In May, Nir Sharon and Samah Salaime, educational co-directors, travelled to the UK for a set of special meetings. The highlight of their trip was in Manchester, where they were invited to speak at the Annual General Meeting of the British Co-op. The Co-op market conglomerate is still based on the membership model, and it has a large philanthropic arm. They have turned to WASNS, with the help of the British Friends Association, to form a partnership aimed at peace and reconciliation. Prior to the meeting, they made a short film about the village, and they are currently working on a way of supporting the WASNS Educational Institutions through Co-op support.
Yasmin Hewett, Co-op Young Member and Assistant Content Manager, praised the speech in her blog post on the Co-op website, adding that the film “moved me deeply and re-affirmed why I believe so fiercely in the co-operative mission. They are celebrating 40 years since founding the first bilingual and binational school for peace in the region and have thousands of graduates. It reminded me that peace is possible—but it takes hard work, dialogue, and hope.”
<img class=”wp-image-2708″ src=”https://wasns.org/wp-content/uploads/UK-roundtable-copy-1024×682.jpg” alt=”” width=”600″ height=”400″ /> Roundtable discussion
The Co-op team also organized an interview with for two WASNS representatives with Chis Osuh of the <em>Guardian</em>, <a href=”https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/may/19/village-where-israelis-and-palestinians-live-together-to-promote-peace-faces-planned-tax-on-funds” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener”>which appeared in the press</a> in the beginning of the following week. Much of the interview focused on the fear that a bill in the Knesset to heavily tax donations from foreign countries that will unfairly affect peace and civil society organizations.
In addition to the Co-op meeting, Nir and Samah met with philanthropists who support the WASNS educational institutions, as well as with members of parliament and others interested in the village and its efforts. These included a roundtable hosted they the Cooperative Party, chaired by Andrew Pakes, MP. The MPs included Alice Macdonald, James Naish, Paul Waugh, Preet Gill, Gareth Snell, Sarah Owen, Abtisam Mohamed, Jim McMahon, Jon Pearce, and Flo Eshalomi. Among other things, the meeting was a rare opportunity for representatives of two Labor party factions – Friends of Israel and Friends of Palestine – to attend the same meeting.
In a separate meeting, they met with MP Annelise Dodds, as well as with Josh Gaventa of the <em>Jewish News</em>, and others.
For Nir and Samah, the trip was an opportunity to cement the relationship between the Co-op membership and WASNS, to reconnect with British supporters and friends, and to bring the WASNS model of shared society and work for peace to a broader public.
