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Living together in… peace?!

6 min readMay 16, 2025

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Photo taken in Sierra Leone in 2007 by the author. Because this is what peace looks like. It looks like JOY.

Today, 16 May, is the International Day of Living Together in Peace. Yesterday, 15 May, was Nakba Day, the Palestinian Catastrophe, the destruction of Palestinian society and homeland in 1948 by Israel, and the permanent displacement of a majority of the Palestinian people. How painfully ironic that these days are one after the other.

It wasn’t all that long ago that we decided we even need such a day. Yup. In 2017, the United Nations General-Assembly declared 16 May the International Day of Living Together in Peace to mobilize the efforts of the international community to promote peace, tolerance, inclusion, understanding and solidarity. OK, great. But how are we doing there!? You be the judge.

In principle, the day upholds our desire to live and act together, united in differences and diversity, in order to build a sustainable world of peace, solidarity and harmony. It’s a mouthful, surely, but it’s important.

And the Nakba… it’s a word everyone should know, especially know. It’s not a historical footnote — it’s a gaping wound in the Palestinian psyche that continues to bleed. It refers to the systematic ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948, where Zionist militias, and later the state of Israel, expelled over 700,000 Palestinians from their homes and lands. Villages were razed, lives shattered, and a people’s history erased in a brutal act of dispossession. The consequences reverberate through generations, with millions of Palestinians still living as refugees, denied their right to return.

Let’s be clear, the Nakba isn’t just a relic of the past — its legacy of displacement, occupation, and denial of basic human rights continues to shape the present, fueling resistance and the ongoing struggle for justice and self-determination. The Nakba is more relevant now than ever because the same systems of oppression that caused it are still in place, the same voices that deny Palestinian humanity are louder than ever, and the same fight for liberation continues.

Where is peace? Not there, that’s for sure.

But… What is peace, anyway?! We seem so incredibly far off track these days. Perhaps we don’t even know what it means! Peace is not just an absence of conflict. It should be much more — something positive and participatory, built on mutual respect, understanding, cooperation.

When the International Day of Living Together in Peace became a “day,” the UN also recognized that if we ever hope to fulfil this aspiration, we need to eliminate all forms of discrimination and intolerance, including those based on race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national, ethnic or social origin, property, disability, birth or other status. In short: we need to stop being a-holes to each other. This, dear humans, seems to be harder than it sounds.

Today the world is torn apart by conflicts. Between civil wars, ethnic conflicts, apartheid, displacement — too many of us are living everything but peace.

Here’s a very quick snapshot. Not detailed. Not exhaustive. But exhausting to write nonetheless, because this list is too long and too tragic already.

There’s Sudan, with a civil war between the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF) and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) that has displaced millions since April 2023. What’s happening? Ethnic violence, humanitarian crisis, political instability.

And Myanmar (Burma), with its civil war following the 2021 military coup, characterized by ethnic armed conflicts, human rights abuses, and Rohingya persecution.

Most of us have heard what’s happening in Ukraine, with its full-scale war with Russia since February 2022. This is a military occupation that includes destruction of infrastructure, displacement, and violations of international law.

Then there’s the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) — a crisis we hear too little about. This is a decades-long armed conflict in the eastern regions. This is characterized by ethnic militias, M23 rebel resurgence, humanitarian crises, resource exploitation.

And Syria, with its civil war, foreign interference, displacement, sectarian violence, ISIS remnants, and authoritarian governance. And Yemen, with its prolonged civil war between Houthi rebels and the internationally recognized government (backed by Saudi-led coalition). Here there’s famine, disease outbreaks, displacement, regional proxy war.

Haiti is now characterized by state collapse and rampant gang violence. There’s a lack of functioning government, mass displacement, and humanitarian breakdown.

In Ethiopia, while the Tigray war formally ended, ethnic conflicts continue in other regions like Oromia and Amhara. Here there’s ethnic federalism, displacement, and rampant food insecurity.

Afghanistan is suffering under renewed Taliban rule following U.S. withdrawal in 2021, with ongoing resistance and repression. This means gender apartheid, extremist governance, and also ethnic persecution.

In neighboring Pakistan, there’s political instability and violence from militant groups like Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan. Here the issues are religious intolerance, economic crisis, attacks on minorities. And more.

Nigeria’s armed insurgency by Boko Haram and Islamic State continues in the northeast, with ethnic and religious clashes in the Middle Belt. There are kidnappings, herder-farmer conflicts, and wider regional instability.

Iran is experiencing internal unrest following crackdowns on protests and political dissent. This is characterized by minority repression (for instance Kurds and Baloch), sanctions, and extreme women’s rights violations.

Political and economic crisis in Venezuela has led to mass migration and internal repression. There’s government crackdown on dissent, crime, and also serious humanitarian issues.

In Mali, Burkina Faso, and Niger — the Sahel region — there are Islamist insurgencies, military coups, and regional instability. This has led to displacement, civilian massacres, and ethnic tensions.

And in Palestine… where do I even start? The ongoing genocide and manufactured famine perpetrated by Israel — with US dollars — shows no signs of stopping.

And more. I know — there’s always more.

Are we out there building a world where we can actually live together in peace?! Not really. The international political landscape has worsened over the years. We are more vicious and more violent. There are efforts. Attempts. Outcrys. Protests. Petitions. And a lot of politicking, surely. I don’t know how much of it is working. Would we be worse off without it all, without these little pockets of peace? Quite possibly. But it’s still too little, too quiet, and often too late.

But… peace starts with us, doesn’t it? At a minimum, we can make a deliberate choice to reject the violence that is all around us. We can understand what it means to live in peace — and maybe help others in our orbit to understand it as well. We can promote kindness and compassion — I know it exists because I see it in small spaces. We can join community or global conversations about peace and coexistence to better understand what it means for us, for our societies, and for the world.

Let’s be very clear. No human or creature or any living thing would reasonably argue against peace. If so, I reallllly want to hear your talking points.

Sure, the idea of “living in peace” can sound like a naïve fantasy, a cruel joke to those living under the suffocating boot of oppression. It sounds like a John Lennon song playing in the background while people are dying. The concept might sound like it ignores the daily reality of injustice, the generational trauma of displacement, and the ongoing denial of basic human rights. In a word: our reality.

To those who benefit from the status quo, their peace sounds like the silencing of dissent, the erasure of history, and the perpetuation of inequality. It’s a demand for the oppressed to simply accept their fate, to lay down their arms and surrender their dreams of freedom. But for those who have known nothing but struggle, peace without justice is not peace at all — it’s merely a continuation of the same violence by other means.

The point is: peace is just the beginning. We’ve got a lot of work to do to build a world where equality, rights, freedom, justice, dignity are baked into our DNA. We have to do lots of reconciliation work. We have to rewire. Like, totally.

I don’t know about you, but I’m struggling to hang on to every little shred of hope and peace I’ve got left. There’s too little of it, surely, but if I let my tattered shreds go — what will be left?

That’s why my recent TEDx talk felt so painful — and so important. I talked about what it means to build a better world for women, how microscopic the steps are, but how urgent the need is. If we don’t do it, who will? And if we don’t do it now, it will be too late. Giving up isn’t an option.

Because, despite overwhelming global evidence to the contrary, I still have hope for peace. One day.

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Lina AbiRafeh
Lina AbiRafeh

Written by Lina AbiRafeh

Global women's rights activist, author, speaker, aid worker with 3 decades of global experience - and lots to say! More on my website: www.LinaAbiRafeh.com

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