Woodstock for Peace is a gathering of art, creation, and profound reflection; 3 days of creating community around music and culture, open conversation and shared learning. Around 3,500 people. We are striving for genuine representation; The event will be bilingual in Arabic and Hebrew,
while representing different voices and narratives. The event will take place 26-28 December, 2024 in an organized and fully-permitted space under the guidance of experienced event producers and permit specialists.
Here, it is not America; the war doesn’t happen in a faraway land. The danger and the fear are very close, and it is hard to understand what we should do. For years now, the word “Peace” has disappeared from the conversation.
Following the tragic events of October 7th, our society had become more violent and militarized than ever. The common discourse within Israeli society has deteriorated to the point where calling for peace is seen as weakness and betrayal. Whereas in Palestinian society making connections with Israelis,
even for the sake of shared activism, is seen as normalization of the occupation and betrayal. Under these strong social currents there are people who choose another way, to resist the separation and dehumanization.
Between endless rounds of violence, war, and revenge, we cannot ignore the simple fact: this land needs peace. But when we can’t speak of peace or even imagine peace, it has no chance to exist in reality. Woodstock for Peace is our way of saying “enough!!!” to this reality; a reality where we are barred from imagining a better future.
Principles that guide us in organizing the gathering
Humanity above all
Group and national identity is important but at Woodstock we want to create a space free of national identity. Every human being is welcome to come as they are, free among equal people, when we all share the hope for peace, freedom, art and sustainable life.
The languages used in the gathering will be both Hebrew and Arabic.
Hope
We speak to a desperate population, which is why we put an emphasis on a gathering that creates hope. The size and duration of the gathering is important - to feel the power of a big crowd unified in the feeling that together we can create something new. This is an optimistic gathering that is connected to sorrow and pain but chooses to bring light and happiness, and believe in peace.
We are not free until everyone is free
We acknowledge the oppression systems and their influences, and we aspire to take action to end the oppression for all humans on earth.
Peace for us means equal rights, security and freedom for all human beings. Our destiny intertwined with all others . Real peace will happen only when Jewish Israelis and Palestinians can thrive together and live in freedom and equality on this land.
Non violence
We call to end the war. We don’t condone violence for any reason, from any side, for any goal.
Overall compassion
Humans from both sides carry multi-generational trauma. Politicians try to exploit the pain and use it for their own agendas. We believe that there is no ownership or hierarchy of pain.
There is a place in the gathering for any kind of pain no matter the nationality or closeness to it.
Woodstock for Peace -
Who we are
The dream started with six women; creators and activists that visualized a different activism. Through belief, activism can heal and arrive softly. Activism that creates an optimistic and creative movement.
From there, this “We” grew and became a movement. We are a group from all facets of society that believe in the power of art to change the world,
and especially we unite around a shared vision: to make this place better. Hundreds of people have already joined us in this journey. This event is produced almost entirely by volunteers. Our organization has more than 100 Jewish and Palestinian volunteers as part of 10 dedicated teams that do everything humanly possible; we also pay for our own tickets to the event, all for the feeling of creating deep partnerships and accepting shared responsibility for a better future.
