Alexander Shapiro, at The Blogs

May 15, 2023, 2:15 PM

Innovating Together Towards Peace as Rockets Fell

Israelis and Palestinians Innovating Together Towards Peace

Abed has family in Gaza. In the past days, he was scared for them and angry with Israel. His social media feed and friend circles were full of vitriol and grieving for the dead. But three days ago, as...

Dec 29, 2021, 6:10 PM

May 2021: A Meeting of Arab and Jewish Entrepreneurs During War

The Damascus Gate still wreaked of skunk water from recent protests. The dust was still settling in Gaza. The nations’ wounds were raw and sore. We walked through that skunky smell, used for dispersing protests, a smell like none other,...

Aug 9, 2020, 12:44 PM

The Mizrahi Resurgence – Past, Present, and Future

600,000 Mizrahi Jews (Jews from Middle Eastern and North African countries) arrived in Israel soon after 1948 as refugees and immigrants, joining the Mizrahim already living in Israel, and expecting to be welcomed by their Ashkenazi Jewish brothers and...

Jul 23, 2020, 3:40 PM

TikTok and Beyond – Building Peace through Negotiation Education

The Arab and Jewish-Israeli high school students were gathered in a circle, doing TikTok dances, as teenagers do these days. They were having a great time. I was the bearer of bad news: “Break is over, let’s return to the...

Jul 2, 2020, 5:26 PM

Religious Zionists Seek Solidarity with Diaspora, Pluralism

Recent efforts to build solidarity among Religious Zionist leaders and other populations in Israel and the Jewish Diaspora have led to unprecedented opportunities for reconciliation and understanding. Israel’s Religious Zionist sector, making up about 22% of the Jewish population, is...

May 21, 2020, 7:49 PM

Nakba on the Hill

I noticed a strange building on top of a hill. The building was broken-down, with a big cross on top and a blue dome - I just noticed it out of the corner of my eye. Driving back past it...

May 3, 2020, 3:51 PM

Diverse Israeli Leaders Unite Against Corona

“Behind these modest interventions were diverse Israeli leaders coming together in crisis, rather than breaking apart. Their relationships have been strengthened due to their shared response - they are going through this crisis together, leaning on each other, helping...

Apr 28, 2020, 6:58 PM

In Memoriam: The Black Chef and the Jewish Camp

Chef Mike was a big, boisterous black man from inner city Baltimore. And Chef Mike was born to go to Jewish sleepaway camp. One summer, Chef Mike arrived out of nowhere, with two reluctant students in tow from a culinary program...

Mar 28, 2020, 3:11 PM

National Sacrifice: Israelis vs. Americans in Crisis

Jews pray outside a synagogue in Bayit Vegan, Jerusalem, on March 22, 2020. Photo by Yonatan Sindel/Flash90 *** Local Caption *** מתפללים
ירושלים
בית כנסת
בית וגן
מרחק
שחרית
קורונה
וירוס
מגפה
חלוקה

Israelis are a notoriously impatient people. Elbowing each other to get on a bus, or even to touch the Western Wall, is a normal part of life here. Standing in an orderly line is not. (There is a great New...

Mar 14, 2020, 7:48 PM

Corona, the Peacebuilder

Lod's Mayor and a prominent Arab social leader at a Ramadan break-fast in 2019.

Benny Gantz has called for an emergency unity government, adding “that it would have to include elements from all political sides, an implication that he would insist on the inclusion of the majority-Arab Joint List,” - according to the...

About Me

Alexander "Jake" Shapiro works at Tech2Peace, an NGO that brings together young Palestinians and Israelis through high-tech and entrepreneurial training alongside conflict dialogue. Jake previously worked at the Shaharit Institute, an Israeli NGO working to create common cause amongst Israel's diverse populations, and previously served as a volunteer activist and researcher in the mixed Arab-Jewish city of Lod. Jake studied international relations and political science at the University of Maryland - College Park.

Contact Me