This summer, I joined the Bridge Builders programme organised by Solutions Not Sides, and honestly, it changed the way I see dialogue, conflict, and connection. I went in thinking it would be just another academic experience, some lectures, maybe a few debates but it turned out to be something much deeper. It was about listening, understanding, and finding solutions rather than choosing sides.

Note: Solutions Not Sides makes no attempt to reconcile or support any of these films or TV shows, or the narratives they show, but we believe it is important to understand different side’s perspectives and the way that their societies present and understand events.

Over the summer I read Walden while the world burned, and I still don’t know how to square this. I love reading for the same reasons that most people who love reading do; it is both a means of escape and a way to encounter reality – including realities different to your own – anew. I’m trying to read 50 books this year, and at the same time I’m confronted with the question of whether it is okay to spend hours with a book when crises unfurl.

SNS welcomes the news of a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas—a moment that brings the possibility of safety and relief for millions, lifesaving humanitarian aid to Gaza, the return of hostages to their families in Israel, and space for people to begin rebuilding shattered lives.

For some, October 7th is a day of remembrance and of unimaginable loss, grief, and fear. It brings back memories of violence and trauma that changed lives forever.

For others, the pain and uncertainty did not begin or end on that day. The past two years have been filled with ongoing fear, devastation and suffering, which is a daily struggle that has never fully eased.
 

What we want to say, two years on