Growing up under daily discrimination, racism, and rejection in a system of apartheid against Palestinians, I often wished I could escape Palestine. Around Israelis, I almost always hid my Palestinian identity so I wouldn’t face discrimination. In 2006, I finally left—to study in Lebanon.

But Lebanon brought a different struggle. There, I became an atheist. I searched for happiness within myself, but I was restless, always haunted by the question: Does life after death exist?

It was in that searching that my heart opened again. And then came the moment that changed everything. I encountered God—not as an idea, but as a loving father, who loved me so deeply that He gave His life for me, in the very city of Jerusalem where I grew up – through Jesus Christ. That realization transformed me. For the first time, I understood forgiveness, love, and peace—not as words, but as a way of life.

From that moment, my passion became clear: to live for others, to care for others, and even to love my enemies. This conviction led me to pursue studies in justice and human rights, because I believe that is part of God’s heart for the world.

It also shaped the projects I joined and created. With Med25, I found a community that recognizes how abuse of the earth and abuse of humanity are connected. Climate destruction, exploitation, and war are part of the same cycle of violence. Healing the environment and building peace are not separate—they are one mission of justice, one path of reconciliation.

With my « Mazat project », I sought another way to live out this calling: combining Latin dance with women’s rights. Dance gave me a language of freedom and joy, and I wanted to use it to advance dignity and equality.

When I look back at the history of my family—genocide, exile, war, discrimination—and when I look at my own journey of almost losing my life, losing my faith, and then finally finding God, I see a thread connecting it all. Every part of my story has led me to this conviction: that true justice and true peace come only when we heal both the human heart and the world we share,
especially in this extremely tragic time of a Genocide committed against my Palestinian people in Gaza in the most horrific ways.

That is why I continue to teach, dance, speak, and work for justice. Because peacebuilding is not one project, or one country, or one cause. It is all connected: faith, human dignity, women’s rights, the environment, and the hope of reconciliation.

This is the way I believe the world can be healed—step by step, act by act, love by love. »

Malkon