You can tell who the new ones are right away by the way they hang back and observe.

Tonight was a special night. The meeting was to coincide with the Iftar during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Combatants had assembled everyone in the back yard to give an introduction and hear the testimonials of a Palestinian member and a new Israeli member. After this they grabbed their food and split into the groups. Everyone gathered in a circle, both Israelis and Palestinians, with nowhere to hide.

One of the Israeli founders of Combatants stands up, smiles at his old friend Ashraf sitting beside him, and begins to speak to the circle. He says, "My name is Ashraf Khader, I am 30 years old and I love music. I was born in Jordan and moved to Ramallah in 2000. Since then I have not been able to see my family due to the Israeli travel restrictions. When I was younger I began resisting the occupation in any way possible, first by throwing stones and then by throwing Molotov cocktails. I have been imprisoned five times and have had my house occupied by Israeli soldiers for 25 days while they laid siege to a nearby preventive security building." Ashraf sits beside him looking on and listening to his life and "conversion" being recited by a former Israeli soldier in first-person.

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