In the News

The Center for Middle East

July 9, 2025

The Middle East Youth Alliance Revealed – With Tom Vizel, Founder of WeAreMENA (HEB)

What happens when young people from Israel and the Arab world meet, collaborate — and begin to create change? In this special, first-of-its-kind lecture (in Hebrew), we will unveil the groundbreaking work of WeAreMENA (formerly 4MENA) — a new regional network of youth organizations from Israel, the Middle East, and North Africa, founded and directed by Tom Vizel, former senior leader of the HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed youth movement.

israelhayom

May 13, 2025

Don’t Leave Us Behind – The Future Generation Demands Normalization

In our Middle Eastern neighborhood — one that constantly swings between hope and threat — it’s hard not to raise an eyebrow at reports that the Trump administration is considering a security agreement with Saudi Arabia even without requiring full normalization with Israel. The public is ready; the question is whether the leadership will rise to the challenge.

Emirates Scholar Magazine

February 10, 2025

outh Leadership at the International Dialogue of Civilizations & Tolerance (UAE)

At the International Dialogue of Civilizations & Tolerance conference in the UAE, Tom Vizel and Salwa Abu Kashef from WeAreMENA (WRM) delivered a joint lecture presenting their practical, field-based experience in youth leadership and cross-cultural education. Drawing on their work with Jewish and Arab young leaders in Israel and across the MENA region, they shared a hands-on model for building trust, fostering dialogue, and empowering youth as a driving civic force. Their talk illustrated how education and sustained partnerships can translate the values of tolerance and coexistence into concrete social impact in divided societies.

Fathom Journal

November 1, 2024

Towards Peace Realism: 13 Principles

George Stevens is co-founder of the 4MENA Network, the first network of organisations from Israel, Palestine and across the MENA region devoted to a more inclusive, interconnected and peaceful future for all, and director of partnerships for NOAL, Israel’s largest Jewish-Arab youth movement. He argues that the peace movement in Israel and beyond has ‘an overly simplistic view in which diplomacy and Israeli concessions alone can ensure peace, with no need to offer any solution to the military might and eliminationist desires of Hamas, Hezbollah and the Iranian regime.’ He proposes an alternative approach: peace realism.

Radio Gwen

October 4, 2023

MEM Sessions: Dialogue, Education & Youth Leadership

At the MEM Summer Summit 2023 in Switzerland, Tom Vizel (Israel) and Younes Zangiabadi (Iran) engage in a candid conversation on the role of young people in shaping the future of the Middle East. Drawing from their personal and civic experiences, they reflect on how youth leadership, dialogue, and cross-border cooperation can challenge entrenched narratives and open new pathways for regional change.

Atlantic Council

February 24, 2023

Rehumanizing the dehumanized: Rethinking People-to-People exchanges in MENA

People-to-people (P2P) exchanges have long been recognized as a crucial tool in promoting peace and resolving conflicts. In the Israeli-Palestinian context, P2P initiatives gained popularity in the 1990s, but still face significant challenges in bringing about meaningful change in relations between the two peoples. Despite this, the potential for P2P exchanges to foster understanding and cooperation on a regional level remains untapped.

Ynet

January 12, 2023

“The Jews Have Always Been, and Remain, Part of Morocco’s Identity” ׂ(HEB)

“Mimouna” — an organization founded by Muslim students at a Moroccan university — reached out to the Israeli youth movement HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed to initiate encounters in Israel and Morocco between Israeli teenagers and young Moroccan Muslims. Their goal was to give social, civic, and human meaning to the Abraham Accords. “They said they understood the importance of