Welcome to the Evolving Man Project’s “Evolved Man of the Week” profile. Each week, we will highlight famous and non-famous individuals who embody what it means to be an evolved man. The world needs to know their stories and deeds. This week’s honor goes to the author, Palestinian peace activist, and co-founder of Combatants for Peace, Sulaiman Khatib.
Khatib was born and spent his early years in Hizma, near Jerusalem. He saw his family being badly impacted by the ongoing Israeli- Palestinian conflict. Khatib’s desire for his family and his community’s liberation led him to join the violent struggle, as he did not see a peaceful way to make a difference. At 13, Khatib informally became affiliated with the PLO Fatah movement. He participated in illegal activities such as raising Palestinian flags and writing graffiti as well as throwing stones. When he was 14 he and a friend attacked and stabbed two Israeli soldiers in an attempt to steal weapons. The two soldiers were injured and Khatib was sentenced to 15 years in jail.
At 14 years old, Khatib was sentenced to fifteen years in prison and served ten and a half years, where he spent his time learning about history, Hebrew, English, and other world conflicts, as well as peace activists such as Gandhi and Nelson Mandela. He acquired his entire education and worldview in jail. This was when he started to have new thoughts about the conflict and the means for resolving it.
As a result he is today a committed advocate for peace in the Middle East and an has been an active member of various programs aiming to promote a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict for the last twenty years. During the second Intifada, he was one of the prominent voices calling for nonviolent resistance.
Khatib and Chen Alon, another co-founder of Combatants for Peace, were nominated twice for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2017 and 2018. Both times the nomination was on behalf of CfP. Khatib starred alongside fellow CfP activists in ‘Disturbing the Peace, ‘an award-winning film detailing the origins of the Combatants for Peace movement, released in 2016.
Here is Sulaiman Khatib in his own words about using nonviolence as a way to bring about peace in hopes of inspiring a younger generation to find nonviolent means to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict:
“I am a co-founder of the Al Quds Association for Democracy and Dialogue along with some other Palestinian peace activists. I was also one of the founders of Combatants for Peace in 2005. I was imprisoned in Israel as a freedom fighter at the age of 14 for 10 years; for this reason, achieving peace through sports projects for Palestinian and Israeli children is very important to me.
I was a member of the joint Palestinian/Israeli expedition to Antarctica (2003, 2004) with “Breaking the Ice” and am also very active in different kinds of youth and cultural activities that aim to reach a nonviolent resolution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”
Khatib have won numerous awards and accolades for his peace work. These awards are The Search for Common Ground Award, The IIE Victor J. Goldberg Prize for Peace in the Middle East”, and many others, including being nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize twice, as mentioned earlier.
The world all has eyes on Israel and Palestine as IDF forces unleashed a vicious bombardment of Gaza after the horrific Hamas attack in Israel on October 7th, 2023. Countless activist and people across the globe are catching up with Khatib in their calls for a permanent ceasefire, an everlasting peace between Palestinians and Israelis, and the total liberation of the Palestinian people. Today we honor Sulaiman Khatib as our Evolved Man of the Week.
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