When dehumanisation and destruction become the norm, the cycle must be broken.

For over twenty years, Ittay Flescher has worked as an educator, journalist and peacebuilder in Melbourne and Jerusalem. When he woke up on the morning of October 7, 2023 to the sounds of rocket sirens over Jerusalem and later saw the devastation of Gaza in response, the grief and sadness that engulfed him – and so many others – compelled him to ask: how can we find a way forward?

Following years spent facilitating dialogue between Jews, Muslims and Christians, Ittay believes that peace can only be found if we are willing to empathise with the pain of others.

The Holy and the Broken challenges Palestinian and Israeli leaders, citizens and their supporters across the world to imagine a different reality; to look at history with a different eye; and to search for moments of engagement rather than resentment in the narratives of the past that each side tells about itself.

Ultimately, it is a story that aims to comfort the troubled and trouble the comfortable.