Rondine, a citadel of peace and dialogue

Naomi, young Israeli, and Ibrahim, a young PalestinianThey arrived in Rondine feeling like enemies according to the logic of their contexts, and in the name of the conflict that has been raging in the Middle East for decades. At first, they barely spoke to each other. Not because there was a personal conflict, but because between them was the full weight of the stories they represented: fear, pain, mistrust. Naomi, who grew up with the constant memory of the attacks and the alert, had learned to see the other side as a threat. Ibrahim, who grew up between checkpoints and restrictions, saw the other side as an oppressive and unjust presence. But in Rondine, by forcing them to meet and talk, something truly new happens: Ibrahim says that for the first time he spoke to an Israeli without feeling judged, and Naomi says that, for the first time, she too listened to a Palestinian without seeing him through the news or fears. They didn't become friends, but they are certainly two people who have discovered, firsthand, the value of dialogue.

There are 59 conflicts in the world, involving 192 countries: a scenario resembling a "piecemeal" Third World War, as Pope Francis described it. And in Italy, where initiatives to contribute to the end of conflicts have always been widespread, there is a small village in Tuscany, Rondine, called "the citadel of peace," where the word medium-high pace has not lost its value.

Young people from conflict-ridden countries come here to live together for a period of training. The idea is simple yet radical:

• bringing together people who might be “enemies” in their home contexts
• make them coexist in everyday life
• accompany them with training, study and conflict mediation
• transforming personal experience of conflict into dialogue skills.

Many young people, like Naomi and Ibrahim, return to their countries and become mediators, teachers, activists, or social workers, bringing something new: the concrete experience that the other is not just an inherited enemy, but a person encountered, with whom one can also discuss peacefully.

Cover image source: Fondazione Rondine

The project is a candidate for the 2026 Non Sprecare Award, in the Institutions section. To submit your projects, follow the instructions provided. here.

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