This summer, I had the privilege of participating in the Bridge Builders programme, run by Solutions Not Sides - an initiative designed to bring young people together to engage meaningfully with a long-standing global issue: the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. From the outset, the programme emphasised a commitment to dialogue, understanding, and critical engagement, rather than advocacy for a particular position.

What inspired me to join the Bridge Builders Programme was something I’ve always valued: Common Ground.

It’s actually the title of my Elevator Pitch from the programme. Many of us grow up in one prominent community, especially within our families, and it can be difficult to connect with people outside that circle. Too often, dialogue happens without building a relationship first.

"Real bridge-building means giving young people space to question, challenge, and disagree, with compassion and courage."

By Mohammed Ali Amla

On 29th July 2024 Axel Rudakubana brutally murdered three innocent children, Bebe King, Elsie Dot Stancombe and Alice Dasilva Aguiar, injuring ten others. On the 30th July Islamophobic conspiracies spread across social media, blaming a Muslim immigrant, fuelling far right protestors to begin rioting and attacking the Southport mosque and police, with riots spreading through twenty cities across England and Northern Ireland for the following six days.

In times of war, pain pulls at us. Fear urges us to retreat into binaries, but history shows us that these divisions, however emotionally satisfying in the moment, do nothing to heal. They only deepen wounds and prolong suffering.