Middle East
Since 2002, the Flame of Hope, known formerly as Earth Caravan, has initiated and implemented peacebuilding and community support projects and activities throughout Israel and Palestine, most recently by giving charity Tao Shiatsu treatments to families directly affected by the October 7th, 2023 Hamas attacks in southern Israel.
The Flame of Hope is also actively providing clean and safe drinking water to displaced persons and families in the refugee camps of Khan Yunis and Deir Al Balah in the Gaza Strip. As a result of the war in Gaza, access to clean water and food has been severely diminished.
Other notable projects have included:
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Providing economic and material support to peace advoctes and coexistence initiatives in both Israel and Palestine working for peace and reconciliation
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Carrying out mindfulness and non-violent communication workshops to Israelis and Palestinians at peace education conferences
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Offering Tao therapy treatment to displaced families in East Jerusalem
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Supporting and renovating a women's professional training association and youth club center in Tel Aviv
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Giving meditation and mindfulness workshops at a Jewish-Arab Kindergarten in Jaffa city and at an Arabic Kindergarten in Umm al-Fahm
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Giving regular free Tao therapy treatments at a special needs center and a center for mental disorders in Tel Aviv
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Helping to build roads and infrastructure for disadvantaged communities in the south Hebron Hills
From 2015 to 2019, the Flame of Hope team travelled throughout Israel and Palestine carrying the Peace Flame of Hiroshima and offered support to the most vulnerable communities affected by the conflict.
In 2018, the Flame of Hope donated a water desalination unit to provide clean drinking water to residents of Deir Al Balah in Gaza. The Flame of Hope team also gave charity shiatsu to residents of two Israeli towns bordering the Gaza strip that had been damaged by rocket fire.
While in the Jordan Valley, a photovoltaic solar system was donated to thirty-five families in the village of Al-ʿAqaba. While in Al-ʿAqaba and working with members of Ta’ayush, a joint peace network of Palestinians and Israelis, Flame of Hope volunteers helped rehabilitate and restore one of the surroundingwater village water wells.
