Testimonies from Israel-Palestine. Or how the deepest pain is transformed into brotherhood.

 October 16 at 6.15pm at EPFL’s Rolex Forum. The event is open to everyone on the EPFL and UNIL campuses only. Registration is compulsory. EPFL reserves the right to carry out access controls. To register or receive the zoom link to the event, please fill in this form.

Bassam, from Palestine, and Rami, from Israel, have both lost a child, their daughter, in the conflict. Despite this loss, they are resolutely committed to reconciliation between the two nations. They are part of the Parents Circle-Families Forum, an Israeli-Palestinian association that brings together bereaved parents from both origins. Together, these families strive to advance a culture of peace and greater mutual knowledge and understanding. In the current context, it’s like a light in the night.

Bassam and Rami will be at EPFL to talk about their grief and the conflict, but also about hope, fraternity and peace.  To hear them and join in the discussion, meet them on October 16 at 6:15 pm at the Rolex Forum. Followed by an aperitif at 7:45pm.

Alexandre Mayor

For the EPFL-UNIL chaplaincy

Info: mail to

More about Bassam and Rami:

Bassam Aramin lives in Jericho, West Bank. At the age of 17, he was incarcerated and spent seven years in an Israeli prison. He went on to study history and holds an MA in Holocaust Studies from the University of Bradford, England.  In 2005, Bassam was one of the founders of Combatants for Peace, alongside Rami’s son Elik. He became a member of the Parents’ Circle in 2007 after losing his daughter Abir, aged 10, killed by an Israeli border policeman outside her school. Bassam devotes his time and energy to his belief in a peaceful, non-violent end to the Israeli occupation of Palestine and Israeli-Palestinian reconciliation. Bassam was the Palestinian co-director of Parents Circle – Families Forum until August 2020.

Rami Elhanan is a 7th-generation Jerusalemite on his mother’s side. His father is an Auschwitz survivor. He is a retired soldier in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), having fought in three wars. He considers himself a Jew, an Israeli and, above all, a human being. On the first day of the 1997 school year, Rami’s 14-year-old daughter Smadar was killed by Palestinian suicide bombers in central Jerusalem. A year later, Rami joined Parents Circle and today speaks to Israeli, Palestinian and international audiences. Rami was the Israeli co-director of Parents Circle -Families Forum until August 2020.