‘Oasis of peace’ in wartime

The Documentary Podcast

BBC

Documentary, Society & Culture

4.3 • 2.7K Ratings

🗓️ 20 February 2026

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom is a unique community located on a hilltop between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, where Jewish and Palestinian families have lived together since the late 1970s. Journalist Mike Lanchin first visited the community in the early 1980s when there was just a handful of Jews and Palestinian families living in makeshift houses poking out from the scrub land. Now, it boasts a fully bilingual-binational day school - the first of its kind – with children coming from the surrounding area, as well as a conflict resolution centre visited by Palestinians and Jews. Facilitators from the centre host inter-faith workshops outside the community. More than 40 years after its establishment, Wahat al-Salam/Neve Shalom today faces some of its most testing times following the 7 October 2023 Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. Mike has been speaking to residents, young and old, about what the future now holds for this cross-community experiment.

Transcript

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0:00.0	BBC Sounds, Music, Radio, podcasts.
0:08.5	On a hilltop overlooking the greenery of the Aylon Valley,
0:12.9	halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem,
0:15.7	lies a small community,
0:16.9	a unique experiment in peaceful coexistence of Jews and Palestinians that's been
0:23.1	going for more than 40 years. It's called Wahat al-Salam in Arabic, Nevis Shalom in Hebrew,
0:30.7	Oasis of Peace in English. Many see it as a rare working alternative to an age-old conflict.
0:37.6	We felt like we have a big dream that two people are living on this piece of land,
0:46.1	and so we have to find a good way to live together.
0:49.9	When I speak in public, they ask me if it's a piece as possible.
0:54.2	Like, I came from from place that is ongoing evidence that peace is possible.
1:01.0	I'm Mike Lanshin, and I first visited the community back in 1981.
1:05.9	My mother's cousin was one of its early members.
1:09.3	At that time, there was just a handful of people living in
1:12.4	makeshift houses on the scrubland. Now there are some 300 residents, roughly equal numbers of
1:19.3	Jews and Palestinians, living side by side. For this edition of Heart and Soul from the BBC
1:25.7	World Service documentary,
1:34.6	I've been reconnecting with some of the residents to find out how they've coped with the spiraling violence beyond their gates.
1:38.1	And to ask what the future looks like for them.
1:40.9	It doesn't matter what happens in the country and in the world.
1:42.6	All hell could break loose, you know.
1:44.4	The only place where I feel where I belong the most and my home is the village. It's always going to be my sanctuary.
	...

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