BARAK, Sivan. Australian peace activist: "From the day I stared into the eyes of a Palestinian man and saw the human being, I started to see and fight against the injustices my people had instigated against his people"

Sivan Barak is an anti-racist Jewish Australian human rights and peace activist and a member of MEPEACE (see: http://mepeace.org/about and http://mepeace.org/profile/SivanBarak ).

Sivan Barak on her realization of the immense injustice to the Palestinians (2012): “Questioning is an incessant quality that has affected every aspect of my life … From the day I stared into the eyes of a Palestinian man and saw the human being, I started to see and fight against the injustices my people had instigated against his people. A cloud lifted in me and in those who watched us. It was palpable. The path has at times been terrifying and ground shattering, but I will remain on it until peace and justice are set in place in the land I love, that is my home and his.” [1, 2].

[1]. Sivan Barak “Am I an activist?” in “Beyond Tribal Loyalties. Personal Stories of Jewish Peace Activists”, edited by Avigail Abarbanel (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2012) (pp 3 & 12).

[2]. Sivan Barak quoted in Gideon Polya, “Book Review: “Beyond Tribal Loyalties”. Stories of anti-racist Jews”, MWC News, 18 January 2012: http://mwcnews.net/focus/analysis/24184-gideonpolya-beyond-tribal-loyalties.html .