Since the fall of 2023, conversations and violence surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict have surged. According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents in the United States increased 140 percent since Oct. 7, 2023, when the Hamas terrorist group launched an attack on Israel.

Seeing the dehumanization and lack of productive conversations happening, neighborhood friends and local high school students Alex Kalish, a Jewish American, and Kenan Katib, a Palestinian American, started Voices of Understanding.

A charity that facilitates one-on-one virtual conversations between high schoolers, VOU strives to create safe spaces where young adults can exchange different opinions and perspectives without feeling attacked. VOU does not hold any stance, or take any side. It is merely a space where people can listen to a different point of view, as well as share their own.

The end goal is not to change someone’s mind with these conversations, but to understand why people hold the beliefs that they do.

“Most of my friends are Jewish and they think it’s good to kind of bridge the border of the two sides,” Kalish said.

Kalish was in Jerusalem with the program Alexander Muss High School in Israel (AMHSI), where high school students can study abroad in Israel. Because of the terrorist attacks, the trip was immediately cut short and everyone was sent home.

Getting involved in these conversations is simple, Kalish said. Fill out an online form, then the VOU team will match you with a dialogue partner or group, then will send available dates to have a conversation via Zoom.

Now that the VOU site has been created, and has partners like Talk Matters and Alliance for Middle East Peace, the hope is that VOU can be advertised to as many schools as possible, as well as advertised locally. According to Katib, there are high schools in California that have participated in these conversations.

Ideally the group would also like to be sponsored by the local high school — that way VOU can be advertised to students there, they said. But the team is still growing, with positions open to high schoolers such as director of fundraising and volunteer coordinator.

For more information on opportunities at VOU, visit voicesofunderstanding.org/volunteer.