Mai Shahin

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Mai Shahin is a Palestinian peace activist and a founder of the organization Satyam. [1]

Shahin grew up in Al-Eizariya [1] near East Jerusalem during the First Intifada. [2] On her way to school she had to pass through military posts, and she witnessed home raids and increasing separation between communities. [2] [3] Even when she joined peace protests during this time, she saw violent clashes in the streets, while support for armed resistance was growing. Shahin herself fought against Israel during the Second Intifada. [4]

With training as a therapist, [4] her perspective began to shift through work as a translator, which introduced her to Combatants for Peace, a movement founded by former fighters from both sides who chose nonviolence as their path forward. [3] Shahin later worked with Ecome, an Israeli-Palestinian community space that promoted nonviolent communication to end the conflict. [1] Although Ecome closed in 2018, Shahin co-founded Satyam in its spirit in the spring of 2024. [1] The Satyam Homeland peace center offers a program and community space that brings Israelis and Palestinians together through nonviolent communication. Based in Beit Jala near Bethlehem, [5] the center hosts trainings on trauma, grief, and women’s circles. It is also near the al-Makhrour area, a site of settler violence and land grabs. [1] After October 7, activists said it was the only remaining Palestinian-Israeli peace center in the West Bank. [5]

Shahin and David Ginati, a German-Israeli, began a hunger strike in mid-June 2025 as part of a Satyam initiative "Their Hunger is Ours", which campaigns against genocide and hunger in Gaza, settler violence, and for the safe return of Israeli hostages. The campaign hosts daily Zoom sessions and calls for participation in a global hunger strike in solidarity with Gaza. [5]

In her speeches, Shahin frequently adapts the political phrase from the river to the sea to include both Palestinians and Israelis: “From the river to the sea, everyone shall be free.” [1] [5] She is featured in the 2025 documentary film There Is Another Way. [6]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dayan, Linda (September 8, 2024). "'It's My Duty': What Brings These Activists to a Palestinian Town in the Jordan Valley". Haaretz . ProQuest   3101912686.
  2. 1 2 Ortega, Yemeli (January 8, 2024). "A Palestinian ex-combatant and an Israeli professor defend the possibility of peace". Infobae (in Spanish). Buenos Aires. ProQuest   2912192404.
  3. 1 2 "Choosing nonviolent resistance: Growing up in East Jerusalem during the Second Intifada, Mai Shahin's childhood wasn't easy. But a job working as a translator showed Mai the world of Combatants for Peace". Groundwork (Podcast). Interviewed by Abed, Sally; Shuster-Eliassi, Noam. New Israel Fund and Alliance for Middle East Peace. November 15, 2024. Retrieved August 20, 2025.
  4. 1 2 "'Grieving and crying' as people on either side of Gaza conflict come together". news.un.org. UN News. February 3, 2025. Retrieved September 1, 2025.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Kühn, Timm (August 14, 2025). "United in hunger: A Palestinian woman and an Israeli man have been on strike for 60 days in solidarity with the people of Gaza. A visit to two people who are risking their lives for the vague hope of understanding". Die Tageszeitung (in German). ProQuest   3239092352.
  6. Toperosky, Zoe (April 8, 2025). "'Collective liberation for all:' Combatants for Peace bring messages of nonviolent resistance to Suffolk". The Suffolk Journal . ProQuest   3187649045.