On the general level, I think that both Palestinians and Israelis learnt a lot about the potential a country has ones it is giving up fighting. The life in Japan is very different, the concerns and the way of living is different. It was fascinating for me to talk to the Japanese members about their life, their culture, the old and new, the place for religion and politics in their life. It was a new experience for me to listen to the translation of Japanese news papers, to see what interest the people, and how the news in Japan reflects the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Maybe if every Israeli will have at least one Palestinian friend and vise versa, we simply wouldn’t be able to fight.

(Israeli participant Yael Lavy)

This trip was a very good opportunity for me to try to understand the point of view of Palestinians and to feel that they also are seeking peace, and that not only Israelis want peace. Before the conference I was thinking that all Palestinians want Israel not to exist in the Middle East. Now I know that there are also have Palestinians who hope for a peaceful solution. It was a very important point for me.

(Israeli participant Sofya Shotov)

It was also very important for me to meet the Palestinian members. During my political activity in Israel I met Palestinians often, but we don't meet as individuals, but as representatives of our people. This is why I was so glad to meet Palestinians in a personal way, and having clear and honest communication with them.

It was very important, in my opinion, that most of the time all the members lived, cleaned, cooked, ate and slept together. This created a positive atmosphere of intimacy and equality that was very helpful during some of the tense times.

(Israeli participant Nimlod Evron)

These kinds of conferences are really important for many reasons. I believe it is important to create public awareness throughout the world about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Many people know that there is a conflict, but do not know what it is about. Moreover, getting good as well as bad impressions from both sides makes them take a neutral position in their opinion. Therefore it is important to inform the public about what is really going on.

(Palestinian participant Hadeel Majeed)

The conference was well organized by Japanese, who their ages do not exceed may be 22 years, so it was good of them to organize the conference and to get the needed money for the activities of the conference. For me, I have many friends now, improved my Japanese, and enjoyed my summer vacation, and the important thing is that I felt a lot of changes in my way of thinking toward the conflict. I hope that conference will continue and many people from both sides (Palestinians, Israelis) and many Japanese will be involved in the conference activities.

(Palestinian participant Said Saleh)